2004 SKI MOVIE REVIEWS
Yearbook - Matchstick Productions
www.skimovie.com
Length: 65 minutes
Cost: $28
Medium: 16mm film
After producing 16 feature-length ski films, industry giant Matchstick Productions still has the magic touch. Above all, Yearbook's production values are second to none. The 360-degree helicopter shots of Tanner Hall and others off a huge kicker in Norway seem more like computerized animation than 16mm film. Featuring skiing's top pros, including Ingrid Backstrom and Mark Abma—two of the most promising young talents since Morrison and Fisher—Yearbook delivers the strongest sampling of the ski action caught on film in '03-04. MSP sticks to its formula of creating a theme in the intro and then attempting to carry dozens of riders' segments on the same idea. It works, but then again, it's also hard not to drift off into a bar conversation after 45 minutes of perfect powder lines, huge airs, and whatever the hell it is McConkey and J.T. Holmes are doing with those parachutes.
BEST LINES:
"I can do this. I got the ball, I got the ability…and I've got the sock." –Mark Abma
"Good doctor and six weeks of training and I was back out there."—Seth Morrison
"For the last couple of years I guess I've been pretty lucky, I didn't crash so much…I never hold down myself to make sure I'm not crashing. But I don't know it just happened this year I just kept charging like I usually do, and, uh, bad luck happened I guess." –Hugo Harrison
Click here for EXCLUSIVE footage Part 1 (Windows Media)
Click here for EXCLUSIVE footage Part 1 (Quicktime)
Click here for EXCLUSIVE footage Part 2 (Windows Media)
Click here for EXCLUSIVE footage Part 2 (Quicktime)
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Soul Purpose – Teton Gravity Research
www.tetongravity.com
Length: 50 minutes
Cost: $28
Medium: 16mm film
With Soul Purpose, Teton Gravity Research continues to break the tired ski-porn formula. TGR does an excellent job incorporating still photography from all of its trips in an artistic fashion reminiscent of award-winning skateboard documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys. Blending photos taken by the best eyes in the business with skier voiceovers, Soul Purpose becomes more of an athlete-postcard diary, rather than just another ski music video. The downside to this approach is voice-overs that sometime feel contrived. TGR dominates the world travel scene for another year, producing segments from exotic locations such as Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Italy. Jeremy Nobis returns with a hard-charging big mountain segment; Sage Cattabriga-Alosa dominates in all realms; Jamie Pierre survives another season; and Marc-Andre Belliveau continues to prove himself as one of the most versatile and underrated pro skiers.
BEST LINES:
"You go search for a little bit of fear all of the time just to know you're alive."—Jeremy Nobis
"If these skis fly off and go into the tail rotor, were dead—basically—nothing serious." –Micah Black
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WSKI106 – by Eric Iberg & Tanner Hall in assoc. with Poor Boyz Productions
www.poorboyz.com
310-798-4276
Length: 40 minutes
Cost: $27
Medium: 16mm film + digital video
Let the truth be told! Tanner Hall is not a ski-gangsta—he's a comedy filmmaker. Last winter Hall teamed up with filmmaker Eric Iberg to co-direct his first ski movie. The end result of the duo's efforts is one of the funniest, most creative ski movies of the year. WSKI106 is a mock radio show, hosted by once pro skier "DJ E Raps," who at times takes the ski-gangsta-hip-hopper lingo too far, but in the end pulls off the schtick by never breaking character. The skiing is as progressive as the sport gets with a world-class athlete line-up including Eric Pollard, Dash Longe, Sean Pettit, Kye Peterson, Shoya Okazaki, Mickael Deschanoux, CR Johnson, Rory Silva and Hall himself. Each skier’s segment is created with an artistic, usually hilarious backdrop skit. While older viewers might not find the humor in Silva's bloody slasher segment or Pettit and Peterson's politically incorrect spoof on midgets, WSKI106 will quickly become a cult classic among the younger audience.
BEST LINES:
Jay Leno: "Is there anything you have done yet that you want to do?"
Snoop Dogg: "Um…skiing"
Leno: "Sking?… Skiing?"
Snoop: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know [insert schussing, hip-swingin' body action]."
Leno: "What about snowboarding?"
Snoop: "Yeah, snowboarding, but I couldn't control it cause I'm like how… what am I 'posed to do. It just didn't work for me. We didn't agree with each other."