UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => shootin' the shit => Topic started by: Paul B on October 01, 2007, 09:46:50 pm
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I'm not prepared to spend 60 quid on buying all of these, so hypothetically (or maybe you've already preordered one) which one would you buy?
I can see that each one has something unique going for it:
King Lines: Holywood like picture quality, stunning footage of sharma who is always good to watch....
Psych: Mclure on some hard BRITISH sport... felt that the last posing-productions DVD focused more on the fancy camera techniques rather than the climbing.
Committed: The footage of the promise looks really good, but is it going to play too much on the danger aspect and not get annoying after the first viewing? I haven't seen E11 so can't really compare...
Hard XS: I don't really know much about?
I think I'm leaning towards king lines but I'm not really sure...
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tough choice. king lines should be amazing but it'll be hard to live up to the quality of the trailer! psyche looks a bit toss, sportclimbing on video is generally boring as watching paint that is already dry remain dry. hard XS will no doubt be good but its been in the pipeline so long a lot of that footage must be pretty old by now - plus footage of pearson on equilibrium has been on the internet for 3 years. for me big mountain and seacliff stuff is great but doesn't withstand repeated viewings. committed probably looks best of the british offerings so far cos its got people i know on it, more grit, more recent stuff etc. I'm happy to be proven wrong and all these turn out to be badass.
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I've got King Lines on preorder so will report back as soon as I get it - to be honest though I'd pay the price for that one just for the Es Pontas footage and Ethan Pringle at Bishop.
Dave from that statement I assume you didn't enjoy the dosage footage of dreamcatcher, realization or Rumney? They are some of my favourite bits in the respective videos. Perhaps it's just british sport climbing that doesn't lend itself well to being filmed?
I'll buy HardVS when it comes out because I've enjoyed all of their other videos and I want to show Slackjaw my support - I'm sure there'll be some awesome footage on there.
Not too sure about the other two - E11 was really good on first watching but got tired pretty quick - I'm not sure if committed may go the same was as you say. I haven't seen Set in Stone, so can't comment on the funny camera stuff.
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Dave from that statement I assume you didn't enjoy the dosage footage of dreamcatcher, realization or Rumney? They are some of my favourite bits in the respective videos. Perhaps it's just british sport climbing that doesn't lend itself well to being filmed?
dreamcatcher is good cos its so short, and the way he climbs it is like a boulder problem anyway. realization is good more for the fact it was history in the making etc, but if you took that out of the equation its pretty dull to watch except the end cos he pisses the first 90% of the route and its only the top bit that gets interesting. i haven't got the dvd with rumney on, though i've got it on a low-res on the PC. don't get me wrong, these are good to watch, but the bouldering always seems a bit better. more fly. i watched a video of sharma on rambla extension recently and it was good but then 45minutes later i was still sat there watching it, the belay was nowhere in sight and i had an urgent luncheon appointment to keep.
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This is THE topic that needed to be posted at the moment. I was going to put it on UKC but....
Anyway.
Hard XS - should be pretty entertaining in a left-of-centre way but too obscure and probably not flashy enough.
Psyche - again should be pretty entertaining but will probably be hampered by Alaistair Lee's annoying posey editing and maybe a lack of truly impressive stuff.
It boils down to:
King Lines - I expect will have amazing production, amazing ascents, proper Sharma pr0n and will probably be the best overall quality. But possible cheese and possible "another Dosage" syndrome.
Committed - But I think this will beat it for British audiences at least. Looks to have a good variety and a proper amount of proper trad, plus the production seems good. I think E11 proved they can make a quality overall film as well as climbing footage. Possible flaws include weaker non-Macleod / Keenus Brown sections and lack of on-site rapping which would be quite disappointing.
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Have to agree that King Lines looks worth getting for a few reasons. 1. The production quality looks so much better than any previous climbing films. It's gotta be worth watching just to see if this works or if it feels too Hollywood and detracts from the actual footage. 2. The Es Pontas stuff. We've all seen the teaser however many times and I for one want to see more. 3. The Clark Mountain project. It's just meant to be really fucking hard so I'm interested. 4. Three Degrees of Seperation at Ceuse looks way more entertaining then Realization. 5. Should be lots of decent bouldering stuff in it too.
Apparently Psyche has some great stuff on it but the footage I've seen so far has been less than impressive.
Committed looks entertaining but I'm not too interested in just seeing dangerous shit so I don't reckon I'll buy it.
Hard XS I know fuck all about but if it's Slackjaw then it should have some good stuff on.
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For everyone who doesn't know anything about HardXS, here's some info:
http://www.slackjaw.co.uk/climbingfilms/hardxs.html (http://www.slackjaw.co.uk/climbingfilms/hardxs.html).
I reckon this will be good. Slackjaw always put as much importance on the human story as the climbing, which is why they make memorable films.
Although King Lines and Copmmitted both look brilliant as well. Just depends what floats your boat.
