Friday, September 2, 2011

Retrospect Review (contains rider order)

I decided it would be cool to do a review on Videograss' Retrospect, my first of many video purchases of the season. Besides the actual reviewing, I talk about my thoughts on both movies, as well as going more in depth about the riders individually. I am NOT trying to critique any of them in a bad way.  I mentioned a spoiler in the title, so spoilers may be on some of your minds: General context but no specific tricks are given, so don't worry about actual trick content. I do, however, talk about the riders in the order of which they are shown in the video.

Videograss, in association with Transworld Snowboarding, released Retrospect this fall with another Videograss film called Shoot the Moon. Initially, I thought Retrospect wasn't even going to compare to Shoot the Moon. If I were to get it, it was to see Ethan Deiss' part because he is from the midwest. I knew both crews were solid, but Shoot the Moon had the edge in my opinion. Riders like Jed Anderson,  other midwest guys (such as Jake O.E., Jonas Michilot, and Zac Marben) had me thinking Shoot the Moon over Retrospect. Although I had these thoughts, I loved the original Retrospect teaser much more than Shoot the Moon's. If you haven't seen it, too bad (they apparently took it off the site). Nevertheless, that teaser was my favorite teaser ever. I got me so hyped to snowboard and/ or go film something myself. Speaking of film, let's talk about the actual film itself and, in my opinion, the standout riders.

To start the video off, Jake Blauvelt comes in and rips with his backcountry wizardry. The only other part I've seen of him was maybe in Forum That. I haven't seen much of his new "improved" style that so many people in the industry have been hyping. Retrospect made me understand. He really does have insane style, and equally insane creativity. After watching all of the powder heavy parts in the video, his part definitely stands out.

Next up, Austin Smith. I remember when Austin first came onto the pro scene. At that time, he was one of my favorite riders. I don't know what happened exactly, but he disappeared, and in turn, I was disappointed. I still kept a spread of him doing a front three indy over a kicker on my door. When I read that he was coming back, I got super excited. There was major talk about his comeback season. His video part definitely reflects the comeback. He goes super smooth on the backcountry booters and gets some pretty good shots in the streets. Despite the seemingly short segment, he really proved that he is back full force, and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for the future.

I am from Minnesota, so I am a sucker for midwest riders. That is why Ethan Deiss was the guy I wanted to see the most. Ethan really exploded onto the scene the past two seasons. His standout video part in Role Models Think Positive and House of 1817's The Movie had much to do with it. His nosepress and 180 to nose press combinations in those videos set him apart. Since filming with Videograss, he has those tricks polished and it shows in his part. Along with these tricks, he landed everything else super clean. The only complaint I have about his part is that I didn't see any footage of that ledge in Alaska. He did an insane back three on nosepress back three off in the teaser, and it didn't see any of that in the final cut. Either way, it's a sick part and one of my favorites in the video. Thank you Ethan, you represent the midwest well. See you at the local hills.

Ben Bilocq is the next rider I want to discuss from the movie. Ben, for me, is known as a rail guy. He has some laser like presses along with new creative plants in the streets. But, for whatever reason, I never think of Ben as a powder guy. He continues to impress me with his powder skills. Going further, I would even put a label of "underrated" on his jumping. His part has both sick jumping and sliding, another one of my favorites.

A few years ago, the Salomon team came to Summit Boardshop in Lake Elmo, MN. My friends and I went and watched them skate and chilled with them a bit. There was one dude I didn't really talk to, that dude was Harrison Gordon. I really regret not talking to him, but I didn't know who he was at the time. In the coming months I quickly knew who he was due to the storm he was creating in the industry. I quickly fell in love with Harrison's unique style. He kinda has the "hands in the air" style that everyone hates on. But he is an exception; he really rips that style in a really good way. Last season, he had an awesome unofficial video part. This season in Retrospect Harry's first "real" video part. It was a mix of different jibs and his awesome style, but I wanted to see more; it was a little on the short side.

Jake Kuzyk had the ender, and he deserved it. He has definitely grown into one of my favorite to watch. In his part, he had some of the smoothest presses I have ever seen. He also hits the most unique rails in the video. Jake adds a decent amount of powder shots as well with equal style as his rail stuff. I won't say too much about his part.

Overall, this video was really fucking sick. Definitely recommended, just like all of the Videograss films. They do a really good job enlisting the riders and making solid ass videos. Every one is an instant classic. I hope Videograss stays around for a long time because they're videos are the best, and I love them.