Category Archives: Documentary

Wesley Willis Documentaries

Cool set of documentaries about singer / songwriter / artist / street performer Wesley Willis (R.I.P. 2003) from Chicago. Thanks Drew. Vampire bat! A portrait of the self proclaimed rock ‘n’ roll star and “Chicago City Artist.” Despite impossible odds, Chicago native, Wesley Willis became an underground rock icon, revered artist and hero to many before [...]

MYSTERIES OF THE GODS (1977) – William Shatner

Campy 1977 documentary with William Shatner exploring the theory that the U.S. government is involved in a cover-up of visiting alien spacecraft. via IFMX. VHS tape hiss goodness and some very nice background scores in the film. Based on a book by Erich von Daniken, this documentary contains evidence of extraterrestrial life here on earth. [...]

Barbara Nitke – “American Ecstacy”

Warning – NSFW. Kickstarter project by woman photographer Barbara Nitke about the Golden Age of Pornography. Looks like an interesting narrative, she seems quirky and very New York in the Kickstarter film. Kickstart project here. It’s hard to imagine now, but in 1982 when I started working on porn movies, we shot real 35mm film [...]

HAMILTON’S PHARMACOPEIA – “The Philosopher’s Stone”

VBS launches a new HAMILTON’S PHARMACOPEIA, this time Hamilton travels to Amsterdam to take an excessive dose of magic truffles and walk around during Queen’s day – apparently the most chaotic, hectic day that happens over there. You also get to meet the truffle brothers and learn about how they make these psychedelic fungi. Part [...]

Beautiful Cinema @ This Must Be the Place

This series of narrative documentary films are shot so cleanly, and so beautifully. Check out their Vimeo page here for more beautiful cinematics. In the movie below entitled “Prime”, the restaurant is like a second home – some of the employees have been slinging burgers, making shakes, and waiting on customers at this location for [...]

Bones Brigade: An Unexpected Journey

New documentary trailer on the legendary Bones Brigade. I remember seeing the Bones Brigade in the 80s and it was like the best thing ever – these guys were our idols. The film premieres this week at Sundance.

Linotype the Film (Trailer)

This is awesome. A group of guys (Doug Wilson, Brandon Goodwin and Jess Heugel) made a documentary about the photo lettering machine used in the 50s-70s, to be outdated by the advent of desktop publishing and computers. Site here. Premieres in SF Tuesday, February 21, 2012 – 7:00 PM @ Typekit San Francisco: 2601 Mission [...]

Hacker Owns Thief Who Stole His Computer Two Years Later

Crazy tale of a hacker who gets his computer stolen and then finds it on the internet two years later, getting revenge on the thief. via LiveLeak.

Happy Sunday courtesy of honey boo boo

Mah special juice is gonna make me win! Parenting 101 let’s go!

Amazing San Francisco 1955 Cinemascope Film

Wow… Saw this on our realtor’s blog. Totally amazing footage of San Francisco with vibrant colors. A breathtaking 21 minutes of pure visual pleasure that harkens back to Hitchcock. So surprised this video only has 5,500 views…

Turning Whiskey into Water – A Parlor Trick

Really nice use of alchemy. This is a parlor trick that’s been getting passed around the web. I will be trying it out tonight. They did a great job filming this.

House Industries on Gestalten TV

Gestalten TV feature on House Industries with Ken Barber. Die Gestalten Verlag is a publisher of fine art and design books and type faces. House Industries has been producing their premier league retro design and their true love… Fonts! Fonts! Fonts! since 1993. House Industries’ lead letterer Ken Barber recently visited us in Berlin to [...]

Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea Zombie Town

Some photos of Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea I took on our way back from Salvation Mountain. Nothing lives here except 295 people and a bunch of dead fish and birds. It was once supposed to be an upcoming resort town, but the salt killed everything. This is a fabulous place to wander the [...]

Cris Cleen Tattoos Margaret Cho

Cris Cleen, ultra-talented artist and tattooer recently did some beautiful erotic-themed ink on comedian Margaret Cho. Cho writes an absolutely lovely description of Cris’ work and her desire to get tattooed by him. I was super stoked she mentions the short documentary I shot on Cris, and thought this was so cool that it resonated [...]

Slab City Americana – Niland, California

We recently visited Salvation Mountain, but failed to realize there is an “off the grid” desert civilization just beyond. VBS.TV travels to “The Slab” and interviews some of the eccentric, and fascinating characters in America’s last “free” city. So bummed we missed out on this, but it looks a bit locals only. Photo I took [...]

Hero: A drawing of 3.2 million dots

Nice editing and effects. I don’t know how someone has the patience to do this, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless. By Miguel Endara.

Lil’ B the Based God Documentary

Bay Area’s rapper Lil’ B in a three part documentary exploring his use of social media as a promotional tool and his honest philosophies on approaching life. He seems like a pretty likable guy and a down to Earth character. Apparently he really likes the wharf.

Making Knives and Selling Books

Let’s see where this goes. So far, nice rack focus and cinema. Medieval or internet? Lots of cutting and burning one’s self. Looks like Eraserhead. Nothing like grinding metal all night drunk in the backyard shed. Kind of really creepy, and a huge photo staff to boot. Boo hoo, dreams, growing food in your backyard [...]

Until the Light Takes Us: Black Metal Documentary

This weekend, I watched this documentary on Netflix about Burzum, black metal, the church burnings and murders in Norway. I thought the movie rambled and had a certain indirectness to the story telling. It’s worth checking out if you like this black metal stuff, and I think it would appeal to folks who already knew [...]