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I was, at one stage, going to be an extra in HardXS - HardWood it was going to be called, but I understand its now on the cutting room floor. Apparently people werent ready for the exposure.
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I'm going to buy three copies of HardXS. One for the living room, one for my mum, and one for, erm, personal use.
King lines looks essential, and I might well get Committed just so I can laugh at Alan cratering...
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This is THE topic that needed to be posted at the moment. I was going to put it on UKC but....
King Lines - I expect will have amazing production, amazing ascents, proper Sharma pr0n and will probably be the best overall quality. But possible cheese and possible "another Dosage" syndrome.
Last night I thought nobody was going to answer and it was destined for the shit heap!
I agree with the potential cheese on king lines, they seem to have coined that phrase (the first person I hear using it over here will get: :spank:) and the section with DG and CS chatting on momentum vids looks silly, its too set up they surely know everything about each others project(s)?
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There's Underdeveloped too. The trailer for that always looked pretty good. And I've heard from people who've seen it that it is great.
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Yup, I saw a lot of the uncut footage a few years ago and some of it is pretty good. I think thats more along the lines of Winter Sessions than the above contenders but I may be wrong.
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There's Underdeveloped too. The trailer for that always looked pretty good. And I've heard from people who've seen it that it is great.
when's that coming out??
in time for christmas??
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King Lines Julian becomes the next Monarch following a bizarre series of Royal-osides
Psych! Some bloke stands at the bottom of a route working himself into a Dervish frenzy
Committed Dense is finally sent to a sanatorium
Hard XS Something to do with a fat lad struggling to get into an undersized swimming costume
Of those I'd prefer to see Dense being locked up :lol:
On a serious note, I'd be interested to see Hard XS for the OPR shit routes bit. If you've forgotten they are:
Kinder Downfall Diff (or worse)
The Ravenstones Stomach Traverse "severe"
Mam Tor Gully Ungradeable
1847, Stannington Roughs HS 4b
Matterhorn Ridge, Winnats Pass V.Diff
Chocolate Blancmange Gully, Horseshoe Quarry Quite Tricky
Generously Cut Trousers, First Lift Severe
Claw Left-hand, Baley Bittress HVS 5b,4c
High Tor Gully V.Diff
Speak The Truth, Hall Moor Quarry E5 6b
Is this the Ravenstones Stomach Traverse?
(http://www.slackjaw.co.uk/climbingfilms/climbing_img/hardxs3.jpg)
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I'd like to see 75 minutes of Dense ranting moaning and grumbling incoherently whilst occasionally twitching his magic fingers.
P.S. "Yes."
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thought so make that £80
you forgot the uprising toooooooooo
Fuck It im going to buy the lot
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I reckon this will be good. Slackjaw always put as much importance on the human story as the climbing, which is why they make memorable films.
The problem I see with hardXS, is that a lot of the stuff has been in the making for the last 4 years, so most of it will be very old news, but you should see a very young looking james on it. They filmed the grit stuff when my little lad was born, and he is now 4 and a half,
Should still be good though
suport the poor film makers and buy them all
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i'd prefer to see me ranting for 75 minutes as well.
speak the truth went up to E7 without the baby bouncer, don't know if the footage is with or without
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There's Underdeveloped too. The trailer for that always looked pretty good. And I've heard from people who've seen it that it is great.
when's that coming out??
in time for christmas??
Sounds like it - http://www.climbing.ie/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=71&Itemid=1
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i'd prefer to see me ranting for 75 minutes as well.
speak the truth went up to E7 without the baby bouncer, don't know if the footage is with or without
i thought when they did the ticklist thing they took the fallback tick of Private Targets instead. not to mention they didn't do it all in a day either. poor effort. ;)
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i'd prefer to see me ranting for 75 minutes as well.
speak the truth went up to E7 without the baby bouncer, don't know if the footage is with or without
Maybe they've used Honeyman's footage and edited Shane Ohly's face onto the Enigma.
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As i recall, you get the tick for Private Targets anyway. I daresay they did that.
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So plenty of you were there last night, thoughts on committed?
Personally I thought it was pretty good, the footage of trauma and the promise especially so however I'm not quite sure who some of the commentary was aimed at, it seemed a bit dumbed down almost like what you would expect from a tv or newspaper article on climbing?
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Tend to agree. Wasn't as well put together as I expected given what they'd done with the E11 story. It needed more continuity to link the footage, which although diverse could have been tied together with better commentary. On the other hand there were several bits of inspiring footage, my favourites being anything with Keenus in, the Keenus vs Johnny Long battle on Angel's Share which was nicely done, and Jude on Lord which I could really identify with (the style of climbing NOT the route obviously). Some of the other sections didn't go into the depth I'd have hoped but then again maybe I am more of a sucker for the nitty gritty faff of trad climbing than some people.
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Hmmm I preferred the way the Angel's Share was presented on the internet.
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Hmmmm good point, for the pure ascent I agree Crabstix way was more elegant but the Committed version had more "fun" to it.
