Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

GazerRise Fantastic!

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Irishchatter I just seen this documentary an hour ago on the Sky Arts Channel and I have to say this is kinda the weirdest art documentary I've ever watched. The skinny guy Mark Landis looks so zoned and depressed looking that poor fella looks like a 70 year old for a 60 year old. I suppose, when he was caught by donating the art of the artists he copied by giving them to museums, it probably has shaken him a lot. I say if he didn't have to be doing that, he would've been one of the best artists out there. He is, but he just seems to be somewhere else because of what happened effected him. I'm sure he has his own talents of course, everyone does! It just seems that the whole "forging" event took a toll on him. I have to say, this documentary was interesting at the same time because I have never heard of Landis before and like, I wasn't aware of what happened back in 2007. I wonder if hes still doing art right now or has given up completely after making this documentary?

andre andreas highly recommended for person who is interested in art and psychology. this documentary is very original and almost unbelievable. it captures the life of an introverted artistic genius with OCD and mother issues. his madness played a part in his seclusive attitude. it takes a person with some kind of obsessive personality to copy artwork with precision and fool dozens of major museums and universities. This guy was no joke and he did all his amazing work while watching TV with a TV dinner. no kidding. I am an artist and I appreciated his genius. the other guy trying to bring him out as a "fake" is also insane for following a topic that not even major universities and museums wanted continue investigating. most importantly I don't believe that he is a bad person because he followed what he loved and only donated his hobby.

boblipton So, this guy goes to this museum and says that he wishes to donate a painting by a well-regarded, if minor artist in memory of a dead loved one. Later on, it turns out he has done this hundreds of times over the decades and it wasn't noticed for twenty or thirty years. He donates the works. He doesn't even take a tax deduction. The forgeries are fairly crude, often photocopies with some extra paint poured over them.Is it a practical joke? Performance art? An indictment of the so-called experts at museums? Whatever it is, that's what Mark A. Landis has been doing for several decades and when two museum guys realized this, they were angry. Unfortunately, they can't do a thing about it, because Mr. Landis did nothing illegal. They do call him various forms of crazy.I do that too when someone pulls some hoax off on me. It serves me right to fall for it.That's what this documentary is about and it never answers the question "why?" Probably because the answer would embarrass people.

comicman117 Art and Craft is one of the most fascinating documentaries about art that I have ever seen. It's well made, well put together, and delivers a very satisfying experience overall. In fact, this film fascinated me more than some live action movies have.Art and Craft is a documentary that follows a few days in the life of famous art forger, Mark. A Landis. Mr. Landis is a savant who has spent 30 years deceiving museums with his drawings by making them believe that they actually have art by a famous artist, when, in fact it's just him. Landis has the amazing ability to copy a painting almost exactly like the original artist, although Landis is not a very good artist, rarely paints original art of his own, and prefers instead to cheat and copy. This film explores Landis as we see him go through his childhood, learn how he became obsessed with art, how his fraud was eventually exposed, and also see him prepare for an exhibit based upon his "fake" work.This documentary was a very pleasant surprise. After weeks of films that were okay, but lackluster, Art and Craft's high quality was a breath of fresh air. This documentary doesn't portray Landis as a criminal or villain, or glorify him as some sort of hero. Instead, it just portrays him as a real human being who is a curiously strange person. In total, Landis has given 47 forged paintings to 46 art museums around America. In the film, we see interviews with Landis himself where he explains why he became a forger, what his life is like, and his understanding of his mental problems. We also see interviews with people who have met Landis, or people who worked at various art museums that Landis has tried to give forged paintings to, and how they may or may not see him as a villain. This documentary method is quite effective and allows us to see perspective from both sides.Some of the directing choices in this film were interesting as well. Filmmakers Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman really show they know how to use a camera. Sequences such as the one where we see Landis's photo gallery and his forged art really help to emphasize him as a person. While I quite liked how the regular scenes kept being intercut with movie clips from films like Casablanca and Charlie Chan, as Landis is shown to be a bit of a classic film fan, having grown up watching a lot of television and movies.Art and Craft is a wonderfully made documentary about one of the most fascinating characters of real life art. I've watched plenty of great documentaries in the past, but this one reminds me of why I find filmmaking to be interesting in the first place. I definitely recommended this film.