TypePad Featured Blogs

Blogumentary

Put a blog and video camera together and what do you get? Blogumentary, a “videoblog” that tackles issues of the day, both large and small. Using videos (some gathered from YouTube, others from individual posters including the author ), the blog makes liberal use of visuals over words – a powerful example of “one picture being worth a thousand words”. At turns provocative, funny, and thoughtful (all depending on the constantly refreshed content), this blog will have you watching for hours. P.S.: you’ll also see why Minneapolis is a lot more than Mary Tyler Moore!

The IFC Blog

For those that like their entertainment news neatly laid out with snappy reviews, candid pictures, and insider gossip, The IFC Blog will be right up their alley. Blogger Allison Willmore distills the latest film and television news (or as she proclaims, "reading the news so you don't have to"). Her recent posts on Roman Polanski's next film and what unusual remake Francis Ford Coppola would like to do, her "critics' wrangle" (an ongoing compilation of opinions films from leading critics - this one on Lions For Lambs,), and why the "best reviewed American movie of the year" seems to be snubbed by Oscar pundits. Allison provides lots of links to recommended sites; plus there's a schedule finder and store filled with videos of your favorite shows and moviews, so sign on and start rolling!

AMC Monsterfest Blog

It's alive! AMC's The Monsterfest Blog is a monstrous collection of all that's fit to print in the world of fangs and fur. From film classics like Dracula and the Wolfman to modern-day fiends Pinhead and Freddy, they're all in here ready to give you a right good scare. As the horror genre spans across all media, there's also information about monster-inspired games, music, and festivals. Don’t forget to participate in the Monsterfest polls (we here at TypePad rated “Misery” the top Stephen King movie), and take a look at the collection of videos they’ve garnered from around the web. With cheeky writing and witty commentary, this blog is entertaining as it is informative. And let’s face it – how can you resist a blog that includes “zombies” as a category?

StarPrompt

We've said it before and we'll say it again: Whether you're a small business or a sole proprietor, you can use TypePad as your entire web site. It will cost your less per month than a single Fancy Coffee Drink™ and you'll be able to modify your message in an instant without calling a third-party web developer or agency. Take, for example, the excellent StarPrompt Teleprompting Services, which offers these fine features: contact information, snazzy branding, client photos, lists of past clients and recent jobs, a sign-up form for a newsletter, an ad for additional services, a live feed of entertainment news, and perhaps most importantly -- a sense that there are real (and really entertaining) people behind the rented teleprompter. Honestly, it's a beautiful example of getting a lot of crucial information on one screen where the most important people can see it. I guess it's no surprise that pros like StarPrompt make it work, but we think TypePad makes it easy enough for anyone to pull off. High five!

The Namesake Blog

The Namesake, a bittersweet film based on Jhumpa Lahiri's bestselling novel, debuted in selected theaters last week and continues to roll out across North America. It's beautifully directed by Mira Nair, the woman behind Monsoon Wedding, Vanity Fair, and Mississippi Masala, to name just a few of her credits. Among the movie's many stars is Kal Penn, who you might know from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, and who is also manning The Namesake Blog, which offers a few stolen moments with the actor as he works on upcoming projects, travels to promote The Namesake, and stays in touch with fans of the film. Having gotten a look at a sneak preview of the film, we can't recommend it highly enough. Check the blog for a theater near you!

The DVD Dossier

The DVD Dossier is a treasure trove for movie lovers. Especailly those who augment their theater-going experiences with a healthy amount of DVD purchases and rentals. Even without considering the commentary and links in the site's main feed, we can see bookmarking the Dossier for the visual listing of recent and upcoming DVD releases in the left-hand sidebar. That resource alone, updated weekly, would be plenty, but then you've got the main Dossier blog with in-depth news, previews, and even humor pieces. There is an amazing wealth of DVD-related content here, proving that the folks at the Dossier truly love movies. Don't be overwhelmed by you initial visit. Just bookmark or subscribe to their feed and let the cinemania flow.

Vintage Film

U.K. photographer Jodie Chapman is kind enough to share her blogging passions right up front, in the header of her TypePad blog -- vintage film, music, sewing, writing, knitting, thrift finds, polaroid art -- just to name a few. She only started blogging earlier this year, but her initial posts already offer a great example of a personal blog with an artist's touch. You'll find longish posts about travel (most recently to New York City) and shopping and, of course, classic films, each nicely illustrated with imagery hand-crafted or hand-picked with the aid of Chapman's keen eye for visual impact.  Check her sidebar for a  list of films she loves -- from Gone With the Wind to The Great Escape. Hopefully, in the coming weeks and months she'll have a chance to post about each of them as craftily as she did about 12 Angry Men.

Blogumentary

Blogumentary is a documentary film about the rise of blogs and their influence on "our media, our politics, and our relationships" that made its New York City premiere last August. Blogumentary is also the name of the personal blog of filmmaker Chuck Olsen, who posts about both personal and professional passions. Chuck knows that a post can (and should) come from anywhere: his new camera, his other blogging projects like Minnesota Stories, filming John Edwards on the campaign trail, and assorted tips of his hat to other video bloggers. If you're at all interested in the intersection of video and blogs, Chuck's take isn't necessarily required reading, but its certainly very entertaining reading. And viewing, too. Don't neglect to check out the clips from the Blogumentary shoots that populate the blog's sidebar. One more note: Please try not to delete your blog. It's not pretty.