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The strong female appearances (Lord, Balance It Is, Angels Share etc) were good to see. Katherine's beaming face should warm even the stoniest of hearts.
In terms of humour, the Dawes' quote near the end was genius.
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yeah and Siobghan's (sp?) cussing after Katherine tops out.... a few moments of chuckling throughout. The wire pulling out on trauma was harrowing.
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thought it was quite good. could have done without the pabay stuff and lord, i thought that was really boring, i know johnny thought that was really good tho. could have been a good 20 mins shorter, to save some footage for next one. overall i enjoyed it, and nothing bores me more than grown ups with ropes
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I bizarrely quite enjoyed the Pabbay bit - just for the pulling massive bits of rock off, and general whimpering and grunting value. I once did a bit of pulling loose shitty rock off and whimpering in the days before I became slightly more sensible, and it reminded me of those rather intense feelings of panic and general questing on because your totally committed that I think the film makers were trying to convey to the viewers. Also Dave McLeod on Trauma - a not very wired ascent where he looked totally balls out and liked he could have 'dropped it' at any moment. I missed the first half, but enjoyed the second half a lot. I'm a normally a bit bored by climbing dvd's - I just find 'polished' ascents that seem to have become the norm just a little bit boring. I prefer my climbing footage to be more realistic and gritty, and thought Committed worked pretty well for this.
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Yeah, the Pabbay bit was the first footage I've scene to come close to capturing the sea-choss experience, especially the relief topping out, feeling like you've been swimming towards the surface and can suddenly breathe again. I daresay HXS may raise the bar on this mind.
Thought the best bit was Ben Cossey though. Shame we didn't get to see more though, the ease he did Simba's Pride with suggested much. Plus his mumbled banter was very entertaining.
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I got my copy of King Lines and Committed in the post yesterday, and watched them both last night.
King Lines definately lives up to its hype, its really polished but at the same time manages to capture the actual ascents of things like es pontas really well. the footage of the mt clark project is mind-blowing, the only kinda dull part is the climbing in venezuela, it seems like they put so much money into going there then when it rained they felt they had to use the footage anyway. I didn't realise how much of a sharmafest it was going to be, it is all about sharma, it only has him climbing apart from brief clips of people who are climbing with him, and one part when they show pringle topping out on a buttermilk highball that sharma was too scared to do. With any other climber this might get a bit dull, but sharma managed to pull it all together, it even has him doing trad. If you like Sharma you'll love this movie. :thumbsup:
After watching King Lines first Committed definately felt amateurish in comparison, its got some good footage, i especially liked the E6 that Jude Spanken does in Wales. But the over the top comentary was kinda wierd and i never really felt engrossed in the movie like i did with king lines. The extra 'keen youth' is a cool insight into james' background and worth watching, but i'm a bit dissapointed there wasn't more extras considering the quality of the extras on E11. Having said that, i'm glad i've got both of them, but if you had to pick one definately King Lines.
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I've not seen King Lines or Committed, but I have seen some of the UK sport climbing stuff on Psyche featuring Ste Mac. Now UK sport gets bad press from what I can see, very unfairly. Lines like Rainshadow, Northern Lights and Mutation are obviously sick hard, but are also very impressive. I think it's great that someone is documenting these and showing them in there full glory. Should be great when we get to see the full thing.
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The Psyche trailer of Ste Mac on some thing at Raven Tor was very good for limestone, it actually made for an interesting clip.
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My copy of King Lines arrived this morning, I just watched it with my lunch, it's awesome. Pretty much a mix of what you get in First Ascent (which was slightly too documentary like for my liking) and what you expect from the dosage films (awesome action photography).
I always thought that the second dosage film made the Mallorca DWS look good - this film has just moved it right to the top of my holiday destination list. Mt Clarke project looks like malham cove on crystal meth - absolutely outstanding. The bishop bit is v short, but you get to see Sharma make King Tut and Evilution look about the same difficulty, and see that The Beautiful and Damned is not just a hard boulder problem into an easy topout - there's definitely some business to take care of around the 25 foot mark! The Venezuala bit is not as good as the rest of the film, but there are some amazing looking problems, and the scenery shots make up for the lack of hardcore cranking.
Overall it's definitely a lot more chilled than the Dosages, with lots of 'to camera' bits by Chris talking about his motivation and his life, which could easily be boring or overindulgent if it was someone else, but with Sharma it works well.
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Mt Clarke project looks like malham cove on crystal meth - absolutely outstanding.
50 lbs underweight, teeth falling out and with a dvd player under one arm?
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50 lbs underweight, teeth falling out and with a dvd player under one arm?
:lol:
I've not seen any of these recent offerings - need to get watching some.
