Category: DVD Reviews

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DVD Reviews

Gnargore – Wizard Council

It should be noted prior to giving Gnargore any of your precious monies that there is only one title in Wizard Council, and it reads ‘No Refunds’. The good news is that you won’t want to give this DVD back at all because it’s just too much fucking fun. For the first time since sometime before video editors stopped going through their own tastes and yanking everyone’s section music off Gorilla Vs Bear I actually had a great time watching a scene video because it offered that crucial element to what inspires crews to make a video in the first place: that the people in it quite obviously love skating with one another.

On top of this there’s no uninspired time lapses or Belle and Seb circlejerks (there I go calling myself out again) here at all. Just rock, gore and metal, non-stop gnarshred skateboarding set in stark black and white.  It is fucking on now chaps.

There’s an identity here too, as Ryan Price kicks things off there’s something instantly recognisable as Gnargore. Now, I expect Tom will respond to this saying “yeah, that shit skating”, but one man’s trash can is another man’s gourmet feast. Bonelesses, wallrides, pivot fakies, mosher drops, pole-jams, willy grinds, hippy jumps, front rocks, all these tricks are acquired tastes, to all those out there who have had the courage to acquire these ‘real men’ tricks, then you will be gratuitously rewarded here. It is fully a non-brand kind of brand that I can buy into.

Immediate highlights that come to mind after this most enjoyable first viewing include Harrison Thom’s constant one-foot-on-the-ground action, particularly that boneless at Hereford (for that is no mean feat…although Tom Carr later bonelesses into it and I shat myself), Arran Burrows‘ 50-50 on a burnt out car, Tom Carr’s super stylish last trick, Tom Gillespie’s late shove and Dan Jordan’s intro and subsequent tight jean fetish scene. It was around this point onwards that I lost track of who I was watching but the point of Wizard Council isn’t the skate video lone hero, but the fact that Gnargore are a collective. This video is a refreshing well-needed reminder that crews of friends who skate and have a great time and make awesome scene videos are very much still alive. Ave it West Midlands!

Stanley

For everything you need to know about Gnargore, head over here to read Brewer’s monster interview with head honcho Tom Gillespie. Then have a look below for some choice cuts from the film that Tom sliced for us.

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DVD Reviews

Element – Get Busy Living

In the past year Element have gone from strength to strength; the online release of Trio gave skateboarders an unexpected tour de rad from three of their most ‘proper’ skateboarders. That is to say that none of them have ever had to politic-tac their way out of a bad reputation for their activities outside of skateboarding. Why this was unexpected didn’t surprise me too much, even if Element have consistently provided skateboarders with excellent hard goods and above average videos it’s always cool to turn your nose up on the big guys. But for people to still be surprised when the Europe-based Get Busy Living exploded on the web (for free, again) that Element were capable of something so worthy of reaching for that rewind button (or for our generation, awkwardly finding the exact spot on the timeline of the stream and failing but not complaining because the whole section was bonkers), is beyond me.

Let’s just look at the roster for the Euro team: Michael Mackrodt, Janne Saario, Ross McGouran, Marcus Apes, Pirkka Pollari – all are names associated with very good things, maybe one or two funny looking hats but nothing more. The hype machine for this video should have, theoretically, exploded into a cataclysmic fireball throwing shards of excitement into everyone. Hopefully, with this and Trio combined, everyone can expect more gems like this in the future – these were both free, don’t forget.

Talking about what’s in the video itself is essentially redundant given the obviously amazing content, whatever I say is guaranteed to be filled with hive mind commentary. The skating is otherworldly. Marcus doesn’t hesitate to make heads explode with one particular 5-0 grind that’s probably better than any other. His ender is a bed-shitter too so watch out. Phil Zwijsen does some late shoves and fullpipe airwalks to a heft cover of Prodigy’s Fuel My Fire. Ross McGouran has more board control than more or less everyone in the continent. Pirkka has a disgustingly good section, Janne Saario’s first trick (or line on two wheels) is impossible even in video games and Mackrodt dances on ledges and skates mammoth spots. And to close, Guillaume Mocquin get’s hesh and if that isn’t proper then I don’t know what is. The gap to backlip aint nothing to fuck with.

