5boro - Word of Mouth To call this a full length video seems somewhat of an overstatement. Let's label it as a promo at full price. I've always been a Charlie Wilkins fan, so I was stoked to see his footage. Suski is obviously worth watching and Brandon Westgate is one of the new breeds who pulls a part that manages not to be annoying. However, the skating overall is fairly mediocre. The DVD features a ridiculous amount of bonus footage, all of which is fairly boring. The flick is a fun watch, although it's not worth the retail price. Finally, bonus footage included, this video had perhaps the highest concentration of already-been-used songs. I didn't mean for this review to come across so negative, 5boro seems like a cool company, I was just being honest.

 

Sk8Mafia Skateboards/Sushi Wheels Promo According to my top secret informants (it's printed on the DVD), this piece comes free with any Sk8Mafia deck or set of Sushi wheels and costs $10 on its own. To those who may not know, Sk8Mafia is Peter Smolik's shot at salvaging a professional career after being dropped from Shorty's. It doesn't require a great deal of discerning to understand that Smolik's skate part/rap video in Guilty may not have been the wisest move. Regardless, the Sk8Mafia section is primarily made up of Smolik's unknown San Diego homies. Smolik has quite a bit of footage and seems to be feeling the Casper flip as of late. I was also struck by the crossover of homie footage from Dying to Live and that featured in the Sk8Mafia segment. Personally, I was not feeling the music in this half of the video...not feeling it in the least. As far as the Sushi section goes, I was very psyched to see footage from Billy Rohan. Home boy kills it, despite the fact that he has been black labeled by the industry. Grant Patterson has some amazing footage, although it somehow wasn't all that fun to watch. The tour segment at the end drags on far too long and the filmer seems as if he's either on ecstacy or really needs to urinate, because he has far too much trouble holding still. If the video is free, then yes, be sensible and take it. If you are asked to pay for it, be sure to respectfully decline. Oh, and finally, to end this unending video review, Brian has requested that I give each video a rating. From this day forth, I will grade each video on a scale of one to ten. - 2/10

Anti-Hero - Tent City This video is going to be a weird one to review. It is distinctly not molded from the standard skate video press. Tent City leans in the direction of a documentary, a documentary made by some folks who seem traumatized by the thought of not filming with a Super 8 camera. Needless to say, this aspect of the video gets a bit tiring. In fact, I didn't even finish the video. Furthermore, I don't know that anybody has made it through the whole thing yet. Brian loves the video, he claims that the bonus footage is great as well. Well, that's wonderful Brian, but I think I'll take my chances with the Sk8Mafia video (well, on second thought...). The Anti-Hero team rips, I'm not disputing that, but the video (or at least as much as my 19-year-old patience could bear to watch) has the feel of a filler/montage section of a normal video. You know, the segments that aren't particularly exciting, but are stuck in the video to crank the running time up a couple of minutes and to provide a bit of "feel." Well, this video watches like one of those segments, except it's not three minutes long, it's an entire video. Oh yes, one final note...due to a lapse in memory, Brian managed to accidentally order far too many copies of this video (twelve). I'm not entirely sure how we will manage to sell two. So, if you are feeling particularly giving, come purchase a copy (request a discount) and help Brian get some off of his hands. - I'm not sure how to rate this video, I didn't even watch the whole thing./10

 

411VM - Tampa Pro 2004 Ladies and gentlemen, we have 411 Video Magazine, who will make a video dedicated to absolutely ANYTHING. This is not called skateboarding coverage, this is called bleeding it for all the money it's worth. Covering the Tampa or Slam City contest is understandable (I suppose), however, dedicating an entire video to slams ("911", no joke, I couldn't have made that one up if I tried) is beyond ludicrous. Now that I have sufficiently ranted from my soapbox, let me review this video. I enjoyed checking out the skating from the contest. I may watch the video once or twice more, just for kicks. However, at $21 retail, you definitely do not need to make a purchase. - 2.5/10