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Being a true hustla I downloaded a copy of King Lines and have just finished watching it. I have now read through the comments on this thread and thought I'd add a couple of thoughts. The Venezuela bit was, for me, one of the best. This may come as a suprise to those who know me, because usually all I care about are seeing strong climbers climb hard things. However, atop that plateau in Venezuela there was something transcendental going on. They were somewhere incredible, they were faced with the reality we all face (rain and food rationing), and it was quite special I thought. The rock looked incredible, the journey to the rocks was incredible, and I didn't think this was a lowpoint of the DVD. Perhaps I'm just sick of going to roadside crags or the same old peak destinations. Maybe I'm only saying this because I'm currently seeking an adventure. Who knows, but I thought I'd provide an opposing opinion to the ones already on this thread.
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Have you thought about trying to break the world altitude one arm pull-up record?
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"That's not much of an adventure mate, more of an invention!"
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/fastshow/characters/images/carl_hooper.jpg)
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After watcing it again I agree the tepui bit is pretty special - what did you think overall Uncle- worth dipping in your pocket for? Copying kills creation you know ;)
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I thought it was a wonderful media expose for Chris Sharma (soon to be TM no doubt). The filming was slick, it was well editing, but it was a one man media fest. I don't have any problem with that, but I would still very much like to see climbing films with Andrada, Ramonet, Moon, Graham, Landman, Nicole, Zangerl, Koyomada, Hukkataival, Woods, Moroni, Calibani, Frigault, Vandeputte, Rouhling etc... I mean, what really got done in King Lines? Just the es pontas project. A DVD with Koyomada crushing a couple of 9a's, a whole host of 8B, 8B+, 8C blocs, and still being the most humble man in the world is more inspiring for me. Perhaps more inspiring isn't the right term, just inspiring in a very different way. Sharma is a crusher of epic proportions, but King Lines is a lifestyle DVD. Koyomada is also a crusher of epic proportions but his DVD's are climbing DVD's. Surely a combination of the two is possible and would be excellent.
Will I pay for a copy? I don't think so. I will probably get a proper DVD rip though...
uncle-killer of all creation
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Uncle you are clearly a frustrated mountaineer. Give into it boy, its society's crime, not ours.
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having just seen both I'd try and get a hold of doyles films much better value imho
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i just watched king lines, and it's no more on my pc...
it's nice, but in my opinion nothing more. it's not a climbing vid, it's a documentary about chris.
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i agree with nibs here, but would like to add one more thing "it's fucking shit". how dare film makers get hold of one of the most talented climbers in the world and make the dvds cringeworthy to watch, time and time again.
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I think its becoming a generic problem in the industry of climbing films that they are now about people climbing rather than climbing itself :shrug:
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Bingo!
Some time a comin' Moo, but you got there in the end.
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Like nature documentaries now being about the presenters and cameramen not the wildlife. Bizarre.
Not seen King Lines but it won Kendal so must have some merit? Does it have MC Hasta though?
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no, but the scally's have gone to more exotic locations. think they're on with titmarsh in a couple of wks. can't really get over how crap king lines actually is. marginally better on mute
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i agree with nibs here, but would like to add one more thing "it's fucking shit".
Dense you are such a charmer.
I quite liked King Lines firstly for the quality footage and secondly for Chris Sharma being one of the few people who can carry off / justify the philosophical hippy hero p0rn bollox. But I didn't think it was as good as say the Dosages as it lacked a bit of continuous bite. The Arch does look quite hard tho.
Anyway.
Got Committed on DVD and watched it recently. Actually rating this more now, preferred it on the small screen than on the Works premiere set-up. Same comments as before apply but I like it.
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Chris Sharma being one of the few people who can carry off / justify the philosophical hippy hero p0rn bollox
Nah, he just comes across like every other stoner you meet in Cali. It must be easier being a hippy when you get paid to travel the world climbing. Peace and love y'all.
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I still like King Lines - it's something a bit different from the standard climbing film, and the climbing footage itself is excellent. I've got plenty of DVD's with people just climbing hard problems and routes.
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I thought King Lines was superb. Sharma does somehow carry it off. I find watching most DVDs you realise how un-magnetic most climbers seem on screen. And in my opinion, he's very watchable. So, okay JB, if he is a typical Californian stoner who (without a hint of jealousy) gets paid to climb, then I must conclude that I would rather watch a Californian stoner than virtually any other climber I have seen on the screen.
And, it's got something to hold it together as a film. I'm trying to think of a Dosage-style DVD that sticks in my mind, ie a sereies of unlinked shorts, that has stuck in my mind. None come to mind.
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None come to mind.
Colorado Daydream?
yes I am taking the piss
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At the film festival i reckon far and away the best film which i saw was underdeveloped
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P.S. Yes the main flaw with all of these videos is the lack of MC Hasta.
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the best film which i saw was underdeveloped
They seem to have been releasing it for the last three years it should be the best film ever after that!
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my point is that sharma is, far and away, the most magnetic person out there. yet, to me and nearly everyone else i know, is constantly in drivel way of life climbing films. where when trying to philosophise comes across as a child with learning difficulties. all he needs is a flute, shit it's been done, and he can lead away all the psychophantic clingers, one down, a couple to go. just annoyed really since basically he's the man and josh lowell has been a decent filmmaker. doesn't matter anyway since they'll continue to get money thrown at them cos it sells
that said rampage is not fucking shit
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psychophantic
Nice play on words!