Basically, it’s one of the sickest videos (not online video, not DVD but all encompassing video) to drop in a very long time and that’s exactly what everyone else who’s seen it is saying. The filming is perfectly framed, and HD looks so encouragingly awesome when it’s not subject to an editor who’s a little too liberal with the slow-motion. The colours, man, everything looks sublime.

You can watch the video online, in HD for free below. Let’s shut the door on politics and welcome radness with open arms.

Stanley

Element Skateboads Europe – Get Busy Living from ELEMENT SKATEBOARDS on Vimeo.

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DVD Reviews

10,000 Kilometers

Skate documentaries are – sadly – regularly overshadowed by the films that treat skateboarders as though they couldn’t begin to comprehend something as bold as a narrative. I’ve always been encouraging of skate flicks to have a little more talking and some more creative substance; despite the medium being able to stay afloat without them (I know when I was younger I was the sort to pick up magazines and just look at the pictures, I’m sure I wasn’t alone). Because when this is pulled off right (see Hot Chocolate or Under Wraps) they can reign among the best videos you’ve ever seen. Patrik Wallner’s visual journal of his trans-Siberian trip into some of the world’s most unique spots skated by some of the world’s most unique skaters not only achieves this, but its one of the best.

Running at 46 minutes, the film positions us first in Moscow, then proceeds to follow the troupe all the way to Hong Kong and not once does it tempt your attention to waver from it. The balance between commentary and pure skateboarding is perfect, and it’s not as if the stories are something every skater can’t relate to; it’s a film about getting out there and trying some new things after all. And it doesn’t exaggerate of romanticise anything like some sort of Wes Anderson film, even though the soundtrack isn’t far off one (no complaints, it’s perfect). This is fully gritty-gritty, you can feel every bump, the visuals themselves carry a sort of humidty, it’s rad.

The skateboarding alone is on a mesmerising tip, in which John Tanner really shines (his LINE on the Great Wall Of China is unfuckwithable), Michael Mackrodt kills it and Dan Cates does his thing on sketchy spots that no one else would dare touch. There are some slept-on skaters in there too; Stas Provotorov, Laurence Keefe, Lesha Naimushin, Danny Hochman and Dan Zvereff should cause a lot of you to start following them on their proverbial real-life Twitter account. Oh and Kenny Reed is in there, did you really doubt that a video that drifts through the barren landscapes of Mongolia and other washing-line riddled spots wouldn’t have his name written all over it? He steps in late and despite being plagued by illness and tropical injury he does the stuff he can do and no one else can. Big, stylish fakie tricks to introduce gliding lines; Kenny is one of my all-time favourite skaters to watch.

At certain moments, the documentary does what all documentaries try and rarely succeed in doing, prescribe the viewer with the feelings and emotions of those being documented. During the standing-class and sleeping-bus segments I felt crippled by claustrophobia. There is a strong sense of involvement in the group we’re following and the filmmaker should be applauded for this triumph, so don’t hesistate to pick this one up. It’s interesting, it’s full of spots you’ve never seen before, it’s great fun and it’s super sick.

Stanley

www.visualtraveling.com

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DVD Reviews

Monster Network – In Between Days

When he’s not networking with the metaphorical beasts and ogres of the interweb, Russell Cowling turns his creative eye to the viewfinder of a camera aimed directly at the gritty shores of the South-East. Though countless filmmakers have been influenced by the do-it-all-yourself approach to filming and editing that’s evident in the finer skate videos courtesy of French Fred, Greg Hunt et al, no one achieves it with such DIY honesty than the Essex lad himself. There’s no stock footage in sight. The Monster Network, seek to progress even further from the wonderful Never Forever and Into The Fall, combining creative skateboarding with artistic interpretations and observations from the eyes of those that walk the four-wheeled plank. In Between Days does just that…

After biting through a typically impressive visual introduction, the filling bursts through the crust in the form of ‘Gorgeous’ Dave Watson who’s been steadily on the up since silently killing it on the now-defunct Clown and having the raddest trick in Into The Fall half-way through the end credits. This section is effortless and his style speaks volumes that the dial on big-talkers doesn’t even turn to. While they’re blabbing away at 10, Dave is cruising away at 11. And that front-blunt on the unreal natural quarters in Basildon is completely off the scale. Essex Legend Simon Skipp – whose Romford ditch recently got some gnarly coverage in the new Blueprint flick – shares his section like he did in Never Forever and proves himself still worthy of being the undisputed king of Romford. There’s no bad-talking the way Skipp can attack Romford’s blue wall switch and still 360 flip like no other. Nigel Davies slips in a huge noseblunt before Dave sleeps through a killer ender to close this excellent opening section – that’s kindly been posted online to whet your appetite on the Monster Network site itself. Good stuff.

