Change Your Image
surfs_up1976
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
1810 - Für eine Handvoll Kaspressknödl (2011)
A very unusual yet loosely true history lesson
I think at this point it is important to explain the background of this film and I also believe that metaphors would be the best to describe it as this movie is full of them.
Tyrol is a province in Western Austria, its people traditionally stubborn, tough but very soft on the inside. Core of their identity is a freedom fighter named Andreas Hofer, a guy who led the Tyroleans to two victories against the French and Bavarian armies in 1809 - even Napoleon was impressed. So he is the Che Guevara of Tyrol and represents the pride of these peoples.
In recent decades there have been many glorifications of this character, adding myth and legend and ultimately completely distorting the actual truth about his nature and beliefs. Now we have film here that does exactly the opposite.
This film assumes that Hofer was not even Austrian but a German who was abandoned as a child due to the black death. That's where the chaos starts. Even though he was raised in Tyrol he doesn't speak the native dialect but "High German", alienating him from the rest of the villagers who desperately try to make him "Tyrolean".
In almost every scene 1810 quotes famous Hollywood movies like Kill Bill, 300 and the Exorcist. At some points it seems like it doesn't even try to be convincing but that's probably also due to the fact the makers had virtually no budget at all. Most of the actors are volunteers and the makers, who are also the writers, producers, directors etc, appear in multiple roles throughout the movie. That again gives this production a little bit of a South Park characteristic as they do an incredible job in portraying each character.
Yes, the humor might not be everyone's cup of tea as it is very in-your-face slapstick with a timbre of Monty Python mixed with traditional Tyrolean wit. For Tyroleans this poses the biggest problem. It isn't really patriotic, no, exactly the opposite - it questions too many "facts" that traditional Tyroleans rely on and runs over them like a bulldozer, sometimes charmingly but mostly mercilessly.
I found it to be highly original and a welcome refreshment to the constant over-glorification of a character that actually rather stood for old merits and a conservative society. No doubt, this film is for a younger generation that is open to discuss history, the elders will definitely blindly reject this piece.
...but I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Die Wildnis (1993)
A chilling and original alpine thriller
Reviewing films nowadays is tough because there are so many formulated films that don't really come up with a lot of originality but rather distractions to blur their lack of creativity.
I have to admit that I was one of the few chosen ones who has seen this film in theaters (twice!!!). At first I was confused and disgusted but at second view I was fascinated by the bizarre topic and setting.
The basic idea isn't new. Investigator comes to a secluded village, gets rejected and discovers a greater evil that he can't escape. Heard that before, right? So what makes this movie different from the others? First of all, the acting is superb - not in the classical sense - but I buy it, and I think that is the main challenge today. As long as acting looks like acting it is simply acting - but if you manage to make your performance transcend the common reception of acting you open a whole new door. Jürgen Prochnov ironically, though playing well, is not the highlight of this film. It is this morbid chemistry of the villagers that give you chills running down your spine.
The whole story also develops very welcome "hick-ups" at some points that I was delighted by.
I definitely wouldn't recommend this film to the average wow-cinema-movie-goer who expects a linear story line that leaves no room for oddities or surprises. But if you are the kind of person that wants something different and utterly dark, THIS is for you!
Into the Mind (2013)
This movie's got everything - yet delivers nothing
Wow, was I impressed after the first five minutes...
Wow, was I overwhelmed after the first ten minutes...
Wow, was I speechless after the first 15 minutes...
and wow, was I bored after the first twenty minutes...
It never stops. It never comes to rest. It just keeps going and going and going. Between the tides, night and day, spring and autumn, summer and winter, life and death, breathe in, breathe out, jump up, jump down, vrooooom, it just never stops.
This is INSANELY good footage of, well, kinda everything. This is not a freeride movie, it's not a spiritual movie either, it's not an ongoing introduction clip of great athletes, it's not a permanent product placement film either. It's an ongoing flick about showing off how much budget was burnt. It is meant to feel inspiring - yet it quickly becomes tiring. Have I already already mentioned that it just doesn't stop? It keeps bombarding the viewer with probably the best footage ever assembled for a film with this, uhm, theme.