So if they just made a film where sharma shut up and crushed and Lowell filmed well you'd be happy?
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I agree with Dense, although Dense wil probably disagree that we are agreeing, but yeah, Rampage is top class. I think it did what Stone Monkey and Hard Grit did, ie, capture a phenomen just as it was on the ascendant. Any film maker, I would imagine, would count their luckies to have been in that right place at that right time, then probably spend the rest of their careers trying to recreate that magic.
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ok a copy of committed came my way finally and had a quick watch last night. not got much to say that anyone else hasn't said already (but i will anyway) - its very good but the commentary is a bit annoying and makes it feel less like a climbers video, yet if i was a non-climber it didn't explain stuff enough, like what E grades are or what a headpoint is or what leading is. leaves you wondering what the target audience is - too puntery for real climbers but too climbery for joe public. i would have like to have seen more of The Promise, because on the video it just looks routine, you know, we just nipped out and did an E10 FA which i'm sure it wasn't. would also like to see more of the cratcliffe groove project, and filmed from a decent angle. i skipped through most of the seacliff stuff. also despite having just watched a video of a guy climbing divided years i still don't know what the climbing is actually like. Also i appreciate it was dark when he did blind vision,but i'm sure they could have fucked about with the levels a bit to make it at least viewable without needing a dark-cloth over the screen like ansel adams. music is mainly shit, no mood-building etc (they achieved this amazingly on hard grit, really makes the difference). camerawork was sometimes less than inspiring.
I would also like to have heard more from the non-scottish climbers, like what the fuck neil was thinking having just decked from an E9. or more detailed talk of the moves and climbing of stuff in general, i was watching some stuff not knowing what the crux was or what the deckour situation was. overall its good though and will stand repeated watching, though probably only certain parts, still felt a bit like i was watching a BBC documentary rather than a climbers vid. I suppose the main issue with how much you like a video like this is how high your expectations have been set, which was quite high for this one given all the hype and build-up
personally i think it could have been better if they'd have broken it up with a bit of bouldering or a bit of history, .....and been more grit,...and maybe been made 10 years ago. What i'm saying is it ain't no Hard Grit, but then i think maybe nothing ever will be.
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So if they just made a film where sharma shut up and crushed and Lowell filmed well you'd be happy?
only if sharma was on his own, thousands of people weren't spotting, and josh wasn't shouting "how does it feel shy"
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Just watched underdeveloped. Twice, in a row, actually. Which probably says more about how much I enjoyed it than any kind of pseudo review, but I'll try anyway: Great looking climbing, good music, fun characters and non-climbing banter, really get a feel for the scene. It feels akin to watching your mates having a good time, rather than idolising anonymous heroes. Very good.
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I was going to review it for this thread but thought I might be giving a bit of a biased opinion having seen a lot of the footage in its early stages.
One thing you missed reeve, the photos, especially the ones used on the menu are really damn good.
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Very true Paul, we watched the slideshow whilst eating, but then watched it again afterwards cos it didn't seem to do it justice otherwise.
I'm probably mildly biased as well to be honest, but probably not as much as you will be I'd guess! Seems to have had a really good response from people totally unacquainted with anyone on the film too though.
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Psyche. Just saw it at the Works. Was fucking freezing in there. Could just about make out the film through a haze of frosty breath.
Anyway. Better than I expect - Alistair Lee's production is still too much on the gimmicky side, but in this I found it less posey and more entertaining than Set In Stone. Indeed it was entertaining overall and raised quite a few honest laughs. I liked the Steve Mac section the best - was a rich and varied story of his recent exploits, and snappily put together. Patagonia was entertaining in a "hmmm rather you failing on the route and sitting out grim weather than me" sort of way - not so entertaining footage but Ian and Andy were good. Skye Wall disappointed me a bit as I thought I'd like it the most, being trad and all. It was good and had some funny bits, but felt like it was over-stretching how interesting one route could be. I think better, closer footage of the climbing would have helped.
Overall it's good fun and good variety. I think it needed perhaps an overall thread and more of it, maybe some short extra bits in between.
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It feels akin to watching your mates having a good time
but.. um.. it is watching your mates have a good time isn't it reeve?
i thought it was good, and it's got me frickin raging to get to fairhead and the burren but would've liked a bit more commentary etc.. eg when rick knocks the gear out on faith it would be interesting to hear what he thought and whether the other gear was good etc.
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Is Hard XS in any of the shops in sheffield yet?
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Yeah, it was in cragx yesterday so it should be in all of em. Seen about half of it so far, very good, rather more professional than the other uk films and making a lot more use of the editor's most powerful tool, the bin.
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sweet.
