momentum video magazine gets set to go gratis & a "perfecto" movie review

i hit up the boulder theater on wednesday to catch the last stop on mvm's premiere tour of perfecto: rock climbing over the sea.

the film was introduced by director mike call kevin bradburn where he also broke the news that momentum video magazine or mvm will move away from its website's paid subscription model. come september 2008, two and half years of climbing video content will be free. this is good news if you're a broke consumer. bad news if you're a film maker trying to eat.

before the film began we were treated to two shorts. the first short featured james litz. the second highlighted alex honnold doing his thing in indian creek, utah. honnald tackled belly full of bad berries (5.13a) patient lingering - the hardest off-width at the creek - and worked his way through two super entertaining rounds on from switzerland with love belly full of bad berries (5.13a). honnold's upside down climbing work was both immediate and intimate. at one point alex mutters, "i'm stuck." the audience was right there stuck with him. very good stuff.

on to perfecto.

perfecto focuses on the beautiful spanish island of mallorca and all its amazing orange and yellow limestone. the film doesn't focus on any one rock star - although ethan pringle gets somewhat close. there are no super crazy 5.14s featured here either. the film is mostly interested in deep water soloing and the beautiful cliffs of palma de mallorca.

visually, perfecto sticks to basic and classic cinematography. there are no heavy special effects and the editing is simple and restrained. you get to actually see climbs play out. the water and the cliffs are enough really. there's something complete and fantasic about watching and hearing climbers getting sucked in by the watery earth. the filmmaking, climbing and environment approach simple poetry at times.

so what to look out for? a stand out scene presents ethan pringle revisiting es pontas, which chris sharma made famous in the film king lines. "i guess you don't have to do the dyno," pringle concludes. another good scene shows jay holowach hilariously warming up by lifting some awkward cliff rocks. chuck fryberger's effort on weatherman (5.13c) was raw and accessible. the final winner was ethan pringle inverting himself on la hostia (5.13c).

perfecto wasn't perfect, however. the pace and subjects got a bit monotonous at times. it could have been shorter maybe. i also wish i had seen some exposure to mallorca as a place - there was basically no spanish and little if any interaction with the locals in the movie. my other and usual peeve was that there was very little story. i wanted more interaction between climbers off the cliff face. i wanted to see more about where they were sleeping, what they were talking (or fighting?) about, and what they were eating. i still don't get why climbing filmmakers are seemingly afraid to bring audiences closer to the humanity of their subjects and this sport.

overall, perfecto is a pretty great summer climbing movie. as temperatures peak this july, this film will make you wish you were out there squeezing the ocean out of your chalk bag and shoes.

world movie premiere – spray

i hit the boulder theater last night to catch the world premiere of brian solano’s newest climbing film spray. the theater was nicely packed for a cold snowy night in boulder, colorado. people really seem to love all things rock climbing in this town.

after a few promotional exercises for folks that included the access fund, timberland, and smart wool, the film started with a quick and casual survey of some known and undiscovered northern californian climbing and bouldering spots including the beaches of arcata, the limestone of the trinity aretes, the shores of mickey's beach and the alpine stone of donner summit. the film focuses on climbing areas right up against the very wet pacific ocean but occasionally travels inward to more inland areas.

one thing that will strike you about this movie is the emphasized pairing of music with climbing problems. at times you feel like you are watching segmented 4 minute music videos. the pairings work mostly. there were times however when i wished i could just hear the ocean and nothing else. someone should compile a cd of the movie’s tracks though. the songs would make for a great climbing road trip album.

spray follows four climbers but focuses mostly on joe kinder and chris lindner. joe provides the appropriate californian “taking it easy” vibe while chris provides the more serious philosophical perspectives. i found chris to be the more interesting of the two characters, but i understand why solano included joe.

my one criticism of the film is that i wish it had taken more risks with its story lines. i also wanted lindner and especially kinder to be complex characters. at one point lindner starts talking about how his father broke his back trad climbing and how that influenced chris’s decision to focus on sport climbing. i was intrigued by the possibility of this narrative but was a bit disappointed by its cursory treatment. similarly, i wish joe had been a bit more vulnerable and raw in his conversations. he gets close to this point when talking about how chris sharma inspired him by climbing surf safari (5.14) at age 14 but the exposure is brief. i guess i was hoping for a little less spray.

the best part of the film was watching lindner grunt and fail his way up his first ascent of “window of opportunity.” the scene was smart, compelling and worth the $13 admission charge. the crowd seemed to agree.

it’s hard to make climbing films that transcend the “porn” genre. or better said, it is extremely challenging to make sport-specific films that shed light on our complex and universal humanity. solano does an admirable job with spray. he’s a young filmmaker with great potential and i look forward to seeing more of his films.

if you get a chance, go check out the movie. you can order a copy of the dvd at the bs productions’ website.

don't go see this movie: into the wild

into the wild opened in theaters a week or so ago.

the film was inspired by a true story and directed by sean penn. it looks pretty great. plot summary: "after graduating from emory university, top student and athlete christopher mccandless abandons his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to alaska to live in the wilderness. along the way, christopher encounters a series of characters that shape his life."

the reason you shouldn't go see this movie? i'm selfish. i don't want my [few] readers to finally decide to pursue their dirtbaggin' dreams and leave me blogging all solo.



for you text lovers, there's also a book by the same title written by noted outdoor writer and mountaineer jack krakauer.

"the descent" - climbing rapps its way into the movies

in august, lionsgate will be releasing a horror film that apparently highlights some rock climbing. the movie follows the adventures of a group of female rappellers.

while i'm not a big fan of scary cinema, "the descent" might be a fun way to put the occasional scariness of climbing into perspective.

monsters and critics.com has an interview with a few of the actors in the film, including actress shauna macdonald, who plays sarah in the movie. she says:

"to prepare for the film we all did a course of climbing. i also did some private tutoring for climbing; even though it doesn't specifically state in the script that sarah is a climber i wanted to look like i could climb."

you can watch the creepy trailer here.

also, here's an interesting promo image from the film's website. i wonder if petzl, or other gear makers, paid for placement? hmm.