I’m gonna call out my own bias right now on the second section, because I grew up skating with Warren Greatrex, and I can only express my anger that he didn’t land such incredible shit when I was the one filming him. A lot has changed since secondary school and that huge gap he glides over wasn’t even in the shitty bike track we used to skate back then but Warren’s style has always been perfect. We could be seeing more from this kid if he keeps killing it like this. George Gough and Wil Thomson follow to the spectacular soundtrack going with some interesting ledge trickery and a couple quick-footed gems. That frontside shove…

In Between Days Trailer from Monster Network on Vimeo.

What I’ve always enjoyed about Monster Network productions is that they’ve never been afraid to have lots of shared sections. For someone with Firefox-Generation-ADD (or FIGADDS! as I’ll call it), keeping it consistently fresh makes the skating flow down even more nicely, like a well-made mix tape made for a friend. For the next track we have new Channon King footage, and it’s like hearing the opening chords to a song you haven’t heard in a while but always loved. His style is unmistakable and still suits his off-beat trick selection on ridiculous spots, including what’s either the world’s worst designed bench or one that’s been victim to the world’s largest arse sitting on it.

The next treat is a meaty friends section full of some more familiar South-East heavy-hitters, culminating in some really piss-taking malarkey from Raemers, Veran Tull and Neil Smith. Nick Remon jams to a song you’ve all heard before but not in such raw context. Nick rips through impossible terrain and reps Switch Skatestore hard. This admirable local loyalty is kept up with the notorious smooth stylings of Jay Tate. This is a section so fresh and clean that even the haters-gonna-hate brigade that often dismiss natural style for sketchiness can’t talk shit on. Real pop, excellent catch and fluid, bolt perfect skating that’s never robotic, Jay Tate kills it. With the assistance of Adam Howe and Jay Minta (specifically that Kalis-as-fuck catch on the nollie frontside flip off the indoor kicker) this montage is my personal favourite in a video full of bangers.

Carl Wilson takes the end section and deserves the honour. Park skating in videos is something often contested and I disagree with those doing so, particularly if you can kill it like Carl, if you skate what you want and film what you want and be creative in your own way then you get a great video. And this is just that. Top work to all involved, 3,5,0,1,2,5 go!

Order it now for £5 before it sells out at www.monsternetwork.co.uk

Stanley

Enjoy these offcuts…

Unused footage In Between Days from Monster Network on Vimeo.

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DVD Reviews

Blueprint – Make Friends With The Colour Blue

If there was one thing that was unanimous in people’s expectations of the new Blueprint video was that this was not going to be simply Lost and Found 2. For some, this was the skate video equivalent of being dumped for a shitty reason, ‘you haven’t changed, but I have, sorry’ and of course would react in a similarly immature fashion. Yes, Lost and Found has proven itself to be a timeless watch and a quantum leap forward for the standards of both production and skating. Almost instantly, the high standards became disseminated throughout British productions and naturally, we turn our attention to Shier, Mr. Magee and their merry gang for that next jump. And you won’t be disappointed, unless you were hoping for LAF2, but then that wouldn’t be progression at all, would it?

Perpetual rain aside, things are immediately different; Magee as usual ignores the usual conventions of skate videos and throws the only, but not lonely ‘our mate’ section before the intro. Dave Mackey delivers a blink-and-miss-it minute of high-speed excellence, wallriding through your town like your neighbourhood spiderman. Before you can catch your breath again, the feature presentation begins with a tremendous cinematic introduction of the idiosyncratic Blueprint team. Eat up all the lovely esoteric references to the Birdhouse In Your Soul video and let the new generation Blueprint warm your life up. With some more global newcomers, t’print’s branding of the ‘cup of tea video’ is now replaced by a cup of whatever-the-fuck-you-like video. Rule Britannia is out of bounds, mate.

