Product Details

• Actors: Howard Armstrong
• Directors: Terry Zwigoff
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Criterion Collection
• DVD Release Date: August 10, 2010
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003N2CVQS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,091 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Louie Bluie (The Criterion Collection)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Crumb director Terry Zwigoff’s first film is a true treat: a documentary about the obscure country blues musician and idiosyncratic visual artist Howard “Louie Bluie” Armstrong, member of the last known black string band in America. As beguiling a raconteur as he is a performer, Louie makes for a wildly entertaining movie subject, and Zwigoff honors him with an unsentimental but endlessly affectionate tribute. Full of infectious music and comedy, Louie Bluie is a humane evocation of the kind of pop-cultural marginalia that Zwigoff would continue to excavate in the coming years.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An obscure gem..., November 19, 2003

By 

David Grim (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Louie Bluie [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is an early documentary by director Terry Zwigoff ("Crumb", "Ghost World") that focuses on an old time music/blues player named William Howard Armstrong. Armstrong was 75 at the time this film was shot, but he was still capable of some blistering playing. We get to see him play the fiddle, the guitar, the banjo, the ukelele, and some hybrid instruments. He appears with the players he has been with for years and years.

Interspersed between the musical shots are slice-of-life vignettes where we get to hear our hero trading philosophy and folksy wisdom, along with some very ribald stories, with his compadres. We also get to look at some of his colorful, "realist" (artist's own description) paintings of African-American life. But the real treat for me was a treasure he has kept locked up since he created it. It's a "prostitute's bible" with folktales, how-to guides, anecdotes (personal and otherwise), cut-out magazine photos, and some charmingly explicit and colorful drawings. I would pay at least $100 for a copy of it. When asked why he keeps it locked away, he replies that he does so to avoid "the man" keeping him locked away. It's unfortunate that this video hasn't been released on DVD, because in effect, its obscurity does keep Louie Bluie locked away.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Louie Bluie' finally on DVD!, May 25, 2010

By 

Jazz Man (Madison, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Louie Bluie (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

I've been waiting years for the wonderful little documentary 'Louie Bluie' to make an appearance on DVD. I am overjoyed that it is finally going to be part of the Criterion Collection!

Terry Zwigoff is best known for 'Ghost World', 'Crumb' and 'Bad Santa', but before he made those films he directed this charming and fascinating 1985 documentary. It follows Howard Armstrong (Louie Bluie) a pioneer string band musician who was still going strong in the 1980s. Lovers of the blues will instantly fall in love with Howard's astounding musical abilities and the film serves up a lot of musical scenes. But it also devotes time to Armstrong's opinions on women, art and other subjects. 'Louie Bluie' is a timeless film that provides a valuable snapshot of a kind of musician that just isn't around anymore.

The new director-approved special edition DVD contains:

New, restored high-definition digital transfer (1.33:1), approved by director Terry Zwigoff

Audio commentary featuring Zwigoff

Thirty minutes of unused footage

Illustrations by Howard Armstrong

Stills gallery

PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Sragow

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy This Movie!!!!!!, August 16, 2010

By 

John Heneghan (new york, ny United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Louie Bluie (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

Louie Bluie is the greatest documentary about old time music ever made. It is amazing that these musicians were captured on film and preserved at all but with Louie Bluie we get a window into what it was like to be a 1920's Blues musician and we witness a handful of the greatest Blues & Jazz musicians of the 1920's & 30's that ever lived, Howard Armstrong, Ted Bogan, Yank Rachel and Banjo Ikey Robinson as they hang out, B.S. and play music with one another. There is nothing else like it. It's both heartbreaking and hysterical to watch these guys in the twilight of their lives as they fade out of existence nearly unnoticed. Thank God Terry Zwigoff noticed!!!
If you are interested in Old-Time Music at all and don't own this DVD you MUST buy it!!!
NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!