PODCAST: Midwest white trash

First off, I've had a few complaints about the podcast post titles being offensive or too reductive, specifically with regard to the post title for Episode 3 of the podcast "The gays take over." Before we go any further down that road with criticisms of me of writing-off the very human subjects of the breathtakingly beautiful film that is 45365 as "midwest white trash," let me simply state that reductive is the point. Seriously? It's a joke. A joke rendered even less funny by this explanation.

But chuckle-seekers are in luck because, this week, we are offering up the funniest episode of the podcast so far, talking to Bill and Turner Ross really made me wish there were more laughs in our podcast. We're not a comedy show, but I'm making a concerted effort to bring a little more personality to the table on future episodes. The Brothers Ross are hilarious guys and very talented filmmakers. It is almost hard to imagine that a couple of guys with such wacky senses of humor could turn in such a mature and measured film as 45365...but they did.

Tune in now for a great conversation. My podcast co-host and the editor of The Documentary Blog, Jay Cheel, did a write-up and posted a link to download the pod on his site. Check out the original post and download the podcast here.

Jay Cheel » 11.18.10 »

Once again, it’s time for a new episode of The Documentary Blog Podcast! This week Jay Cheel and Joshua Ligairi are joined by the Ross brothers (Turner and Bill), directors of last year’s SXSW festival favourite 45365. They join us for the entire show as we talk about some documentary recommendations and I discuss my experience at this years CPH:DOX film festival. We also talk to Turner and Bill about their experience making 45365 and the success that followed it. It’s also worth noting that I was suffering jet lag when we recorded this episode, so I take no responsibility for how slow I talk or the things I say. Having said that, this was one fun show! Gotta love those Ross Bros™! Have a listen to the show below and be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes (and rate us while you’re at it).

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PODCAST: Voyeurs and environmentalists

We're back with a pretty damn interesting episode of the Documentary Blog Podcast. Ondi Timoner is a strong woman, a strong filmmaker, and she has created some really fascinating films. She's also a talker. Hear me be intimidated live on air!

We actually had a great, open conversation with her the other day and discussed my two favorite movies from her filmography, We Live In Public and Cool It. The highlight of this episode for me was the James Franco casting story in our new "How Was Your Weekend?" segment. My podcast co-host and the editor of The Documentary Blog, Jay Cheel, did a write-up and posted a link to download the pod on his site. Check out the original post and download the podcast here.

Jay Cheel » 11.02.10 »

Hello and welcome! It is time once again for another episode of The Documentary Blog podcast. This week hosts Jay Cheel and Joshua Ligairi are lucky enough to be joined by the only filmmaker who has won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival twice, director Ondi Timoner. She joins us to discuss her latest film, Cool It, which premiered at this years Toronto International Film Festival (you can read my thoughts on Cool It here). We also talk a bit about her previous work, specifically her last film We Live in Public. On top of that, we talk about what we’ve been watching and we introduce a brand new segment to the show titled ‘How Was Your Weekend?’. All in all a great time and a definite must listen! Enjoy!

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PODCAST: Yes, we did @#%*in' shoot that!

The first in what I hope will be a long line of visitors from a secret society known only as "Michael Moore's Documentary Insurgency," Jeff Deutchman joins us on the The Documentary Blog Podcast.

As a personal aside, I found out just before our interview with him that Jeff was the IFC executive that passed on Cleanflix, so I went in prepared to hate the guy, but he won me over instantly with his charm and intellect.

This podcast is a great way to get to know the filmmaker and get some insights into his film which will screen simultaneously across the country tomorrow, October 20th. If you are near one of his 11/4/08 screenings tomorrow, please go support the film and this exciting new distribution method for independent documentaries.

Charlotte Cook » 10.19.10 »

On episode four of The Documentary Blog Podcast Jay and Josh are joined by Jeff Deutchman, curator/producer of 11/4/08. We talk to Jeff about making a "participatory documentary" and his interesting distribution plans for the film. 11/4/08 is released tomorrow and you can see more information on where to see the film here. In addition we have the usual discussion about documentaries everyone watched this week, which includes Jay’s review of Jackass 3D, Josh's thoughts on Reel Paradise, and Jeff’s recommendation of the latest Patricio Guzmán film, Nostalgia for the Light. Make sure to check out the show notes after the jump for all of the info you need on our guests and the topics we discuss. Enjoy!

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BLOG: Edward Burns' homage trailers

This is a re-post of a piece I wrote for FilmJunk.com, where I am an occasional contributor. While there is no real "writing" here to speak of, I wanted to pass this on because I absolutely love the subject matter.

Joshua Ligairi » 10.13.2010 »

With it’s sappy-sweet first trailer premiering to much online criticism, Edward Burns has taken the marketing of his new film, Nice Guy Johnny, into his own hands and, in my opinion, in a very exciting new direction. Burns, with the help of someone named “Reel Movie Guy“, has recut the Johnny trailer in the style of several classic films. So far, five such trailers have been released.

Want to test your own movie knowledge? You can play along at home. See if you can figure out which classic films’ trailers are being homaged by Burns et al. Nice Guy Johnny "homage trailers" (and the original trailers they are homaging) below. Sadly, something to do with my Blogger settings crops the right side of these videos, but if youclick on the YouTube logo in the bottom right corner, you can just watch the trailers on YouTube.

