Frazetta: Painting with Fire (2003)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Lance Laspina

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

For the last half century, Frank Frazetta has dominated the art world with his images of fierce warriors...

Plot Keywords:

Art | Artist | Sci Fi Filmmaking | Pop Art | Painter

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Eleanor Frazetta	...	Herself
Frank Frazetta	...	Himself
Heidi Frazetta	...	Herself
Forrest J Ackerman	...	Himself
Simon Bisley	...	Himself
John Buscema	...	Himself
Glenn Danzig	...	Himself
Bo Derek	...	Herself
Kevin Eastman	...	Himself
Joe Jusko	...	Himself
Dave Stevens	...	Himself
Ângelo Torres	...	Himself
Al Williamson	...	Himself
David Winiewicz	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Neal Adams	...	Himself
Ralph Bakshi	...	Himself
Mike Kaluta	...	Himself
John Milius	...	Himself
William Stout	...	Himself
Bernie Wrightson	...	Himself
Mark Schultz	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Lance Laspina

Produced by
Jeremy J. DiFiore	....	producer
Lance Laspina	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Michael Goodis

Cinematography by
Devin Rice

Film Editing by
Lance Laspina

Sound Department
Tom Landis	....	boom operator

Visual Effects by
John Baker	....	visual effects
Kirk Cadrette	....	visual effects
James H. Dargie	....	CG artist: Cinemachine
Lance Laspina	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Shane White	....	camera operator

Other crew
Shane White	....	creative consultant

Production Companies

• Cinemachine
• Dark Kingdom Inc.

Distributors

• Blue Underground (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinemachine

Runtime:

USA:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Cinemachine

Movie Connections:

References Ghosts Can't Do It (1989)

Great Artist with Great Friends

Frank Frazetta is a very fortunate person. He had some great friends who helped him out when he was starting out, and later on when his art was not very popular. In the 1970s Frank Frazetta became a major pop culture icon, and his paperback book covers, posters, calendars, and paintings made him into a pop culture legend.

As a general fan of art, I never considered Frazetta to be on a par with such great artists as DaVinci, Michaelangelo, Van Gogh or Picasso. It is pretty obvious that during most of Frazetta's career he was a pretty humble, hard-working artist who was trying to earn a good living for his family. The story of Frazetta's life is inspiring. He has enjoyed a wonderful life working on the art he loved. He was a great father and husband. As an artist he got to spend a lot of time at home where his kids and wife benefited from his positive and warm personality.

The story of Frazetta as told by his friends is amazing, because he still has many friends that new him since childhood. With people moving around so much, it took dedication for all of these friends to keep in touch over the years. It is clear that they liked Frazetta a lot, and he was a good friend too. This documentary mixes all of the interviews and family photos with the art of Frazetta as it developed. The documentary does an excellent job of showing each era of Frazetta, and providing a glimpse into his life during those specific times. The documentary is excellent until the very last fifteen minutes or so.

Frank Frazetta had a few strokes which seriously handicapped him after he was seventy years old. In spite of that, he learned to paint with his left hand. That deserves a lot of merit. Unfortunately, some of his post-illness art is shown, and Frazetta defends it as being as good as it ever was. No one can blame Frazetta for his wishful thinking. He is certainly a very gifted person who not only had a great career, but also great friends and a family that loves him.

The last segment or two focus on the opening of the Frazetta Museum. That segment should have concentrated more on just showing Frazetta's art with perhaps some comments from well-known experts. Instead, the Museum Curator does most of the talking, and he really lays it on thick about Frazetta being one of the greatest artists in the history of the universe. The same Museum Curator then shows some of Frazetta's post-illness work and claims it is as good as Frazetta's best art! The director would have been wise to have deleted most of the scenes that have the Museum Curator talking about art. His insincere style detracts from the rest of this documentary. Otherwise this is a great movie to watch for anyone who is a fan of the Pop Art of the 1970s, Frazetta, Conan, comic-books, or art in general.