Carolina Love I am a big fan of the local video. Now granted, a good number of them are absolute garbage. However, when the filming and editing quality is at least standard, they are definitely fun to check out. Carolina Love is full of skaters who you have more than likely not heard of. Dan Murphy may be the only recognizable name in the video; unless you really know your stuff, then you may also be familiar with Tyler Tufty. If you're looking for a cutting edge video, then this definitely isn't the purchase that you're going for. The tricks are by no means groundbreaking and would often be considered substandard by popular video standards. Nevertheless, the video has solid editing and is enjoyable to watch, which is a top priority for me. In conclusion, I believe that the name Justin Brock should be mentioned. This unknown fellow's skating far supersedes the par set by the rest of the skaters. In fact, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him pull big time am status soon. If you're in the mood to check out North Carolina's scene, watch a video with no skating that you've already seen in magazines, or peep some new skaters (particularly Justin Brock) then pick up a copy of this video (the price is far more reasonable than most).

The Firm - Can't Stop Limited Edition I have been an enormous fan of The Firm for years. I am excited to see a company existing solely on the basis of skateboarding. The Firm has survived over the years (although I'm not sure how easily) without adopting a gimmick. The skaters are top notch and often painfully underrated (see Matt Beach). Finally, the project is headed up by one of most down-to-Earth skaters in the business, Lance Mountain. Hopefully those of you who saw the original Can't Stop were as stoked as I was. Although I am generally not in favor of the "Special Edition DVD" craze that has been sweeping skateboarding, I was excited to check this one out, simply in hopes of seeing new footage from the team. Although I hate to talk down about my buddies (despite the fact that we have never met) at The Firm, I was let down by this one. The new segments of the video were fun, but nothing more than should have been added to the original DVD. The only new footy I saw was Bob pumping the loop in his backyard full-pipe. Although this is obviously incredible, it was not worthy of an entirely new video. I also noted that the vocals had been taken out of certain skaters' music. For the sake of nostalgia (even if the original video is only a year old), this proved to be a negative change to me. The video is decently priced, so if you have never seen the first version of Can't Stop or simply want to own a copy, then this DVD is definitely worth your money. However, if you were a fan the first time around and are looking for something new, then your money is better spent elsewhere.

411VM #64Although I am not a fan of 411 for the most part, I was pleasantly surprised with this video. Since issue 61, 411 has taken it upon themselves to assign each issue with theme. This video has been christened by Mr. Friedberg as The Brazilian Issue. This isse came through with a solid set of articles featuring the ridiculous skills of our fellow skaters from Bob's stomping grounds. I was pretty psyched on the footage from Nilton Neves, Fabrizio Santos, Rodrigo Peterson, and Alex Carolino (serious pop). Rodrigo Tx. also has Day in the Life segment, which was fun. However, the best part of this video undoubtably belongs to Oggy de Souza. I've been intrigued by Oggy for years, simply through the bits of contest footage and photos I've had the chance to see; however, this is the first time that I've come across a video part. Everybody should see this section, if only to remind ourselves that we have no right to complain while skating. Considering that Oggy has no use of his legs, I doubt that he gets too phased by the condition of his griptape. Despite his handicap, Oggy skates better than both you and I put together. Oggy's footage was particularly inspiring to me, and I can assure you that it is definitely worth your while.

KRUX Blown Out Let's be straight forward here. When filming for videos, pros (or ams) generally do not place truck sponsors at the top of their priority list. However, I can honestly say that I enjoyed watching this video. Seeing as Krux is 80% Tilt Moders, those who are educated in the genre of the skate video should expect some humor and originality from the video. Although I wouldn't rank it as high as the Tilt Mode videos, it is definitely a good watch. Although the skating is not ground breaking, there is definitely some solid footy. Names that come to mind are Billy Roper, Emmanuel Guzman, Colt Cannon, and Caswell Berry. Steffan Attardo has what could be considered an entire video part (in light of his current sponsor drought). I've always been a fan, so this was a high point for me. Louie Barletta also has what is perhaps the most inventive mini-ramp line ever. The said mini may actually be a duplicate of the ARC one at Homewood (if you are not a local, then that last comment will be nonsense). My only complaint is that this video is a bit too expensive. The video is not particularly notable, but, as I have said, it is fun. Were the price thereabouts of $15, then all would be right in the world.