Independent America

Sometimes we don't realize how essential mom-and-pop businesses are until they're gone. That's what happened to Emmy-winning journalist Hanson Hosein and his wife Heather Hughes. After moving to the land of "Big Box" stores, they took a trip down the Pacific Coast Highway and noticed that indie-owned shops were dying out. What they found inspired them to take their message nationally. Independent America, the blog, chronicles the success of Independent America, the documentary film, based on a two month trip across 32 states. Americans in the film pass the message themselves -- the corporate chains are stripping the soul (and democracy) out of communities. Slowly but surely the citizens are seeing the difference between the discounted price on the product and the higher price they are actually paying through the loss of their community. We love that the blog goes beyond media announcements and the production of the movie and continues to spread the good word about where us readers and viewers can find the best of Indie America. Here are their votes for best sleeps, eats, and towns that they encountered on their trip. Hosein and Hughes also link up to American businesses that are "engaged and involved" in supporting the smaller retailers. How often do you shop at a Big Box store? Buy the DVD or watch the trailer and see if your attitude begins to shift.

Filmi Geek

Got Bollywood? Carla Levy is obsessed with Hindi films and when the movie category on her personal blog outgrew itself, she decided to create a new site to support her pastime. With each review on Filmi Geek, Carla gives a us an overview of the plot, and then offers her honest opinion of the film and the actors. To an outsider, it might seem like the films are similar, but keep reading and you'll find that not every beautiful Indian actress is alike. This is the world's largest film industry, and the films in this blog take us from elite Muslim society in mid-Nineteenth Century northern India (Umrao Jaan), to the holy city of Banaras in the 1930s (Water), and even into arthouse films that delve into the world of schizophrenia (15 Park Avenue). Bollywood buffs will go ga-ga for the actor/actress index, while newbies will appreciate the navigational guide that explains Filmi Geek's categories and qualitative descriptions. Either way, you'll be rushing straight to your Netflix queue to load up on Carla's recommended films.

Video Static

Want to know which music videos are in the pipeline? Want to know which directors are taking a shot at creating the next MTV sensation? If so, Video Static is the place to be. Steven Gottlieb makes it his business to track every production company, every video shoot, and all the latest clips to be added to network rotations. He's been tracking the music video industry for over a decade, formerly as the Senior Editor of CVC Report, and more recently as the man behind Video Static. Making extensive use of categories to detail the companies, directors reps, record labels, and video networks that make up this amazingly creative industry, Gottlieb has created a site that stands alone as a crucial source for the music-video professional. And if that's not enough, he's got video clips. Janet Jackson, anyone?

Kaiju Shakedown

Kaiju Shakedown is just one of a bunch of TypePad blogs offered by Tinseltown's paper of record: Variety. Here, blogger Grady Hendrix keeps tabs on the latest releases in Asian cinema -- everything from the animated fantasies to the martial-arts action movies to the big-budget epics to the new wave of Asian horror. There's more than any die-hard fan could ask for -- festival updates, buzz on future releases, and interviews with influential filmmakers. Catch up on the latest about the much ballyhooed Exiled or just sit back and take in some trailers. Movie buffs who want to stay ahead of the curve, Kaiju Shakedown is required reading.

The IFC Blog

If you're a fan of independent film, you'll definitely want to have The IFCBlog on your radar. The Independent Film Channel is a cutting-edge cable network that offers a home to indie movies, documentaries, original series, and even talk shows. (In fact, let us all praise the new king of chat: Henry Rollins.) This particular blog, one of a matched pair, is nothing short of encyclopedic. The tagline, "The IFC blog reads the news so you don't have to," is a staggering understatement. Not only does editor Alison Willmore review new films and recently released DVDs, she also combs through the very big world of online film criticism to bring you the most important quotes. She even takes the time to annotate her densely packed (and intensely smart) posts with an unheralded array of related links. You can (and probably will) spend hours clicking around in this film-lover's paradise.

Culture Space

M.S. Smith's CultureSpace is a personal blog that touches on film, music, sports, and literature (with a little design and photography thrown in). Minimal in its visual aesthetic, CultureSpace is anything but minimal when it comes to the long-form posts that it offers. Smith writes detailed essays on art-house films such as The Beat That My Heart Skipped and Le Samourai and Me and You and Everyone We Know. This isn't necessarily the place to come find out if X-Men 3 is worth renting on Netflix. But if you share some of Smith's passion for cinema, you'll be amply rewarded by browsing through his film commentary. The rest of his essays and observations are well worth perusing, as well.

Hellboy Animated

It looks like a blog, sounds like a blog, but wait—when it comes out of a movie studio—it's a production diary. Hollywood, take notice, there's a new star in the blogosphere. Hellboy Animated, written by Supervising Director Tad Stones, walks readers through the process of turning a popular comic-book character into two DVD movies. Fans gave a mixed response to the live-action Hellboy film that came out in 2004, but there's no doubt that Hellboy Animated has them on the edge of their seats waiting for the next feature on the "World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator". If you've ever wanted the intimate details about how storyboards are made, how color stylists work with background painters, the skinny on incorporating music, or just wanted a sneak peek at the color scripts—this site's for you. Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is working closely with Tad and features prominently in the narrative.