Video of the Week: LEM VILLEMIN IS PRO FOR CLICHE!

It's about time! Lem's pro part is the one we've been waiting for since Diagonal, and watching it is nothing short of cathartic. From back in his Chocolate days to now with Cliche through Bon Voyage, everyone's been rooting for Lem to turn pro and that day has finally come. His majestic flick and catch have just gotten better in time and it's a really wonderful thing to see his name on the bottom of a board for one of my favorite companies. Congrats Lem!

This week was heavy in skate videos, so here are the other top selections:
Collin Provost's new Emerica MADE B-Sides are gnarly as expected and also feature essentially a full new part from him. I thought Clint Walker's kickflip was nuts, but Collin takes it to a whole new level with this ender.
Leo Heinert is introduced as the first rider for TORRO with a part full of quick-footed East Coast shredding like I've never seen. His addition (2:38) to the NYC Courthouse Ledge drop along with those recently from the Supreme kids' in Cherry [spoilers] pretty much give the finger to my older post, which is sick!
I've heard of Jaakko Ojanen before through random park clips, but this new street part is simply insane: skating fast, incorporating a huge bag of tricks, and hitting some of the gnarliest spots.
Two Up is a pretty heavy two-part video with ripping Australians Nick Boserio and Alex Campbell, each coming through with very unique styles to cement in your head if they weren't there already.
Joe Gavin's new video part for Grey Skate Mag shows him shredding the grittiest and roughest streets you can think of with some of the sickest pole jams.
Moose's "extra" footage is still full of casual hammers, a relaxing blend of chill vibes and gnarly tricks.
Bryant Chapo is killing it for FKD.

To get everyone hyped up for their upcoming video parts (two for Vans and one for Outliers), Chris Pfanner drops a mini part for Red Bull, Nassim Guammaz has a gnarly prequel Vans part, and Brad Cromer reminds us how naturally skilled he is by dropping a sweet iPhone part for Doom Sayer.

Some other things worth checking out:
Kingpin did a really nice article on 11 no-push lines that are definitely worth remembering.
Skateboarding Makes the World Go Round is full of incredible Brazilian skating at an assortment of locations around the world with some unheard-of guys mixed with some stars too.

NYC Courthouse Ledge #5: The Main Ledge

When I think of the NYC Courthouse spot, I think of the main ledge first and foremost. There have been numerous tricks done on the ledge, followed up by the infamous rollaway into the bank leading up to the large drop off. To me, landing a ledge trick with the spot's added difficulty captures the essence of New York's "big" spot. I definitely don't have all of the tricks done on this main ledge at the NYC Courthouse but here are a few that I found and a few that are personally memorable.

Above you can see Josh Kalis displayed his proper form on a frontside noseblunt on what I'd say is the lesser-used side of the Courthouse ledges, probably because the landing is much trickier with the poles at the bottom.
Matching that backside is Danny Fuenzalida for an older Think ad:

I'll be honest. I have no idea who back smithed the ledge in the picture below (almost looks like Wieger?), but it is super stylish! (I may be missing some blatant skate-nerd knowledge right here so please let me know who this back smither is.)


Now for a couple of personal favorites:
Brad Cromer nailed a front tail heelflip out, as seen in his Quartersnacks Pro-Fi Remix. The trick itself is definitely not one of the most common ones out there, so to see it done on an iconic spot like this and to be carried through the bank and drop by one of the smoothest styles in skateboarding was quite awesome.
Then there was Matt Militano. Underrated and undercovered by far, this dude rips too hard to not be recognized in the industry yet. He's got plenty of sweet NYC footage with great style, including a couple bangers at the Black Hubba, and his trick at the Courthouse Ledge is nothing short of stunning. Nose manual to back lip to back tail. Creativity, quick feet, and an oh-so-smooth style. Can't go wrong there.

(Now there are definitely some other gems done on this main ledge at the courthouse, but they will be visited later this week under a specific category.)

UPDATE: I forgot about Billy Roper's bs nosegrind pop shove it out with the original post. Definitely worth mentioning so here it is, better late than never.
UPDATE #2: I knew I wasn't going to remember all of the tricks done at this spot's ledge, but here's another one I just came across (not too much later thankfully): Zered Bassett gets to grinding and rotating with a solid front crooks to fakie and then a switch 180 off the end of the bank down to flat.

2014 Videos #3: Outliers (Transworld Video #26)

Not much is know about Transworld's 26th video except for a few details given by Chris Thiessen (1:02). The video is coming out sometime this summer or possibly even in the fall (though TWS is pretty good at keeping deadlines compared to other companies) and it will be called Outliers. Transworld consistently comes through with some of the best videos every year and this one should be no different. Not only are the filmmakers quite extraordinary, but the lineups are very easily the best mix of 5/6 skaters you'd never think of putting together. But that's what makes every TWS video so great: the epic lineup and seeing how the dudes can come together over just a year with incredible skating and those good homie vibes. Now after speaking of the lineup enough already, here it is with some video part reminders of the gnarliness:

Neen Williams - Chicken Bone Nowison
Brad Cromer - going pro for Krooked part above, and Lo-Fi
Lee Yankou - Never Gets Old and Business As Usual
Riley Hawk - Lakai x Baker feature and Shep Dawgs 3
Zered Bassett - State of Mind

Video(s) of the Week: Ben Fisher, Brad Cromer, and Peter Raffin

There were three key videos that came out this week that I had to mention for this post.
Above is Ben Fisher's sml wheels part, which shows the great balance between technical control and style. Some tricks that stuck in my head include the impressive frontside rock pop out at 0:31, the fakie manual fakie flip to fakie manual through two kinks of a sidewalk at 1:54, the switch frontside flip manual revert (mid-manual) down a bank at 2:06, the nose manual nollie shove to fakie manual fakie flip out on a popular bank at 2:46, and the crazy control with the ender: manual bs revert to fakie manual frontside half cab flip out.
Next up is the Peter Raffin Transmission part from Transworld, which displays a serious appeal for unique and gritty spots. While it's already refreshing to see a bunch of new spots (the back tail at 3:00 is beautiful and scary at the same time), it's also pretty cool to see Peter skate everything with a variety of tricks, from huge handrails (like the gnarly crooked grind at 2:20) to precision tricks (like the kickflip back tail at 1:36 with a short kicker to a fairly tall ledge) to super fast gaps (like the line at 2:01 where he half cab flips over a short stairway and then does a huge front 180 out into the street). And of course, his frontside POP shove it ender combines so many pleasing aspects of watching skateboarding all into one trick.
And lastly, I would like to also mention Brad Cromer's Lo-Fi Quartersnacks Remix to recognize Brad turning pro for Krooked. He's got a really powerful and smooth style and definitely deserves pro status; turning pro for a company like Krooked makes it that much cooler. While the tricks in this part came out last year, Quartersnacks never fails at a good remix, and the kickflip 50-50s on waist high rails along with the front tail heelflip out on the NYC courthouse ledge spot can always be replayed without complaints.