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Thank goodness. Committed had maybe 20min of great footage, but lots I never want to see again. I've heard Psyche is boring, so I'm in no hurry to see that. Thank goodness for Slackjaw.
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Psyche is good, but makes a lot out of relatively little. The impression from HXS is of years of quality footage edited down to just the gold. There's a lot of stuff on there too - 11 shorts I think? Wherea Psyche is 3 slightly longer films.
Shame they couldn't have got it into KMFF, it would have wiped the floor.
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Committed.
+ve
Visual alacrity, very nice indeed.
Ed Douglas - c'mon Dave, he has the voice. Mellifluous/resonant, almost Will Self. (Anyone but Queen Perrin. I'd hire Haston: unpolished, earthly, working class).
The Glaswegian w/stump (sorry name lost [cracking tats ;)]) - I was gobsmacked; humbled; inspired. Hands down the best part of the film. Loved the subtitles; felt like the US premier of Trainspotting.
Keen Youth in Extras - sweet and touching (really it was).
-ve
The Indian Face section was a fucking travesty. Next time you want someone to piss up it on top-rope, pronounce it unjustifiable then fuck off - I'm your man. This addition to the film (and not the extras, if at all) was a grave error.
Ditto the Cratcliffe Groove; extras, tops.
Angels' Share - it found a home in the wrong film and would have been better spent in a bouldering flick.
Too much Trauma footage. Too toooooooo much.
The Scottish Crag footage was lovely - but - it's hardly at the forefront on OS standards, in fact it's decades out. Again, this would've been better used in a more appropriate flick.
Katherine Schirmachers' made-for-camera Do it! comments. Again wildly off-the-pace. Wasn't Glenda tearing up N/Stack a decade back?
Spanky - she's my friend but she should be tearing E7's neu arschlöchen. Again, wrong film.
4/10
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i enjoyed psyche. the steve bit is the only bit i'd want to watch again. the birkett bit dragged. i enjoyed the patagonia bit, but you wouldn't watch it multiple times. and the night climbing bit with steve on is too dark. if you can't see the holds and the climber pulling on them why would you put iti ina film?
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King Lines.
+ve
Well shot. Beautiful colours & textures.
The tingtong Mallorcan - he's a fucking star and a wad - all in one. I'd love to get wrecked w/this guy. (See Revolution/Evoltion for more.)
-ve
Shamra. Despite being the best footage & everything etc.. * It grates: it's about time BigUp/whoever got the balls to make Shamra (the movie) fo' sho'.
* - Except the family footage. Sorry pal, but the family do fuck all climbing, TMI Josh, TMI!
5/10
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I think its dismaying that these days we're all willing to shell out for DVDs which the then are generally rated with comments like "pretty good but won't stand repeated viewing", "i liked the XXXX bit but the rest was boring", "great footage but too long and badly edited", "slick editing but you can't pollish a turd". it seems you can't by a DVD these days that you actually love, its just a case of finding one where the bits you hate are as small as possible. it seems that, like freeview digital TV, the accessability of producing a film compared to 10-15 years ago seems to have substantialy diluted the quality. I mean look at the Real Thing, Hard Grit, Rampage, Stone Monkey - these are still, in my opinion, the best overall climbing films ever produced, and the youngest of these (rampage) is about 9 years old now.
i fucking hope HXS is good, it aught to be when you look at the math - fuck knows how many years in the making, and they've got a track record of badass vids (hard grit, stonelove, etc).
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Slightly off track, but I watched Winter Sessions the other night for the first time. I really liked it. The burning titles etc. bugged the shit out of me, but definitely didn't ruin it. It has tons of problems in it I don't know much about, and was just climbing climbing climbing. Rhys obviously wasn't a very experienced film maker when he made it, and as such seemed to make a good choice not to try to 'tell stories'. Slackjaw are, obviously, the ones who can do this, and when it doesn't work, as I feel some recent ones have tried, is a bit naff.
Whether I'd pay 20 sheets for it, probably not, but I'm not a DVD buyer. I think Rampage and The bat is the only ones I've bought, although I have made a point of stealing El Capitan. I think for anyone who ever boulders in the Peak, it's a great watch.
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(Commited) 4/10
I'm wrong. It's 3 - tops - for ignoring Caff (!?Are you Blind!?)
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A lot of modern climbing/ bouldering films have ended up trying to be too Hollywood. They have lost all the fun and humour to be more polished or better scripted.
Look at The Real Thing: 2 English guys, one with a droning voice and the other obsessed with partying, train loads then go to Bleau and do an 8a! Then go to a Paris club to dance like camp boys. Sounds shit, but it makes the thing such a good overall experience. All my favourite films have silly bits in them. Stone Monkey is daft at times, Real Thing as above, even Stick It has amusing parts to break it up.
Hard Grit is a good film, but it's spoiled by that bloke that does the history section. But, again it has humour in it so it's fun to watch.
Less professionalism, more fun.
