2004 SKI MOVIE REVIEWS

Red Tape

Red Tape – Pléhouse Films
www.justpushplay.com
Length: 30 minutes
Cost: $20
Medium: Digital video/16mm film

At first it's easy to dismiss Red Tape as just another jib flick. But then, as you keep watching, you get drawn deeper into the movie. The French Canadian film mafia, known as Pléhouse Films, has a sense of creative artistry that separates their film from a growing pile of park-and-pipe videos. Their unique approach—part editing, part cinematography, part music, part totally bizarre concepts—keeps viewers rapt where other videos with similar skiing lose half the audience. Red Tape features the likes of Iannick B., Charles Gagnier, Thomas Rinfret, and Sarah Burke laying waste to parks and backcountry hits from Mammoth to Quebec. The film ends on a trip to Iceland that, in another production teams' hands might've flopped. Pléhouse, however, produced a segment that felt more like something out of Pink Floyd's The Wall rather than another token jib session with pretty backdrops.

Sleeping Giants - Storm Show
www.stormshow.com
Length: 40 minutes
Cost: $25
Medium: 16 mm, digital video

Most crews couldn't get away with filming an entire ski movie in their backyard, but when your backyard is the Tetons, you're allowed to bend the rules. Sleeping Giants showcases local Jackson riders tackling new lines, linking huge cliff bands and finding some in many a deep, deep day. The snowboarding footage is heavy—it accounts for at least half the film—but Scott Bauer and the Weez rip, creating a nice change of pace. Gripes include the creepy Brewery party footage, a sub par soundtrack, distracting name-dropping for even the shortest shots, and the fact that the intro misrepresented the entire movie. The final shot of Darrell Miller taming Corah's Couloir, though not too pretty of a segment, captures an impressive feat.

BEST LINES:
"From December 25th to January 8th was the greatest two weeks I've seen in 12 years. Bottom line." –John Verdon

"The ski bum atmosphere here in Jackson is the ultimate. Even though I might ski two or three days a week instead of six or seven like I used to, I'm still a ski bum. I'll always be a ski bum." –Michael Collins

Serious - Free Radicals
www.skiswede.com
Length: 35 min
Cost: $25
Medium: 16mm

Not bad for a bunch of crazy Swedes. One of the few films that actually finds the elusive balance of big and jib and sticks it. Serious, the sixth film in the prestigious Free Radicals series, takes viewers on a cross-continent journey of grand proportions. Jon Olsson rips alongside Per Huss, Niklas Karlström, and a number of other talented Europeans, but the film is more about locale identification than athlete recognition. Highlights include finding Engelberg's freshest, sliding Norway's rails, and playing the flutes of Val Thorens. Creative cinematography, an absence of lame antics, and descent soundtrack complete the package.