With no more interludes ahead (a winning decision too. How often do you get a 50 minute skate flick with uninterrupted skating?) Colin Kennedy gets the ball rolling with a stomping section of power, style and the best feeble grind you will have ever seen, no hyperbole. The music choices again are simply too perfect. It’s one thing finding a song that fits with a skater’s style and hoping that will carry it along, but here we have songs that infiltrate your mind, successfully re-contextualising each track as if it were written for that part. Paul Shier‘s trick selection and quick-footed style is a radical departure from Kennedy’s slow burning power moves but sharing that Procul Harum track simply works. And furthermore, this could be the best part from the trans-atlantic gent yet. Enders!

Back in Europe, Sylvain Tognelli proves himself to be a worthy addition to the team with a mixed bag of tricks and some very interesting lines. Danny Brady has sharpened his unique approach and crazy knees and serves up some amazing shit on some of the worst spots you can imagine. Not worst meaning worst but worst meaning best; Wave Of Mutilation has never sounded so great. This is followed swiftly by Marty Murawski who cements his reputation as an instant classic. No one skates like this guy, and no one could get away with trying to either. The same could be said with Tuukka Korhonen, who shares Marty’s section. His trick selection immediately makes him someone who is destined to be underrated, and this is a shame because Tuukka consistently kills it with finesse. Make friends with both of them.

Chewy Cannon maintains the pace from his incredible Diagonal section and doesn’t disappoint one bit – I challenge your jaw not to drop on that 5-0 grind. Once it does, don’t expect it to shut any time during the next section. Kevin Coakley, what the fuck? This is a serious competitor for my favourite section of the year, and let us not forget that this is 2010, where everyone skates with jokeshop skills and I would shell out three bucks for all of them. Coakley skates like he should have been in Lost and Found even though what he’s skating certainly wouldn’t have. If MFWTCB is Blueprint’s friend request to America then Coakley is the mutual friend that will make them choose not to ignore it. There’s no way you can hate on this. Proper spots, proper skating. Get some.

Jerome Campbell impressed me a lot. Not that I wasn’t expecting super style and quirky pop-outs, but this is a BIG section. He has the best arms in skateboarding, I’ll leave it at that. Neil Smith attacks everything and anything relentlessly; from the traditional Essex boy backflip off the swing to shutting down the hubba atop Southbank that was really open exclusively for him anyway, this section is a monster. The endgame is in sight and try not to jam to this track. Nick Jensen pokes his head in before the closer and chills his way through one of my favourite Portishead tracks. The section is typical of someone who’s well and truly blown minds recently and is now taking a well-earned smoke break, but it’s a real pleasure and one of the highlights for sure.

To conclude this mammoth piece of five years work well done, who else? Mark Baines earned this having pushed the envelope of British skateboarding for his entire career. Oddball moves, crazy style: Baines is that off-coloured U in the word colour that makes it that little more special. Sure, Blueprint have confirmed themselves as a global force, but this video achieves something more than being just a really, really good skate flick: It argues that it’s not where you’re from, nor where you’re at, but where you’re going, where you’ve been and all that bonkers shit you take with you. Ten out of ten. God Save/Bless T’Print.

Stanley

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DVD Reviews

This Time Tomorrow

This Time Tomorrow has been long in the making, and Chris Mulhern has overseen the whole project from start to finish. 3 years since capturing the first tricks for this video Chris has travelled from his native Philly streets, all across America and spent the best part of a year in Europe linking up with core street skaters and filming in Paris, London, Athens and Berlin. I dread to think how much footage was edited down here, but the end result in video has to justify the means – and here we have a perfect example of that.

Right, on to the film – this video is LONG, I’m talking best part of an hour here, with a mixture of US as well as UK riders, too many to list them all in this review. The video kicks off a montage of cityscapes, the feel of the production and edit is akin to a Fred Montagne Cliché release, or a Habitat film. The slick graphics and intros lead not into seasoned pro’s at perfect spots – but in to street soldiers in some unforgiving street battlegrounds. Jimmy McDonald and Devon Connell definitely get commendations for quick footed, harsh terrain abuse. The American skaters carry on taking the East Coast apart with Stereo Field Agent Curtis Rapp leading the line, showing his recovery from a particularly nasty car crash hasn’t stripped him of any style.

The UK steps up, no place has grimy spots like here, London should be a prim, shiny marble skate mecca……it’s not. Spots 90% of pro skaters would turn their noses up at are systematically destroyed with the focus on intelligent tight lines rather than the simplicity of “going big”. Rory Milanes likes to do awkward tricks, gaps to grind, flip gaps to manual – all as standard in his repertoire. Steph Morgan shows he can match the East coasters with quick, tight lines, while Lucien Clarke takes the longer section with his laid back style managing to avoid the clichéd spots in London to bust out his bag of tricks and innovation.