I can just image Jim: "Audi, A4, Quattro, Avant, 16 valve"
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There's a new yorkshire based dvd out called 'The Quest' if any of you are interested?? covers, caley, ilkley, earl, crookrise, brimham, almscliff etc etc.... seventeen quid from leeds wall... features some great problems, done by some really good climbers... I like it because it reminds me of the amazing climbing we have up here and its good to see some of my mates doin what they love... on the downside it makes winter sessions look like citizen kane...
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Shamra. Despite being the best footage & everything etc.. * It grates: it's about time BigUp/whoever got the balls to make Shamra (the movie) fo' sho'.
Errrr. You just watched it... ;)
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Hard Grit is a good film, but it's spoiled by that bloke that does the history section. But, again it has humour in it so it's fun to watch.
>:(
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>:(
:lol: I wondered how long it would take to get a bite on the hook......
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>:(
:lol:
:spank:
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Watched HXS last night. It's good. In fact it's very good.
As is Slackjaw's way, they focused on the people they're filming as much as the climbing or the numbers. So even though it's a series of apparently unrelated films there's a thread, these questions of why and what for, running through the whole film.
The highlights are numerous, although the things that stick in my mind were the emotions on display topping out. Young James puffing his cheeks at the top of Curbar, Chris Cubitt's look to camera at the top of Great White Fright, and Dave Thomas' belayer on Breakaway seemingly too shocked to be relieved etc etc. Lots of humour, warmth and recognition.
Anyway, in terms of 'Which DVD?', I much prefered this to Committed or Psche. I've yet to see King Lines.
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i enjoyed psyche. the steve bit is the only bit i'd want to watch again. the birkett bit dragged. i enjoyed the patagonia bit, but you wouldn't watch it multiple times. and the night climbing bit with steve on is too dark. if you can't see the holds and the climber pulling on them why would you put iti ina film?
agreed - saw it at the works on the weekend. Glad I've seen it, and it is a good documentary, but it isn't one for multiple watchings
I think for anyone who ever boulders in the Peak, it's (winter sessions) a great watch.
I'd go with that too - I've got my favourite bits and bits I generally tend to skip through but it's a good psyche film when you've got a trip coming up - I guess if you live in the peak you don't need that but for a southerner...
also just seen (belatedly) "best of the west" for the first time - it's not the Sharma show it could have been which is probably a good thing - a good range of grades too from about V6 to big double digits - must go to Hueco before I get too old and weak....
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I like it because it reminds me of the amazing climbing we have up here and its good to see some of my mates doin what they love... on the downside it makes winter sessions look like citizen kane...
:lol:
Nail.On.Head!
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I mean look at the Real Thing, Hard Grit, Rampage, Stone Monkey - these are still, in my opinion, the best overall climbing films ever produced
i think stone monkey is actually pretty shit.. the others are good though. rampage was the first climbing vid i ever saw and is probably still my favourite..
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i think stone monkey is actually pretty shit..
you can't say that. sacrilege!
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There's a new yorkshire based dvd out called 'The Quest' if any of you are interested?? covers, caley, ilkley, earl, crookrise, brimham, almscliff etc etc.... seventeen quid from leeds wall... features some great problems, done by some really good climbers...
Features some great problems done/attempted by a crap climber too. :)
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There's a new yorkshire based dvd out called 'The Quest'
Is this Suttys?
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i think stone monkey is actually pretty shit..
you can't say that. sacrilege!
Indeed. Needs to be viewed in context of what else was around at the time, i.e. nothing.
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Absolutely
Quarryman groove, youth.
Think it's the best bit of climbing on film.
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i think stone monkey is actually pretty shit..
:spank:
Incorrect. It's your opinion, fair enough, but it's just plain wrong.
Absolutely
Quarryman groove, youth.
Think it's the best bit of climbing on film.
Inspiring stuff indeed.
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There's a new yorkshire based dvd out called 'The Quest'
Is this Suttys?
Yes.
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King Lines is my favourite but then i like all there work. Good footage , good tunes an always inspiring. But then i adore Sharma. Committed is good, i enjoyed it. Personally i wouldn't have put two people doing trauma and i also would have left out Indian Face bit, basically slimmed it down a bit. Jude on Right Wall/Lord combo makes me shout at the telly though. Difficult route finding they say, hmm. Yet to see Physche and Hard XS.
My Top 3 films ever:
West Coast Gimps (obviously)
Dosage 1 (for realization- big deal at the time)
Stone Monkey (for Childhood inspiration)
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My Top 3 films ever:
West Coast Gimps (obviously)
Dosage 1 (for realization- big deal at the time)
Stone Monkey (for Childhood inspiration)
So where does The Real Thing fit in? Or Rampage? I think you'd better make it a top 5 before you put my nose out of joint.
Doylo, why don't you put West Coast, Stoned Love, Obsession, Perky, and all your youtube shorts on a single DVD? You'd sell about a million and people would be all over it for £25, you'd never need to work again.
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They're number 4 and 5 obviously Nigella. Yes many times have i thought about cashing in on my back catalogue - i can't really be arsed though, d'ya know what i mean? And by the way - its not your nose you should be worrying about!
