PRESS: Knights on ESPN

Jeremy Schaap » 2.27.11 »

A piece our development team co-produced with ESPN about ultimate jousting and the Knights of Mayhem.



Find the original post at the ESPN site here. More work from Jeremy Schaap here. More info on the Knights of Mayhem here.

LIST: The Films of 2010

Joshua Ligairi » 2.27.11 »

No diatribe this year because I have been so busy in my work and personal life that I struggled just getting this list out before the Oscar ceremony began. But, here it is. It has been a really great year for film. I have very few complaints and, despite the big budget fluff of sequels and remakes still going strong, this year saw some very original work, while independent film in general seems to be making a comeback in 2011. Here is my best stab at categorizing the films of 2010:


Excellent (2010) These were my favorite films of the year.

Alamar . Black Swan . Exit Through the Gift Shop . Four Lions . Inception . Marwencol . The Social Network . Sweetgrass




Very Good (2010) These films were also extremely enjoyable.

12th and Delaware . 127 Hours . A Film Unfinished . The American . Blue Valentine . Buried . Cyrus . The Elephant In the Living Room . Gasland . Google Baby . The King's Speech . Last Train Home . Never Let Me Go . The Oath . Shutter Island . Smile 'Till It Hurts . Somewhere . Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo . The Tillman Story . Toy Story 3 . The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia . Winter's Bone




Above Average (2010) These were solid movies and better than most of the crap out there.

American Radical . Animal Kingdom . Art of the Steal . Cemetary Junction . Cool It . Czech Peace . Green Zone . Greenberg . How to Train Your Dragon . Howl . Jack Goes Boating . Last Play at Shea . Let Me In . Life with Murder . Monsters . Morning Glory . Mother . Mystery Team . Reel Injun . Restrepo . Robin Hood . Schmatta . The Town . True Grit . Unstoppable . Waking Sleeping Beauty . Youth In Revolt



Guilty Pleasures (2010) I'm embarrassed by how much I liked these movies.

Get Him to the Greek . Jackass 3D . Kick Ass. Machete . Piranha 3D . Predators



Disappointments (2010) I wanted to like these movies but didn't.

Alice In Wonderland . Date Night . I'm Still Here . The Last Airbender . Scott Pilgrim vs. the World . The Wolf Man




Overrated (2010) I didn't like these as much as you did.

Catfish . Cropsey . Enter the Void. Frozen . Tangled . The Kids Are Alright . Salt . Tron Legacy




Didn't See It (2010) But I Wanted To.

Amer. Armadilo . Boxing Gym . Client 9 . La Danse . Dogtooth . The Expendables . The Fighter . Genius Within . Happy People: A Year In the Tiga . I Am Love . Inside Job . The Kids Grow Up . Precious Life . Presumed Guilty . The Thorn in the Heart . Waste Land




Most Anticipated (2011) Looking forward to next year.

The Arbor . Black Power Mixtape . Bear Nation . Beats, Rhymes, and Life . Beauty Day . Cleanflix . Cold Weather . Dragonslayer . The Green Hornet . Hell and Back Again . The Interrupters . If a Tree Falls . Kati with an I . Knights of Badassdomn . Knuckle . Looper . My Idiot Brother . Nostalgia For the Light . Paul . Peep World . The Pipe . Project Nim . Red State . The Redemption of General Buttnaked . Resurrect Dead . Scream 4 . Shut Up Little Man . Sons of Perdition . Tabloid . The Thing . Your Highness

PODCAST: Slamdance Special

As I wrote in the Sundance post: I don't mind admitting that I got in way over my head at Sundance/Slamdance this year and all of my hard work resulted in two "festival special" episodes that don't really fit the mission of the podcast. It was an overall miserable experience. That being said, I managed to get a few great interviews while up in Park City last month and I have a much better idea of how to approach the fests next year. Lesson learned. Check out Charlotte's intro below, get the full show notes in the extended write-up at the site (this is where you can grab the timecode if you want to jump straight to a specific interview), and remember to subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast delivered right to your face.


Charlotte Cook » 2.27.11 »

In Episode 10 of The Documentary Blog Podcast, host Joshua Ligairi has yet more filmmakers interviews and this time from the 2011 Slamdance Film Festival. Featuring four interviews with the filmmakers of Superheroes, Last Fast Ride, Fordson, and Bhopali we really hope you enjoy this special episode.

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Original post, show notes, credits, links and more at TheDocumentaryBlog.com.