This DVD stands out for a few reasons, the editing is crazy tight with a perspective on a rolling day of footage, sections starting off light and working through to dusk and with London’s short days the night time footage takes up a bulk of the minutes. All in the video will appeal to fans of Static and the earlier Zoo York releases; not one for the ESPN viewers but undoubtedly a must for all the 1am skaters, the innovative skaters, the street soldiers out there holding it down in every town and city with the “everywhere is a spot” attitude – hats off to Mr Mulhern, this is a great vid, order it now and enjoy these offcuts that went live today.

PP

“This Time Tomorrow” Offcuts from Chris Mulhern on Vimeo.

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DVD Reviews

Flip – Extremely Sorry

Flip find themselves in an interesting position going into 2010. Having gone through the biggest transformations of their existence since their last video offering Really Sorry, they had much to prove.

The unfortunate passing of Shane Cross, the near- death of Ali Boulala, the departures of RS ender Bastien Salabanzi and stalwart Arto Saari, the acquisition of the remnants of the Firm, and the addition of so many unknown youngsters meant that some wags were dubbing this video ‘Montessori’….Well, no surprises that the video kicks all kinds of arse then.

Shane Cross opens this classic with a sterling part. This is a perfect tribute to the Australian who is sorely missed worldwide. Ali Boulala maybe shut down for a little while longer but his section will remind you that despite his goofy nature he can still conquer the strangest of spots with his unique style. Rodrigo Teixeira avoids the curse of the underachieving Brazilian by putting in a ridiculous ‘leader of the new school’ section which is faultless in style and execution whilst head honcho Geoff Rowley shows a wonderful mix of skill and undiluted courage accompanied by Jimmy Boyes drop-in-of-death on the side of a building. Geoff’s section is full of hammers and shows he is still the man who is leading the fight at Flip, just ask anyone how windy it was on the day he decided to skate those freight containers for proof.

Mark Appleyard returns with more stinging perfection than ever before and proves that progression is still his top priority. Tom Penny shows once again that news of his demise is greatly exaggerated with perhaps his heaviest part ever, Rune Glifberg‘s concrete assault is so beyond that it loses any frame of reference (really, no-one can touch him on concrete today), and Luan Oliveira capably fills the spot vacated by PJ Ladd in the head-scratching stakes. The force is strong on this one for sure hence turning pro from this film already.

Lance Mountain‘s section will leave your mind blown with pool skating at its very best by arguably THE best and most respected in the business. Click here for words with the big man on this very site. Bob Burnquist‘s heroics alone are worth hailing the release as some kind of milestone for the culture. He shuts down the megaramp with a bunch of switch treats and jumps into a canyon leaving the door firmly shut for now on the big stuff.

Discovery of the video for me though is Louie Lopez, who shows world- dominating ATV potential in his varied and exciting part. His blonde haired buddy Curren Caples adds to the am-excitement and will be battling it out with the rest of California’s micro- Am prospects in the future, these guys are serious all round contenders as you would know if you saw them live this year at the Flip London demo back in 08.

New British acquisition Ben Nordberg had a short section and of course, being British we were hoping for more. But knowing he joined the team so near to the final cut of this blockbuster it’s hardly surprising there were only a handful of tricks on display. His time will come though as he’s got so much potential on every level that it will be worth the wait for the next flick and every web edit in between. German tank Willow has a fantastic section fueled by a mean hardflip and is one of the best European riders out there and David Gonzalez‘s monstrous double- ender has at least one cheek puffer every 5 seconds for about 6 minutes. Excellent stuff from the Colombian machine who destroys everything in its wake to finish the job.

This is the last film of the ‘Sorry’ trilogy and even comes jam packed with a bespoke soundtrack courtesy of producer Baron who worked over 5 years with artists such as Snoop Dog, Dave Lombardo of Slayer, Motorhead’s Lemmy, Black Mountain’s Stephen McBean, ex Pennywise frontman Jim Lindberg to get the end result. This adds to the completely unique situation this production brings to the table so make sure you have one on your collection as you will be watching this for years to come.

Click here to watch extra footage of Tom Penny.