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My Top 3 films ever:
West Coast Gimps (obviously)
Dosage 1 (for realization- big deal at the time)
Stone Monkey (for Childhood inspiration)
So where does The Real Thing fit in? Or Rampage? I think you'd better make it a top 5 before you put my nose out of joint.
Doylo, why don't you put West Coast, Stoned Love, Obsession, Perky, and all your youtube shorts on a single DVD? You'd sell about a million and people would be all over it for £25, you'd never need to work again.
:agree: Now that would be a DVD worth buying. especially as ive lost my copies of both west coast and stoned love.
:please: :please:
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shame on you Dave, maybe if you've been a good boy santa will come.
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if you were to sell all your shit chris on DVD proper style to make a mint you'd probably have to either change the music, or pay million$ to get clearance for the tracks used. I think this is one reason stuff like this always seems really good and commercial DVDs seem toss, be because for a proper comercial release you can't be flaunting copyright like you can get away with for a DVD-for-mates or youtube ting.
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yer right, i must owe wacko jacko a fair wack!
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you could stick with those tunes, but rather than use the original versions you could instead sing them yourself. or hum along to the electronic ones...
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you'd probably still have to pay royalties on performing those tracks. chris you might be able to repay your debt to jackson back in kind, you've got a pretty youthful face afterall. you'll be chilling in neverland wiping jesus juice from the corner of your mouth before you know it.
other option would be to use stuff over 50 years old thats expired from copyright.
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Jude on Right Wall/Lord combo makes me shout at the telly though. Difficult route finding they say, hmm.
Say more....what did she do?? Escape onto Right Wall??
I didn't know anything was untoward, I liked that footage except they didn't show enough faff...
50 year old tunes are where it's at.
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yer right, i must owe wacko jacko a fair wack!
A fair wank will probably do Chris
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Say more....what did she do?? Escape onto Right Wall??
I didn't know anything was untoward, I liked that footage except they didn't show enough faff...
Don't wanna bang on about this too much. The diagonal crack at the start of Right Wall is just that.
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you'd probably still have to pay royalties on performing those tracks. chris you might be able to repay your debt to jackson back in kind, you've got a pretty youthful face afterall. you'll be chilling in neverland wiping jesus juice from the corner of your mouth before you know it.
bit late for that David, i didn't bother including our trip to Neverland in West Coast Gimps.
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Any news on the Uprising?
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Spoke to Rhys at the works do an he said could be as late as next summer. Perfectionists!
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am i the only one who rates One Summer?? minimalist masterpiece with THE best soundtrack in a climbing movie yet.
1. One Summer
2. West Coast Gimps
3. Stone Monkey
I also find it shocking that you will pay €30 for films like Underdeveloped and Winter Sessions...while I got West Coast Gimps from Chris Doyle for the price of the blank DVD?!
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the first means everybody that pays that is a fool, the second means that doyle is a fool
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incase anyones interested I've gained bothe Extreme 80's and Hard XS over xmas and they are both great. because they are both a collection of shorts i've not watched everything yet, but they are both worth getting. Hard XS from the cragx shop for £18 is a particular bargain. its not flashily edited, cinematic or anything twatty like that, instead its unmistakeably slackjaw which we all know and love. fantastic. both will get much heavier rotation in my crib than Committed.
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am i the only one who rates One Summer?? minimalist masterpiece with THE best soundtrack in a climbing movie yet.
1. One Summer
2. West Coast Gimps
3. Stone Monkey
I also find it shocking that you will pay €30 for films like Underdeveloped and Winter Sessions...while I got West Coast Gimps from Chris Doyle for the price of the blank DVD?!
is it still possible to get copies of WCG off Mr Doyle???
and is One summer available on DVD - last VCR went belly up and I didn't really feel like replacing it...
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is it still possible to get copies of WCG off Mr Doyle???
Ditto!
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Ditto on the HXS being amazing. Plus you get 3hrs 25mins total, which even Dense has admitted is worth more than £14. And you don't get the feeling this was culled from footage totalling 3hrs 26mins.
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and is One summer available on DVD - last VCR went belly up and I didn't really feel like replacing it...
Don't know, but if you're lucky the MPEG I uploaded may still be available. Might be pushing it though. :shrug:
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and is One summer available on DVD - last VCR went belly up and I didn't really feel like replacing it...
Don't know, but if you're lucky the MPEG I uploaded may still be available. Might be pushing it though. :shrug:
can one enquire were from???
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is it still possible to get copies of WCG off Mr Doyle???
Ditto!
I am sure if you PM he won't decline the offer of some readies.
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I forgot he's in Switzerland.
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Having seen King Lines & Committed over Christmas I prefer Committed, which astounded me since usually nothing makes me happier than half naked Sharma :bounce:
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I'm sure that's the same for many of us...
It's the half-stoned Sharma most people seem to be less enticed by.