It is no secret that I love documentaries. I\’ve watched a ton of them, even ventured out and made one myself. So it is without reservation that I say… \”Searching for Sugar Man\” is the best documentary I have ever seen. It took me a few weeks to really warm up to that statement because of the magnitude of such words. But I can no longer deny it. The documentary itself is superb. The animated bits were done by hand by the director himself. He shot parts of it with his iPhone. He went broke and nearly didn\’t finish the film. But what gets me the most is the story of Rodriguez. This has to be one of the greatest stories ever told. EVER.

I simply cannot get over that it is real. It is a fairy-tale; simply unbelievable.

Not only am I obsessed… but now I am a fan. Not only of Rodriguez himself, but especially of his music, and Malik Bendjelloul for telling this unreal (but totally real) story. This film won the Sundance Film Festival\’s coveted \”Special Jury Prize\” and \”World Cinema Audience Award\”, and has been nominated for an Academy Award for \”Best Documentary Feature\”. Obviously I am not alone in my praise.

Special thanks to Charlie Smith for turning me onto this film. It is going to be a tough act for all documentaries to follow.

Since joining up with the amazing team over at Southern Reel in November, one of the many projects we have been wrenching on is the music video for Blackberry Smoke’s “Pretty Little Lie”. This was my first chance to work on a proper music video, and what an honor to be a part of the team tasked with the video of the first single off their new record, “The Whipporwill”!

I am very proud of how this video turned out, as well as proud of everyone involved for adding their own touches to make this video what it is! This was a team effort, and it shows.

And if you look closely… you might recognize the guy smoking the tires up in the Camaro! ;)

I really don\’t even know where to start with this… other than I am in love. These videos are nothing short of incredible. The cinematography, visual effects, storyline, and (just the right dose of) mysticism… ALL superb. I see so many great influences in this trilogy… from Akira, to Village of the Damned, and most notably (for my tastes anyway), 2001: A Space Odyssey.

What I think I love the most, however – is that this trilogy is visually NOT how I would ever imagine M83\’s music. This trilogy, however… will be how I imagine M83 from this point forward. That, my friends… is called an impression – and the crew at Fleur & Manu and Machine Molle have just made a big one.