The main reaction I had to this documentary about The Residents is a wish that the band had made the film themselves. But, of course, they may have, because director Don Hardy appears to have had access to a lot of presumably unseen footage from the early years of the 40-year-old band and members of the Cryptic Corporation (that oversee the business dealings of the band) were actively involved in editing and in front of the camera. Of course, we still don't know who the Residents actually are - but some of the old guys being interviewed sure seem to know a lot about their history. My regret is not really with the content shown (which is often truly weird) but instead with the rather formulaic approach taken here - this is really just another one of those music docos where you've got talking heads (including with fans/accomplices) interspersed with short clips of the band playing. There are some great clips but they never show you enough. Why can't the makers of these types of documentaries understand that fans would really want to see an entire song? Especially in the case of the Residents where the visual and multimedia aspects of their show are so astonishing! There are a couple of songs from the Commercial Album played on the 2013 fortieth anniversary tour that do run their full (short) length but that tour seems stripped down in comparison to earlier tours. Of course, if the band's output really is 60 albums (plus all sorts of other ephemera), then no single 90-minute film is going to be able to do justice to any one aspect of their career. But we do learn a lot about those eyeballs. Check their records, folks!

A great documentary about The Residents- fantastic footage, high caliber interviews and just the right sense of humor. Those who are looking for an expose will be disappointed (though I feel like you can draw some reasonably intelligent conclusions if you're looking), this is really more of a love letter to the band, or perhaps even a great introduction. The Residents can be hard to stomach sometimes, and even then I've found a lot of their digital work hasn't aged terribly well, but Hardy does a great job of editing down and keeping the pace up and interest/energy high.

Well now - The Residents may just be the most important artists and musicians of the last 50 or so years. They also may not exist or be the same people who started out as The Residents. And this film - Theory of Obscurity is a very good place to begin to find out about their art. It is not really a history of The Residents but The Residents from different perspectives and why they matter so much. It is never less than fascinating and at times extraordinary. And the DVD has some of their marvellous films - what we would now call videos - except that doesn't really do them justice. Thoroughly recommended to anyone who care about art, music and has a pulse.

Theory of Obscurity revels in the paradox of this most notorious band of unknowns while poking at the embers of the myth.

Theory of Obscurity is loaded with clips from The Residents' deranged promo films and shows, and makes a case for them as innovators of the music video format.

The task of parsing the meaning behind all their conceptual madness is left to a small but faithful army of fans, who speak lovingly of the band's devotion to art at the expense of commercial success.

Stuffed with examples of the nose-thumbing spirit that has sustained their popularity despite the bandmates' refusal to reveal their individual identities, the film is a fine primer for the curious.

The film is a must-see for those who want to be introduced to the band, even if part way through you may find that you've hit your limit.

There's plenty of eye and ear-catching stimulation in this survey of the Residents' 40-year career.