Everything is so perfect, ...for a moment. But its relentlessness to stay top notch in every second ruins the whole adventure. You can't get attached to anything because the film won't let you. It just speeds on in light speed and doesn't give you any insight on anything except pure awesomeness. In the end, after seeing and hearing all this expensive material you end up feeling kinda empty.
Also the "chapters" are very forced. In fact there are no chapters as there is no developing story. Instead we have very cryptic titles for the forthcoming music video (called "chapter"). It actually makes me sad. There was obviously so much potential, so much money, so many talented people - but in the end the film appears like a life long trailer of itself.
The Crash Reel (2013)
Powerful, yet flawed
It is with no doubt one of the most controversial stories in snowboarding for the past decade.
Kevin Pearce's crash marks a sad milestone in the quest for higher, bigger and more spectacular jumps. It's already here where the documentary does not quite know which red line to follow: KP or the dangers in snowboarding? For now we follow Kevin's development and his rivalry with Shaun White and it's already at this point where it becomes obvious in what corner White is put.
I must admit that I am not the biggest White fan and treasure KP a lot more but at some points it becomes ridiculous that the only thing that obviously matters is to beat Shaun. Kevin has brought much more to the table than just tricks and fortunately the makers decided to show some of it too.
As soon as we get to the crash the film becomes very loose, not quite sure if it's a reality soap like Metallica's "Some Kind Of Monster" or a warning campaign against the risks of actions sports. The VERY intimate conversations with his family and therapists are interesting to watch, especially if you keep in mind that KP had to learn EVERYTHING anew, not just walking - particularly social skills as well. And that's where it gets ugly in my opinion. I was always wondering "WHY is there a camera present in this very room at this very conversation?" In a situation like this I would not want any public participation at this point. Still the film digs into very intimate details and presents them quite shamelessly.
I think the most important part of the film is Kevin stating that he wants to go back on his board immediately although each and everyone around him tells him otherwise. Because he still needed to learn so much he was obviously going through a phase of selfishness that usually a four-year-old would go through. By doing so he severely hurts his loved ones and literally puts his life on the line again.
This raises the following questions for me: - Was Kevin actually REALLY aware of what he got himself into here? - Even if there is so much love and understanding, why did his family agree on letting the makers dig that deep? - What is the actual conclusion of this film? On one hand we got Kev desperately wanting and getting back on his board but at the same time we see the tragic fates of other athletes. - Shaun White may be faceless, spoiled and egotistic but that's just the way HE pursues. So why the vilification?
One true gem of the film is his disabled brother who is as honest as one could be. He is one of the few constants in the film who actually take part in convincing KP not to ride competitively anymore. Although as simple as his mind might appear he is the true pole of sanity.
The Crash Reel is a very ambitious film about the risks of action sports and one athlete who was somehow lucky. Still, I somehow don't feel quite satisfied which the direction the film was taking and I also don't understand why the Pearce's allowed the makers to be present at such intimate conversations.
Bones Brigade: An Autobiography (2012)
The revelation of this film is Rodney Mullen
The Bones Brigade, we've heard/read/seen so much about them, know their influence and admire their contributions to the sport of skateboarding, so it's about time for a recap.
Once again Stacy Peralta tasked himself with chronicling the history of this (his) part of skateboarding history. And already it becomes tricky - because when the former coach of a team releases a documentary about it, one must be critical separating truth from pure euphoria. And this film has both.
Besides the typical "it was so special"-, "we were the best"- and "we changed everything"-claims which appear to be mandatory for these kind of documentaries, there are also very critical and enlightening statements that broaden the insight. At some points Stacy even dares to contradict himself by crossing his statements with contrary ones of other skaters. This adds a lot to the credibility of this film as it shows that Peralta's vision and understanding of this story may not necessarily comply with others.