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DVD Reviews

Creature – Hesh Law

The hype on this video made it one of the most anticipated skate vids of 2009 for me personally. Creature’s 3rd full length mash up may not have made the Halloween deadline they would have liked but they got there in the end with hard graft, blood, sweat and tears and the results are fantastic. The format for their videos may not be for the purists out there who love to see full sections of their favourite pro riders but I think that Creature have hit the nail on the head again as this is a brilliant video that will get you hyped to skate.

Truman Hooker kicks things off with his creative, street style. Every trick he pulls out of thee bag is massive, carved out on really obscure spots, fast as fuck and definitely none of this slow, flip in, grind two inches stuff. This is raw, balls-out street skating the way it should be providing an amazing start to the video firing you up for more.

Next it’s one of the montage sections with Al Partanen steezin his hammers on transitions in Japan. Adrian Mallory brings his own creative style to the party alongside Darren Navarette’s slow motion vertical prowess, some shot in 16mm to give it some art barf but the footage overall is still presented with a raw edge. How could it not with the skaters on show here.

More montages appear throughout the video, which is what takes up the sections of Navs, Parts, Alex Horn, Sam Hitz, Neil Heddings and co which allows the young blood a chance to show they rip just as hard. This is somewhat annoying though as I wanted to see a full Heddings part as it’s been so long but don’t get me wrong the montages are rad. You have Pool Law which is just amazing. If you have never set foot in a pool before and are eager, this will be the catalyst you have been waiting for. Bridge Law is a montage of Washington Street and Burnside footage where the skating gets seriously gnar…you even get to see some blood and Heddings’ Vans tattoos on his feet, what a treat!

Devin Appello has a mad section with ‘fuck off’ music that could melt your mind. Some of the spots this dude skates are insane with tricks that are just banger after banger. Newcomer Sean Conover seems like he can flip in and out of any trick and BAKU make a guest appearance which is just immense. If you don’t know who BAKU are where the fuck have you been! This section is barrier skating at its very best with various tricks from the Beast of Guaveden who, after watching his blunt 360 flip, I realised was Chris Haslam but apparently that’s old news. Deerman of Darkwoods caps this section off with skating that will blow your tiny mind. After watching this section you will never say ‘this tranny is too tight’ again, unless you are one of those freaks who loves the filth of Thailand. Shocking stuff. There are a few other guest skaters in this flick as you would expect which include the likes of Hewitt, Guzman, Duane Peters and co but Sammy Baca stands out from the pack with footage from South America which has some insane tricks made much more impressive by the fact he seems to have a broken arm.

Adrian Mallory and Silent Mike have a crazy section with big tricks hucked out at fast speeds. Mallory seems like he’s just hanging on to every trick purely because he just doesn’t feel the need to slow down ever while Silent Mike is another of those guys who make the whole thing look effortless, much like Taylor Bingham whose blinding skating is fueled by a mean dose of gangsta rap which splits up the hardcore nicely.

The section most people want to see is David Gravette’s and you won’t be disappointed. It has his usual bail slide thing going on and its pretty much all hammers and handrails from start to finish with a really good mix of street and transition to boot. 2010 should be his year for Creature if he can keep himself injury free, it’s all his for the taking.

The end is another montage, this time with sessions on the Ramona vert ramp but with special smoke and green lighting. I wasn’t too sure about this section on first view. Even though it has some great skating, I had to watch it a few times to as it feels slightly disjointed from the rest of Hesh Law but that’s Creature all over, you just don’t know what’s coming next and they do things their own way and for good reason.

The real travesty lies in the end credits where Scottish ‘Overlord’ Stu Graham has just 4 tricks on show. The unfortunate lack of his presence is felt throughout the full production and it truly is a massive shame that he could spend so long living in the USA and not return with more footage than this. In my opinion there was not one smith grind in a pool throughout the whole edit that could have stood up to his. I’m sure I speak for many people in the UK when i say that I feel totally gutted about this outcome as we were all expecting much more from a guy who now has his name on a Creature deck.

The DVD has some extras like ‘Tales of the Larb’ which is a random cardboard animation and a concept by Sam Hitz and Mark Widmann, and Butt Country makes a comeback and Partanen has a section remix which is amazing – not sure why it wasn’t like that in the main video Bloodshed is an extra movie made by Buddy Nichols and Rick Charnoski shot in B-Movie/Slasher style and is funny as fuck. The plot is based around a pool that should never be jacked and the skaters pay in Blood for their actions. The best actor award goes to Steve Olson in this, his skills are equally as rad as the pool skating which is of course, awesome.