1. Nice Guy Johnny Homage Trailer 1

2. Nice Guy Johnny Homage Trailer 2

3. Nice Guy Johnny Homage Trailer 3

4. Nice Guy Johnny Homage Trailer 4

5. Nice Guy Johnny Homage Trailer 5

And now, the originals. How did you do? There are some tricky ones in here. Like, number four is obviously a Woody Allen film, but how do you tell it apart from the 100 or so other Woody Allen trailers with the exact same font and very similar jazz music? If we were playing Scene It, I could have guessed Husbands and Wives just as easily. And what about number two? This is essentially the same trailer as Godard's trailer for Breathless. It is just the font at the beginning that gives it away. Frankly, i think they cheated a little bit, using "the pretty girl" and "the bad boy" from Breathless, but once you realize they are going for Contempt rather than Breathless, jokes like "the Cutlass Supreme" play a lot better. I was able to identify most of these trailers on my own, all except for number three (which is a bummer because it is my favorite). Thankfully, Film Junk reader "Alex" helped me out with that one. What a fucking awesome awesome trailer! They just don't make 'em like that anymore.

1. L’Avventura (The Adventure) Trailer

2. Contempt Trailer

3. The Thomas Crown Affair Trailer

4. Hannah and Her Sisters Trailer

5. Love Story Trailer

I love that someone in Burns’ position is not only sticking with indie film in a very tough time for it, but is also willing to put himself and his film on the line with such a unique form of marketing. What a lovely tribute to the work that inspired him an d what an effective example of how marketing can effect our impression of a film.

I’ll be checking the film out based on this campaign alone, hoping that a filmmaker with this level of guts and creativity will deliver a comparable film.

More info on Nice Guy Johnny can be found on the official website.

PODCAST: Gay ol' time

My buddy Malcolm Ingram (I'm going with "buddy" because I'd call him a friend, but he'd probably call me an acquaintance) is our special guest on Episode #3 of The Documentary Blog Podcast. The fire in Malcolm's belly for Catfish lead to us getting him for an entire episode. Full of hilarity and controversy, this may be the best DocBlogPod episode so far. Go to the original post to download the episode and get full show notes here.

Jay Cheel » 10.05.10 »

On episode number three of The Documentary Blog Podcast Jay and Josh are joined by Malcolm Ingram, director of Small Town Gay Bar and, most recently, Bear Nation. You might also recognize Malcolm as the co-host (alongside Kevin Smith) of the popular podcast Blow Hard, a weekly show that’s part of Smith’s awesome Smodcast Podcast Network. This week we get into an EXTREMELY SPOILER HEAVY talk about the controversial Sundance favourite ‘reality thriller’ Catfish. While Malcolm is fairly clear cut in his feelings towards the film, Jay attempts to sort out all of the pro’s and con’s of his experience. This leads us into some Dear Zachary discussion and a little bit of TIFF talk (including Ondi Timoner’s Cool It). We also talk with Malcolm about the making of Small Town Gay Bar and his latest film, Bear Nation.

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PODCAST: DocBlogPod gets double-teamed

In episode two of The Documentary Blog Podcast, we actually have two guest filmmakers. We had a blast talking with Bradley Beesley and Ben Steinbauer about their films. Check out the original post here for complete show notes, to download, subscribe, and more.

Jay Cheel » 09.19.10 »

On this week’s episode of The Documentary Blog Podcast Jay and Josh are joined by two great documentary filmmakers, Bradley Beesley (Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo, The Fearless Freaks, Okie Noodling) and Ben Steinbauer (Winnebago Man). We talk with them about their latest films (they actually worked on each other’s projects) and get some insight into filming inside of a prison, the visceral nature of the rodeo, and a little insight into the wonderfully cantankerous Jack Rebney and his infamous viral video. Also, Jay discusses his time at TIFF and everyone recommends some essential documentary viewing. Make sure to check out the show notes after the jump for all of the info you need on our guests and the topics we discuss. Enjoy!

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PODCAST: Documentary podcast launches

The first episode of The Documentary Blog Podcast just went live. My co-host and the editor of The Documentary Blog, Jay Cheel, did a write-up and posted a link to download the pod on his site. Check out the original post and download the podcast here.

Jay Cheel » 09.12.10 »

It’s my pleasure to present to you the very first episode of The Documentary Podcast! Myself (Jay Cheel) and my co-host Joshua Ligairi aim to bring you some solid, informative discussion on the latest in documentary news, reviews, trailers and DVD/Blu Ray releases on what we hope will be a regular basis (aiming for bi-weekly at the moment). Best of all, we plan on having regular guest contributors including some of your favourite bloggers and documentary filmmakers!

For our premiere episode we’re thrilled to be joined by Jeff Feuerzeig, director of one my favourite docs of the decade, The Devil and Daniel Johnston. We discuss some docs we’ve been watching, highlight some of our top pics at TIFF and get into some trailers. Finally, we end the show off with a discussion with Jeff about working with Daniel Johnston and some of the challenges he faced when making his film.

This being our first episode, we’re still in the process of working through the format and sorting out any technical issues we might face so any feedback would be greatly appreciated! As the shows go on, we will begin to smooth everything out and settle comfortably into what will hopefully be an entertaining and insightful podcast for documentary lovers! Enjoy!

Download the podcast and get show notes, credits, and links at TheDocumentaryBlog.com