Thrasher - Beers, Bowls, and Barneys When I saw the advertisements for this video, I, quite frankly, expected it to be complete trash. Brian got ahold of it, and seeing that pool skating is his kick, he swore that this was the best video out now. I myself would not stake a claim that strong, however, the skating is top notch and features various top of the line names. It's been a while since Seven Year Glitch and I'm always psyched to see Ryan Johnson coverage. The video is solid, and if you're a pool skater, then it's definitely worth kicking over $10 for a copy.

Satori- In Search of Roots and Culture It's nice to see a video break off from the back-to-back hammer assault that has become the standard skate flick. If you know anything about Satori, then it should come as no surprise that both the music and the skaters in this video lean distinctly Rasta. We had a good time trying to find a skater not adorning one of those oversized beanies. Trevor Prescott was the primary filmer for this here project, and although I wasn't particularly feeling some of his angles, he gets the job done. The skating is far better than would usually be expected from a wheel video and features some unknown killers. Danny Fuenzalida was downright gnarly and took my favorite part with the opener. I was definitely down for Nilton Neves as well. Also, for those of you who were into Jon Miner and his work with Emerica, his partner in crime, Mike Manzoori, worked the editing for Satori. In conclusion, the only problem I had with this video was that it didn't seem to want to end. This statement is particularly applicable to the post-credits pieces. Alright, enough from me, check the video out.

411VM #63 When I was in middle school, my buddies and I used to get super excited when each new 411 came out. The videos had a personal feel to their editing and the skating was top-notch. Well, those days are long dead and although the video magazine is occasionally worth checking out, your $20 is generally better spent on slurpees. However, this last issue proved to be a bit more disappointing than usual. The reason being that the skating is extremely impressive, however, it seems hard to watch skater after skater rolling to the obnoxious vocals of Jay-Z and Beanie Segal (no joke, every song but the opener). I'm assuming that this was a move by the corporate folks over at the Wasserman (an action sports media group that recently purchased 411) to identify more closely to the youth demographic. Well, guess what, this "music" may be popular, but we don't care for it. Rap can work with skating (see a Mike Carroll part for confirmation), but this incoherent mainstream garbage certainly does not. Skate videos need to be made by skaters. The skating in this video is good (props to Bjorn Johnston, homeboy is killing it), but it is not fun to watch.

Thrasher - King of the Road Thrasher's concept was to send four teams on the road with a list of goals to accomplish in 15 days. When the marks were tallied up, the team with the highest score was crowned the winner. The teams on the trip included: eS, Volcom, Tum Yeto, and Deluxe. The skating frequently skips between serious and goofing off, which gives the video a fairly casual feel. The biggest perk for me was probably the P.J. Ladd footage. My one complaint is that I am a bit skeptical about Deluxe's win. Granted, they have some amazing skaters; however, the fact that Phelps was the official judge makes me wonder if there wasn't a bit of a predisposed bias. Whatever the case, this video is much more fun than most tour videos and even many team videos. Thats not to mention that the video retails for only $10. Check it out.

Foundation - That's Life First off, no, I didn't particularly care for this video. In fact, I got pretty bored. However, let's make this clear: that doesn't mean that you will get the same results. If you are feeling a bunch of teenagers doing feebles and such down handrails, then check it out, you may love it. As for me, I don't deny that this kind of skating takes talent, however, it doesn't take creativity. I can watch any video and see these tricks, and many of the other videos are much better edited than this here flick. Nevertheless, there were a few fellas who I was feeling, namely Strubing, Shimizu, and Rusczyk. That's not mention Sammy Baca's Smith tailgrab in the friends section, which was absolutely ridiculous.