Overall Hesh Law is one of those skate videos that some people are going to think is the best thing ever and the style clowns will just think it’s a load of shite. I personally think it’s a great video and that you should own it. Go get a copy and remember what fun skateboarding pushed to its limits is all about.

TH

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DVD Reviews

Bristol’s Finest

Photo: Owen Hopkins – Nosegrind in Bristol by Trix.
After pressing play on the last DVD of the decade to be gracing the front of Sidewalk, Bristol’s Finest, I barely had time to pour milk on my cornflakes before Dan Wileman was 360 flipping out of lengthy manuals in a Crocodile Dundee get-up. This is a flick that sees no shame in premature gnar-jaculation, choosing to drop the heavy bassline into this visual mixtape instantly rather than faff around with any editing or HD foreplay. This is Bristol, remember? Or, more accurately, if all those subverted North Face logos are anything to go by, this is the South West, bitch.

So after briefly floating in a womb with names floating around that may as well serve as a loose metaphor for Bristol being pregnant with a spectacular skate scene, Dan Wileman rips from the umbilical cord and gets this bloodbath started. After another excuse to see that bigflip at the 2008 Meanwhile Jam, Dan doesn’t slow with unexpected rapid-fire bangers. Aside from the most legit frontboard on a ledge since the 90s, Dan gets high on the monster rail atop Cardiff Bay’s steep red banks and stays around to flip manual the pad at Sports Café that does not get nearly enough attention from visitors. Look out for more from this guy in the Crayon video which will undoubtedly drop sometime this year whenever Dykie comes up with a name and manages to spell it correctly in the title sequence. There was a wink in that sentence.

From now on, people have not-so-much sections, but a period of time in the unstoppable mix to drop bangers as though in a free association session with RZA and the Clan. Amongst the montages it’s not easy to keep up with the action but what’s going on is most definitely not easy, no way, not ever, no sir. Motive’s Paul Carter hooks up with Wainwright to hit some beautiful architecture and make it a little bit more grimy before Flynn Trotman flies in and skates walls like they’re flatbanks. Tom Gibbs deserves a note and immediate re-watch for catching everything proper and perfect.

Jess Young comes in next and if you weren’t satisfied with his photos from the Kill City Hobo Tour in the mag then you’re a fool, but will soon become a satisfied and hopefully impressed fool. There’s an on-going joke with anyone who skates with Jess Young, you could be standing on top of a ledge that someone has placed on Everest for some reason and it won’t be long before someone says ‘ah we should get Jess on this butt’. Sure, there’s some big drops in this, but you’ll be surprised at how versatile he is too. Dylan Hughes is next and shows that he hasn’t had so much as a nap after his Motive section, watch out for that double set frontside flip…

Andy Makepeace has a beautiful, optimistic name, and also boasts a beautiful nollie frontside heel that’s also as optimistic as a nollie frontside heel could be. After throwing it down Lloyds he whacks one into a mayday on those haggard banks that get a trashing throughout. Nicky Howells follows in traditional pisstake mode. Amongst technical ledge tomfoolery there’s a lazer flip that’ll become instant enemies with your rewind button. Be nice to that little guy now, you’re gonna need that little button again in a few minutes. Snaddon closes this segment in the usual top of the pops manner, half cabbing over a bench at college green and reclaiming that location for what’s truly important in Bristol. Fuck Skins!

The end is nigh, and yet it’s still not safe to breathe. The Big Hoppa Owen Hopkins puts that inevitable hardflip on hold (it comes after ten tricks! the wait was as tense as a Tarantino scene with no cuts!) but when it does you will shit where ever you are sitting. So if you have a portable DVD player then head to the lav then. Just a heads up.

New Crayon recruit Korahn Gayle finishes one of the finest (literally, I wasn’t shoehorning an awkward reference to the title in here I promise) videos to come from Bristol (that had absolutely nothing from The Deaner in I should add, not a bad thing) in the last decade, and who better to do so. If you’re not already convinced that Korahn isn’t one of the most important skaters to emerge from not just Bristol but the UK in the last ten years then do us a favour – go and do a switch back 360 down Lloyds in the fucking rain and let’s hear you make the same verdict. Hold tight Bristol.

