Chasing the Lotus (2006)

          

     If there should be a surfing movie that represented something like a compendium of surf history this is it. The project was itself colossal: to reunite 40 years of surf history based on surf photos mainly taken by legendary surf photographer Greg Weaver from Surfer magazine and also footage from many landmark movies. The task was largely unmeasured and the expectations were maybe too high but, after all, lets be reallistic: 40 years of the rich history of surf would never fit into only 90 minutes of film. However, some good aspects are effective in hiding some of the flaws found in the movie. The interviews and the interviewed are excellent, and the authors (Greg mad it together with Spyder Willis) are sucessfull in grasping the adventure like sentiment and wanderlust that surround surfing since its invention. Oh, and Jeff "The Dude" Bridges does the narration.

verdict: 7/10 Check a more detailed review in the next link:  http://www.onelastwave.com/SurfFlickReviews/ChasingTheLotus.htm

Ride of the Year Entry - Brian Conley just WOW

Cosmic Children (1970)

         Never was the expression "go with the flow" so well applied as when we speak about the coolness of the surfing shown by the space age surfers of the 1960´s. It is a surf style that translates itself in a uncomitted, light and sensual approach to the waves. It looks the guys couldn´t care less and yet all the surf stars of the time are reunited in what makes this film one of the best compilation of american surfers of all time: Miki Dora, David Nuuhiwa, J. Riddle, Johnny Fain, Jeff Hackman Barry Kanaiaupuni, Mike Doyle, Corky Carrol, Owl, Rolf Arness, Billy Hamilton.

         Of course, the whole movie is affected by the symbolism of the hippie era. What remains after 60 minutes of vintage footage is not only remarkable surf but also the witnessing of the subculture that marked a whole generation. However don´t expect to find here a best of as the film also includes some inunteresting scenes of regular and sometimes even boring moments, but that, I think, was the sole goal of Hal Jepsen (who passed away in 2006): to show exactly how everything happened in a changing Time not only for America as a whole but also for surf.

This next video clip extracted from the movie shows what Topanga Beach was all about in the late sixties.



TLDR : Woodstock for surfers.

Poetry in motion

Sometimes people ask why I like to watch surf movies. I think there isn´t an answer to that. At least an answer that goes deeper than the superficial layers of words. The emotions involved rather belong to the realm of pure contemplation. It is an experience that allows the viewer a respite from the strife of desire, and feel a kind of purely mental enjoyment. But, while I was reflecting on this topic from the point of view of a spectator, a quick search on the internet gave me a similar opinion, but from the angle of Jonathan Paskowitz

“For me personally, words cannot describe the euphoria that surfing provides as a human. Words cannot describe the absolutely magical and romantic feeling of riding a wave, going up and down on the surface of the water and feeling, just an unlimited power under your feet and to be in harmony with the ocean; perhaps riding along and seeing a dolphin in the face of the wave next to you, or a beautiful rainbow as the spray of the wind is offshore pluming over the back of the wave. It’s just the most beautiful, romantic, organic thing I think a human can do”.

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Not a myth: kickflip in surf

Surf purists would say that skateboarding only appeared because surfers were so addicted to the ocean thrills that they needed to emulate surfing when the weather was bad or there were no waves to surf on. Truth is that in the beginning surfers were skaters and skaters were surfers. Nowadays, both extreme sports made separate ways. Skateboarding is more connected with an urban lifestyle and surfing, on the other hand, is rather linked to nature and to a more relaxed attitude towards life. Meanwhile, some kind of rivalry grew upon the two factions. However, the next video proves the contrary and that both sports can continue to influence each other in many aspects. Just watch a surfer performing the famous skateboarding kickflip trick in a surfboard. Like surfboarding and skating, talent and imagination have no boundaries.

TLDR: Like a youtube user commented: "the first skate style was surfing, so the last surf style should be skating".

The innermost limits of pure fun (1969)

1968 was a very important year in surf history. Until that epoch most surfers used to surf with longboards. These kind of boards were slower and easier to handle. That is the iconic image we nowadays have of surf in its beginnings: the typical beachboy driving a cadillac with a foam longboard by his side. But surfculture was about to change. George Greenough, Robert "Nat" Young and Bob McTavish, two american surfers and an australian sharper realized that the popularity of surf was stagnating and soon looked for a solution.

A couple of years of years before, during the World contest in San Diego, Young tried to compete with a shorter version of the common 9´6´´ board because he had no money to afford the longer version. So, Young approached shaper McTavish and asked if he could come up with a solution to his problem. McTavish had already some ideas about shaping a board far thinner then every other boards, but it was only when he met with kneeboarder Greenough, in Noosa Heads, that both finally came up with something. The shortboard was born.

The innermost limits of pure fun, made in 1969, only one year after the reinvention of the surfboard, is one of the first surf movies from that revolutionary period in surfing. What today is a piece of nostalgia, back in its time was an innnovative film, featuring point of view cameras and other technical novelties. The amateurish making, the groovy soundtrack and the opportunity it gives us to witness surf history make it a pleasant experience. What could be better than watch the birth of the shortboard from the highly personalized perspective of its inventors?

Verdict: 7/10