But the real gem of this documentary is Rodney Mullen. Here we have a sophisticated skater who does not only understand how to push the boundaries of the sport but also how to put it into poetic language to describe it. His comparisons and metaphors citing Beethoven and Franz Kafka shine so bright that the following comments from other interviewees just fade. He emits honesty, passion and eloquence which a lot of others don't. Words like his are hardly ever found in your typical average sports documentary.
What is again great about a Peralta documentary is that he has obviously done his homework, providing tons of historic material and weaving it together in a manner that is easy to digest and pick up. The music is good, the atmosphere is very positive and information value is definitely higher compared to other documentaries that try to chronicle the history (of parts of it) of a sport.
But at several points the film just drifts away into over-self-glorification adding neither emotion nor information. But in the end it is very recommendable chronicle not to be missed, especially from skateboard fans. Who ever wants to see the "other side" of skateboarding from that time period is well advised to see "Rising Son - The legend of skateboarder Christian Hosoi" - it has much lower production values but explains pretty well that skateboarding was more than just boyscouts having fun.
We Ride: The Story of Snowboarding (2013)
Oh boy, what a mess...
Another attempt of capturing the history of snowboarding? YESSSSS! It can only be better than First Descent, so LET'S GOOOO! I was eagerly waiting for this to come out since I've been riding for almost 25 years and I was so looking forward to getting a summary! I don't know why the Intro revolves so long about Sherman Poppen and the Jake Burton/Tom Sims rivalry, it's definitely worth mentioning but obviously the film team hasn't done much research - at all (basically for this their using only one video for their footage source - just check firstonboard on the web). The actual groundbreaking inventions such as steel edges or high back bindings weren't contributed by neither. After 40 minutes we finally see something else than Jake and Tom working against each other, uhm, nope, Craig and Palmer fight for Jake and Tom so it continues until Sims snowboards goes bankrupt and from now on we're in the (semi) official history of Burton snowboards. I was waiting for so many topics to be covered and elaborated but instead I had to watch Shaun White giving a car to his mother as a present - is this history? In my opinion White hasn't done much for snowboarding but rather himself. Yes, he pushed the competitive level but come on, this is not snowboarding! The film juggles around with topics very loosely, to the point where you lose interest. The music is obviously royalty free music and it's not very fitting when you talk about the punk influence in snowboarding and 80's synth pop in the background. I'm from Sweden - I already had too much of that! It's also very tough to see the chapters come to a conclusion, because they hardly ever do. Instead the makers chose to display endless redundant self glorification with statements like "My son came home from school and told me - Did you know snow is 90% air - we're actually flying" and there tons more of those.
Style is only mentioned to display the rivalry of Shaun White and Kevin Pearce - but not its core value to the sport. The whole Olympic fight was dumbed down to a SportsCenter report and we see Reto Lamm named as president of TTR - but it's never mentioned what TTR is! Aside from that it's been WST for over a year now. What about development of shapes, especially the twin tip - which changed everything? What about the corporate aspect around it? Y2K and September 11 didn't boost snowboarding at all - in fact this was the time when most companies went bankrupt. Remember how many there were in the mid 90's? Yeah, right, sorry, there was only Burton! In fact surf companies made a real fortune and became concerns by expanding into snowboarding - Quiksilver, O'Neill, Billabong, Oxbow, Fanatic, etc. are good examples.
I also miss the true pioneers of today, i.e. Travis Rice, Jeremy Jones, Nicholas Müller, David Benedek, etc. but instead we hear our dear Gigi saying the most incoherent line of the film while you see riders do some product placement by holding up burning snowboards. Towards the end you will definitely know who sponsored this whole adventure and it's sad that history is completely blurred and rewritten.
After 25 minutes into the film my eyes were almost bleeding because of the very bad grading and interlacing - many clips weren't even fluent (even in 1080p), the pictures were very oversaturated and the audio constantly changed level.
Young snowboarders will love this film as it repeatedly tells you how great snowboarding is, instead of telling how it became great (with obstacles). Terje quote at the end: "When you stand at the top of the mountain you feel - joy"! This is just not a good documentary but rather an ode from fans to fans. Thank god this is for free!