"Along with Hearts of Darkness, Burden of Dreams is the best primer for how far we have gone to make art. And it is also a tremendous representation of the spirit of cinematic warriors Werner Herzog and Les Blank"

"The Criterion Collection contains some of the greatest documentaries, and these are my favorites. These discs give you a good dose of Werner Herzog (in front of the camera), Les Blank, and Errol Morris. You also get the short Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, which makes me laugh me every time I watch it."

"The Criterion Collection contains some of the greatest documentaries, and these are my favorites. These discs give you a good dose of Werner Herzog (in front of the camera), Les Blank, and Errol Morris. You also get the short Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, which makes me laugh me every time I watch it."

"The Criterion Collection contains some of the greatest documentaries, and these are my favorites. These discs give you a good dose of Werner Herzog (in front of the camera), Les Blank, and Errol Morris. You also get the short Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, which makes me laugh me every time I watch it."

"What a strange movie. I had been hearing about this film for years and couldn’t ever find a way to see it, but it finally played at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland. Those film stocks don’t exist anymore—this is 16 mm at its best, and it looks gorgeous. Les Blank was shooting with all this natural light, and it makes for such a great portrait of the South at a certain moment in time with a bunch of total weirdos!"

"This film was long very difficult to see; it was tangled in legal battles and became mythic as a result. I first saw the film with Les Blank present during his residency screenings at the Maysles Cinema in Harlem. Blank had an incredible ability to blend in with the surroundings and be a literal shadow on the wall or friend on a bar stool while shooting. For this film, he moved onto a boat on Leon Russell’s property and subsequently filmed for the next half-year, only to be told toward the end by Russell that he didn’t like the film and didn’t want it be released. After Blank’s untimely death, his son restored the film and thankfully put it into circulation. I think this film captures a little of what it must have been like during that time: an inexplicable, strange dream. A fascinating film from an inspiring and visionary filmmaker."