Stanley;

If you missed out on the free DVD, put the kettle on and watch the full film right here:

BRISTOL’S FINEST from Bristol's Finest on Vimeo.

Categories
DVD Reviews

Motive Skateboards – Dimensions

Dimensions is the first full-length DVD production from Motive Skateboards. Much to my delight, Motive have embraced the internet as a less-profitable but more effective method of distribution and have shoved the entire thing online so anyone can see each section at the cost of some pixels here and there. Furthermore, Motive love us so much the disc came free on the cover of Sidewalk in October which is already more than deserving of your sterling. But my doovde player is broken and every time I ring Currys for a new doovde player they tell me to stop making shitty popular culture references, especially ones that aren’t even popular anymore.

Ciaran O’ Connor on the other hand, the ever-efficient editing mastermind (you may have heard of him from such films as ‘Savoir Faire’ or The Harmony’s ‘Wolfstadt’) in charge of making all this street surfing nonsense make sense to us, appears to have everything in working order. Dimensions opens stylishly and has enough aesthetic joy to distract the onset of what I like to call ‘skateboarding-headway-induced-todger-envy’ or SHITE for short. SHITE is the unsettling depression and anxiety that occurs after watching a progressive, gnarly, baller skate video, remembering that you can’t skate for peanuts and subsequently developing a slight disdain for those in the flick for being so goddamn talented. Now, everyone on Motive kills it, so if it wasn’t for Ciaran’s magic touch I wouldn’t be praising the video for another demonstration of how the UK skate scene is constantly upping its game, but probably calling the entire team arseholes.

Let’s get stuck in, Jack Edwards kicks things off with uninterrupted ledge combos without lingering too long in the protective block sanctuary of Milton Keynes’ bus station. Instead he breaks out into less-conquered territory and smashes it with a pace that doesn’t once decelerate. His closing moves on some of the finest pieces of marble Luxembourg have to offer aren’t messing about.

Paul Carter is next and initiates the onslaught of some of Bristol’s most well-known spots; in his short, but satisfying section (reminiscent of 90s videos that didn’t require 14 minute MJ epics) there’s a front blunt that will force you to breathe manually for a while and a nollie 360 over the wall at Little Lloyds that can only be described as majestic. Layth Sami furthers the shutting-down of Bristol with a monster switch 360 flip at that 9 stair near the station and a switch flip nosegrind on that ledge-to-bank-spot that looks wonderful but is notoriously horrible to skate. Leo Smith closes things off with quality over quantity again, styling up Spain and catching flips like people naturally shouldn’t be able to do.

Dylan Hughes keeps Wales’ reputation for skater’s killing it on the inconspicuous tip with this solid section littered with variety and ledge combos that stay well above the standard of those who missed their stop off the bandwagon. The frontboard spinner to noseblunt on those Malaga-esque blocks a short drive away from Cardiff in a town you probably wouldn’t be able to pronounce is a prime example. The huge combo move at Bercy can’t go amiss either; switch inward heel to hug Lizard King. So courageous.

If you’ve read this far and still haven’t watched the DVD yet then either you must have some serious time on your hands or you’re one of those stubborn ‘I absolutely must try before I buy’ types. Which is fine, but if you’re still reading this and aren’t familiar with Barney Page yet then stop reading and sort your bloody life out. There are few if any words to describe how impressive Barney is on a skateboard, and if there are any they’ll be in the rich semantic field of ‘awesome’. Barney is one of the finest skaters to evoke my penis-envy, and the first red head to do so. Apart from maybe Dickfingers. But then Dickfingers hasn’t ollied over the rail into that steep-as-shit brick bank in Bristol.

Dave Snaddon has been consistently killing it in every section I’ve seen him put out into the ether. The slightly-hunched style, lengthy lines riddled with monster pop and precision landings have often caused me to draw similarities with Brian Wenning, only Snaddon has a better trick selection and isn’t a bit of a silly bugger. He had one of my favourite sections in the incredible Savoir Faire and has my personal favourite section in this. Progression without batting an eyelid. Sean Smith is straight up fucking bananas. That’s all I’m saying; a section worthy of closing another UK banger.

Get on it at www.motiveskateboards.co.uk and click here for a full interview with Dave Snaddon about this production.

Stanley