Neil DeGasse Tyson trippin on Issac Newton

Slow Neil DeGasse Tyson to half time and he enters an altered state and starts tripping on his favourite physicist Issac Newton.

RIP 285 Kent: A Documentary

Pitchfork have released a documentary on famed DIY venue 285 Kent in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and the events that lead to it shutting its doors late last year.  It features interviews and performance footage from Deafheaven, Fucked Up, DIIV, Dan Deacon, Pictureplane, Lodro, Wolf Eyes, DUST, and more.

Twenty Years Since the Passing of the Irreplaceable Bill Hicks

I don't know how I missed this and never saw news or info about this event but February 26th marked the 20 year anniversary of the passing of comedian Bill Hicks.  I don't know many comedians because I do not find many of these funny men funny so I generally stay away.  As has been said many times before, Bill Hicks was ahead of his time and changed comedy for better or worse.  He existing in a time before the Internet, his criticism of government, religion, marketing, corporatism, war and misinformation was a lone voice.  His rants were well informed and backed by little known facts (at the time) and delivered with rage to an unaccepting American audience.  While he only played to small audiences, especially in his home country of the United States (he had a much larger and accepting  following (of his anti-US government/military views) in the UK and Australia), his voice was never heard by the masses.  His opinions were not in line with the views that are needed for broadcast airtime to receive a larger audience and as I said above, before the Internet, a tool that has since help spread his comedy and message.  As time goes on he becomes more relevant as his warnings come true and leaked government documents continue to reveal the corporatocracy in which we live in today.  It is tragic that we lost his voice years prior the fall of the towers and the ensuing endless War of Terrorism, NSA and government spying, and the deception and slow crumbling of international democracy.  But we still have his words.  Even though he spoke of a different time, they are very much about today.

Below is a fantastic documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story on the life and comedy of Bill Hicks as well as a HBO Special, an interview on Austin Public Access, and a send off from one of his shows (at the end of his act he would often leave the audience with a message or a statement to take home and think about).

WILLIAM MELVIN "BILL" HICKS

December 16, 1961 - February 26, 1994

Life After PI Documentary

A documentary which tells the story of visual effects house Rhythm and Hues and their financial struggles while producing the special effects for two effects heavy academy award nominated movies.  Just before they won the award for their work for Life of PI they had to file for bankruptcy and lay off most of their staff.  This film shows how Hollywood has made it nearly impossible for visual effects companies to survive and the nomadic lifestyle and uncertainty that VFX employees face.  It is a sad affair that the studios need to correct especially since they lean on and rely on these companies since a large portion of the summer blockbusters are effects driven.  It isn't uncommon now for a feature to have 80% or greater of the film contain effects shots.

The Largest Glacier Calving Caught on Film

The piece of the Illulissat Glacier in Western Greenland the size of Manhattan broke off into the ocean on May 8th, 2008 and it was caught on film and I have to say it is truly sublime video to which you can see the enormity of this event and yet at the same time not be able to grasp the size of this event or what it must have been like to witness this in person.  Truly awe inspiring to see such a dramatic occurrence in nature.  This clip is from a full length documentary Chasing Ice, which I have not seen and have heard little of, up to this point.

The Zero Theorem Trailer

Director Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 12 Monkeys, and the Monty Python films) returns with another mindbender starring the always great Christopher Waltz.  The worlds this man is able to construct with a limited budget, for Hollywood standards, are always engrossing and captivating.  He is a truly unique voice and a visionary; his films alway have as much style as they do substance and story, which is also unique in the modern era of film.

Documentary Trailer MIDWAY: Message From the Gyre

The trailer for the short film documentary Midway: Message From the Gyre shot by Seattle based photographer Chris Jordan shot this film over multiple visits to the Midway Atollo, an island isolated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  It shows the plight of the Albatross and how they are dying off due to the consumption of plastic.  Midway Atollo, although in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and fairly isolated from human development (the population is about 60 people and just over 300 visited last year) the negative environmental impact from humans is heavily felt with the Island being located in the North Pacific Garbage Patch or "Garbage Island."  Nearly half the size of Australia this collection of half submerged plastic is collected in the middle of the ocean by the swirling currents of the Pacific.  Click here for more information.  Chris Jordan is currently looking for money to complete this film and for distribution but says it will be released in 2014.


MIDWAY a Message from the Gyre : a short film by Chris Jordan from Midway on Vimeo.

1959 Chevrolet Bel Air vs. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu IIHS Crash Test

A video contrasting the difference that 50 years has made in automobile design and safety.  It is crazy to imagine how horrific auto accidents used to be as you see the dash and steering column get smashed through the dummy drivers chest.  Incredible slow-motion footage.