TRAILER: Jay Cheel's Beauty Day

Joshua Ligairi » 2.22.11 »

Jay Cheel, my co-host over at The Documentary Blog Podcast, has released the first trailer for his documentary film, Beauty Day about a beautiful loser named Cap'n Video. I think the trailer is incredible and the rough-cut scenes I've seen from the film are even better.

The film premieres at MoMA next month as part of their Canadian Film Exhibition and has some pretty awesome screenings coming up including HotDocs! So awesome. What an incredible start to a film's run and a filmmaker's career.

For more info on the film, see Jay's posts at FilmJunk.com or TheDocumentaryBlog.com. You can also follow Jay and the film on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, or check out the official Beauty Day website.

PODCAST: Sundance Special 2011

So, I don't mind admitting that I got in way over my head at Sundance this year and all of my hard work resulted in two "festival special" episodes that don't really fit the mission of the podcast. It was an overall miserable experience. That being said, I managed to get a few great interviews while up in Park City last month and I have a much better idea of how to approach Sundance next year. Lesson learned. Check out Charlotte's intro below, get the full show notes in the extended write-up at the site (this is where you can grab the timecode if you want to jump straight to a specific interview), and remember to subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast delivered right to your door, er, computer.


Charlotte Cook » 2.14.11 »

Jay was busy finishing up his first feature documentary, Beauty Day, but Josh and I were fortunate enough to attend the Sundance Film Festival again this year, and while we were there we recorded a special Sundance episode of The Documentary Blog Podcast. Josh must take all the credit as he ran around getting no less than seven interviews for this show with filmmakers at the festival (I think he may even have a few more up his sleeve for future shows).

We really hope you enjoy the podcast, the filmmakers featured are Steve James of The Interrupters, Peter D. Richardson of How to Die in Oregon, Joy Foy of Resurrect Dead, Constance Marks of Being Elmo, Leonard Retel Helmrich of Position Among the Stars, Matthew Bate of Shut Up Little Man! and Göran Olsson of Blackpower Mixtape.

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BLOG: Park City busking

Joshua Ligairi » 1.30.11 »

My personal favorite discovery of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival was not a movie, but a band. Bramble, a group of street musicians that performed everyday of the festival, brought a lot of cheer as I slogged up and down Park City Main Street in the slush and snow.

They have an interesting line-up that features banjo, ukulele, accordion, and street drums and makes for a really unique sound--especially when combined with singer James Miska's rich vocals and fun, sin-along lyrics. The music is happy and upbeat and the group's youthful enthusiasm for what they do is totally addictive--even to a jaded asshole like me. This is the kind of stuff that really gets me excited.

I bought their CD on my first time walking by the band because, although I had a screening to make at Slamdance, I wanted to keep listening to their awesome music. On my iPod by day two, I had all of their songs memorized by day three, and still occasionally stopped for a listen. Not long afterward, I was trying to think of a way to work street musicians into my next film (which I did!).

I was able to find a great performance video of the band at Sundance 2010. The video captures their live performance, but fails to capture their sound because the audio mixer was pointing the only microphone directly at the singer so he dominates the mix. But it is still great. Check it out below:

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You can buy their CD here and hear Bramble's side of their Sundance story here. Catch Bramble next at the True/False Film Festival in Colombia, MO--no kidding. And don't be surprised when you see them in my movie(s).

PODCAST: Revenge of the nerds

Another podcast, another pair of wonderful films. This time we talk Darkon and New World Order with "the films' makers." Again, one of my favorite episodes so far. Check out Jay's intro below, get the full show notes in the extended write-up at the site, and remember to subscribe on iTunes get get the podcast delivered straight to your computer without having to lift a finger.


Jay Cheel » 1.26.11 »

HEAR YE, HEAR YE! Welcome to Episode 8 of The Documentary Blog Podcast! This episode we’re excited to be joined by two men of noble birth, raised by the sword and driven by vengeance… directors Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer! WHAT GOD DROVE THEM TO FIGHT WITH SUCH A FURY? Find out as we discuss two of their films; the hilarious and exciting live action role playing doc Darkon, and their look at conspiracy theorists, New World Order. We also discuss a few films we’ve been watching lately, including (but not limited to) Restrepo, La Danse, And Everything is Going Fine, The Oath, and much more! Have a listen below and be sure to subscribe to our feed over at “the iTunes.” Enjoy!

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Show notes, credits, links and more at TheDocumentaryBlog.com.