Cliché - Bon Appetit This video is bangin'. Even though many of the skaters may seem somewhat obscure, I can assure you that they are killing it with the top of the American pros. I was particularly pscyhed on the use of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs song "Y Control" (see also Kenny Anderson in "Hot Chocolate"). Cale Nuske, Lucas Puig, J.J. Rousseau, and Ricardo Fonseca were my favorites in this video. Although I enjoyed it, if you're not one for long segways, then you may want to lean on the fast forward button. Fred (Mortagne) definitely puts some room between parts, and be careful at the end of the flick.or you might see Pontus Alv nude.

Foundation - European Tour Video Tour videos are a gimmick. Granted there are a few exceptions (see "Hot Chocolate" or "Videoradio"), but as a general rule, your money is better spent elsewhere. This video boasts four skaters: Romero, Fowler, Shimizu, and Duffel. Fowler and Shimizu hardly have any tricks and the rest of the video is primarily composed of Leo and Corey doing the same tricks down a dozen skate park rails across Europe. What's funny to me is, Foundation goes on a tour, keeps their good footage for "That's Life" and then puts the throwaways together in video that they charge 25 dollars for. Don't be suckered.

Bootleg - Side B Dear God, this thing is horrible. There were quite a bit of mixed feelings surrounding the first video. The skating was great (i.e. Kane, Eldridge, and Nix) but the editing was painful to say the least. This video features little to no new footage from the riders in the first video. Instead it is compromised of, I kid you not, editing even more annoying than that in the first flick. The skating is primarily sketchy and second-rate footy from friends. Granted, there are little bits of the video worth watching, some of the new riders pull some good tricks and the Tony Montgomery files are fun. Overall, this video gets about a 3 out of 10.

 

Why Wesley likes to Review Videos?

I don't know how many of you are like this, but I am an avid skate video watcher. You can ask anybody at the shop, I analyze the piss out of those things to the point where it's probably not even fun to talk with me about them, just because I'm so anal and opinionated. The original idea was that I would review every new video that came out and Brian would then put my akward stabs at editorialing (is that a word?) on the web. Now I know that video reviews are about .03 cents a dozen, however, I thought that there might be some worth in my getting on the web and writing reviews for the whole world to see.

The reason for this is that I work for nobody. When's the last time you saw a bad review in Transworld? I'm talking the last time you read Sentianin or one of those blokes outright saying "You know what, this video just sucks." To those of you who don't know, the reason why TWS and the majority of their contemporaries don't publish negative reviews is because the companies whose videos they are reviewing pay for valuable advertising space. I'm not sure about you, but if I'm paying a magazine thousands of dollars a month to run advertisements for me, I'm gonna be pretty darn pissed if they crap all over a video which I spent thousands more to produce.

It's understandable why the magazines pretty things up, however, it also means that you and I, the readers, are not getting an accurate portrayal of the video we are contemplating spending 30 dollars on. My point is that nobody is paying me anything, and I have nothing to lose or gain by giving an honest account of skateboard videos. I figured that in a position such as mine where I can't help but see all the new skate videos, I might as well put that opportunity to some use and give a little insight to the consumers. As I said, I initially intended to write an entire review for each new video.but guess what, I am going to school full-time, working, skateboarding, and trying to maintain a social life, and on top of that, I'm lazy. These factors have made it hard in meeting my self-prescribed deadlines (as is evidenced by the fact that I have only cranked out two full reviews). So instead of writing full-blown articles on every skate video that comes our way, I have decided to give a brief synopsis of each. Hopefully in this way I will be able to post on every new release and give everyone an idea about the video they are thinking about buying. Thanks to everyone who is interested, I hope these reviews will be helpful.

If you agree/disagree with anything I say or simply want to tell me how much you can't stand Ryan Sheckler, please feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].