Skydiving From the Edge of Space

October 14, 2012, Felix Baumgartner ascended more than 24 miles above Earth's surface to the edge of space in a stratospheric balloon before skydiving back to Earth, and in the process was the first man to break the sound barrier.

After over a year GoPro and Redbull have published video of this amazing feat.

Dolphins Using a Pufferfish as a Narcotic

It is said that dolphin, like humans, are only species to have sex for pleasure.  It looks like that is not the only thing as the BBC was able to record footage of a pod of dolphins using the toxin from a pufferfish as a narcotic and enjoying an altered state.

WTF Happened to Movie Posters

Here is an accurate and sad look at modern movie posters and how in the era of big budget blockbusters the studios, which spend the same amount of money promoting and advertising movies as they spend on the movies themselves (hundreds of millions of dollars in some cases).  Yet, they completely forget about the posters, often using throw together photoshop work and simple generic formulas that look like they chose the lowest bidder and create the poster, which besides the trailer and commercials, is their primary advertising piece.

A Taste of Capitalism: The Banana Massacre

The Banana Massacre from Banana Land on Vimeo.

Nine Inch Nails: Tension Tour 2013 Live Concert

Nine Inch Nails are one of the best acts to see live and luckily I have been able to see them 4 times (number 5 coming up in March on their Australian leg of their world tour).  Every time their stage show  is completely different and unmatched by any other live band.  Their lighting rigs and use of screens is always changing, both overtime and over tours but also over the course of one show as the rigging is always evolving, giving each song a personalized visual estetic.  Their latest Tension Tour is their ambitious and costly tour so far and this video documents one of the last stops on the tour before they pack up and fly over to Australia to unveil a new tour once again.



Below here are two videos documenting the behind the scenes efforts and production to get a tour like this off the ground, and just how improvised and intuative the whole process is at the beginning.

Documentary Searching for Sugar Man

I watched this last night and it is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen.  The story of Rodriguez a folk singer in the early 1970s who made two records that didn't sell at all in the States and then he just dissappeared.  Somehow one of the records of the few that did sell ended up in South Africa, where pirated cassettes of the original vinyl circulated and his albums become two of the biggest and culturally important albums of the time.  This film tries to track down and tell the story of a man that almost no one knew the story of, while soundtracked by his music that everyone should know.  Below is the trailer.

 

Here is the full film.

Edward Burtynsky's Watermark Documentary Trailer

Watermark is a trailer for a documentary due in early 2014 that is the latest collaboration of photographer Edward Burtynsky and filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal.



Edward Burtynsky is a Canadian photographer that shoots large format photographs of sweeping views of large industrial landscapes such as scrape heaps, quarries, industrial refuse, mine tailings, and other grand vistas where environment, humans, and economy converge.  He travels the world and has made many trip to China and India in the last two decades to document the rise of these economic powers and the alteration of the landscape is subject in the documentary Manufactured Landscapes (2006).



Here are a few examples of Burtynsky's works from throughout his career from verious locations around the globe.

A Band Called DEATH Documentary Trailer

A BAND CALLED DEATH [Trailer] from Drafthouse Films on Vimeo.

These guys were punk years before people had heard punk music.  They were nearly unheard and unknown of until nearly 35 years after they broke up when a demo tape was found, remastered, and released upon the world.  Even though there are only 7 songs on their 1974 recorded and 2009 released album For The Whole World to See, it packs more punch then almost any other band has managed no matter the length of their career.  Since this was released 4 years ago it has been a constant on my playlist.  I am really lloking forward to this movie and seeing more about this band and their story.  Its too bad that the lead singer was already dead by the time people heard of this band and promoters were trying to book them shows.  Look them up and buy this album.

The Johnny Cash Project: Aint No Grave

A short documentary and interviews with artists that contributed to the music video for Johnny Cash's last official single, Aint No Grave, as well as the completed version of the video afterwards.  Directed by Chris Milk, I don't know how I didn't know about this video until now.

Beck covering David Bowie's Sound and Vision

This is a trailer for a new series, Hello, Again, in which a current artist covers a past song.  For the first episode Beck covers Sound and Vision from Bowie's classic album Low.  The full video and song will be posted on February 10th.  Below is the original Bowie version, as well as a remix reinterpretation that Beck did last year for a Philip Glass tribute album, which is definitely one of my favorite songs from 2012.

OVERVIEW: An Astronauts View of Earth from Space

OVERVIEW from Planetary Collective on Vimeo.

A 20 minute long documentary with some awesome HD footage of our planet from space.

Polar Bears and Dogs Playing