Staredown! - Unflinching Triumph

[raisins]

Has anybody seen this?

If you like unusual sports or are interested in small niche subcultures you will probably enjoy this mockumentary.

Apparently the rules of staring contests were too wide open and with no governing body to enforce standards, chaos resulted. Fortunately, the National Association of Staredown Professionals (NASP) stepped forward to fill the breech. There is now a season of qualifying events and a National Championship.

The movie Unflinching Triumph, follows professional Staredown athlete Phillip Rockhammer through the Staredown calendar of events. He deals with everything from a possible season ending injury where he is told by his doctor that further participation may result in permanent injury, to possibly losing his girlfriend who works two jobs to support him. Naturally he has a nemesis, 5 time defending champion, Tony Patterson, widely known for his signature move "jamming the crankshaft". All the supporting characters are great as well, especially Erika Watson, the lone female competitor. The matches she wins wih her move are hilarious.

This movie had me going for most of the ride. The ending had a number of ludicrous scenes that broke the spell and made me realize just how far the director had brought me in thinking any of it could be real. The filmmakers though have gone to quite a bit of trouble in making it look real. There's a number of websites that support it. Google some of the characters' names for examples.

The movie is free and it is available here.