Films on Nanikore

Review: The Fourth Phase

Tue, 04 Jul 2017 04:59:26 +0000

The Fourth Phase is the third snowboard focused film / travelogue from Brain Farm, mainly featuring the ideas and riding of Travis Rice and friends.

The very short version: It’s a well shot video of snowboarding and life following the water cycle across the north Pacific with some wit and wisdom from Travis Rice and friends thrown in. I enjoyed it the first time around on my home BD / TV, and I even enjoyed it second time around on my phone during my commute into Tokyo. It’s re-watchable.

Still reading? Thanks, here’s the slightly longer version.

This video came five years after the excellent Art of Flight (2011), and almost nine since That’s it, That’s all (2008). I recommend both of those previous ones by the way.

It notionally follows the cycle of water around the north Pacific, meaning it starts in Wyoming (as ever with a Travis Rice part), then scoots via Travis’ catamaran across the Pacific to Japan, then to Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands in Russia, before heading back to Alaska. The Fourth Phase of the title alludes to some wonderful property water possesses beyond solid, liquid and gaseous phases, derived from the book by Gerald H. Pollack.

That’s the metaphysical bit behind the title, but what about the film itself?

Compared to Art of Flight, there are fewer of the epic slow-motion and dolly shots, and more point-of-view and drone footage. That’s not a bad thing in my opinion, making it feel more personal. As for the other personnel, there are a few guests per region, but it’s anchored around Travis Rice and Mark Landvik. They’re both personable on screen, whereas some of the other riders look overly self conscious. Landvik always comes across well I think, so a good choice there, especially as things develop, but there needed to be more of them together.

The time in Japan I especially liked. I’m biased I know as I live and snowboard here, but those scenes more completely captured what it’s about - great tree runs, hikes out, the very surreal feel in the countryside during the epic amounts of powder snow and deluges of water the islands get, and the people who live in the mountain regions. The standouts were the fire festival footage, and the eerie illuminated night tree-runs, so well done to the team for the location work and cinematography.

Music is always a key part of snowboarding videos, and this one moves from classical to rock to synth pop, and it broadly works, though some bits don’t seem to work as well as others. The orchestral sections in Russia are excellent for example, but some of the synth-pop for the Japan sections seemed a little disconnected to the visuals. Much of the soundtrack was done by musician Kishi Bashi.

The Russian section is interesting even if there isn’t so much riding, just through the geography of the place, yet there are snowboarders there, even if the set-piece of the crew giving some local kids a board feels a little clumsy, a bit more explaining what the local boarder community is up to would have been more useful than the surf scene, which whilst fun, didn’t really add as much as more with the local kids would have.

There is of course plenty of big mountain riding, hikes, great heli-drops and at least a few nice ramps. There’s also the hospital section which is now either a requirement or a tradition at this point.

One minor disappointment with the BD version I have are the extras - not as many fun outtakes as previous discs, and even the behind the scenes sections seemed a little forced.

If you see reviews, reception was mixed - maybe they wanted Art of Flight 2 which is a little unlikely as this wasn’t directed by Curt Morgan, it was from Jon Klaczkiewicz, and as I understand it, there was an Art of Flight series which should’ve covered that?

I think there’s a few things going on here.

Firstly, as this is built around Travis Rice, he’s getting older, and whilst he brought other younger riders in, this is more about his thought process, and what he’s into, which was doing runs he hadn’t done before. Yes, his first world philosophizing about being a seeker is a little cringe inducing, but you can tell he believes it and to his credit, is getting out there and doing it.

Also, given all the snowboard videos available online these days, it’s difficult to know if the sponsors would go for yet another flurry of epic jumps in Alaska by itself, or whether Red Bull, GoPro, Skullcandy and all the other very obvious sponsors would want to do that, given they’re already saturating those markets online.

On the ‘missed opportunities’ side, I actually wanted to see a bit more of Travis Rice on the catamaran, beyond the philosophizing, actually following this water cycle the premise hangs on. I’m always keen to hear more from Brian Iguchi too, who just seems like a very calm chap to sit down with.

Ultimately it’s a great film to watch but it’s straddling two different genres - it’s not an hour and a half of shredding and epic jumps, but it’s not really a travelogue either since there really isn’t enough about what happens locally - even the Russian shutout wasn’t really explained for example.

If you want straight riding and tricks with the odd laugh, probably better to go back to That’s It, That’s All in this series.

Review: Why We Ride

Fri, 25 Jul 2014 19:29:42 +0000

I heard about ’ Why We Ride’ in the middle of 2013; it’s ostensibly a documentary of sorts about why people ride and love to ride motorbikes. I love riding my motorbike, if that’s any kind of caveat, but that’s not actually why I bought the film, or what this review is about. Also, I’m reviewing the 2,000yen iTunes HD movie, not the BluRay/DVDs version.

To cover the structure, it’s beautifully shot, the camera work and direction are top notch, the soundtrack is fantastic, and as it lacks a central narrator, the narrative is done via the people being interviewed. One trick the director uses is to not introduce the people speaking, until a sequence which closes the movie. I think this is so as to not distract you and focus on what they say, but I found it a bit confusing in places, because I like to know who is talking, and the end roll, whilst a good idea, comes off as a little bit clumsy in places by comparison.

As you can see from the trailer, it looks beautiful, and whilst much of the road footage looks good, the staged ‘bikers helping each other’ section looks a bit overly staged, and wasn’t really needed. That said, there are some wonderful pieces from the Bonneville salt flats, which reminded me that anyone can go out there and try their bike out, and the place looks truly extraordinary. There is also some time spent looking at training classes, and other skills based exercises, which fit with the theme the film has that motorbiking isn’t the outlaw groups some imagine, and it hits on the old Honda ‘you meet the nicest people on a Honda’ campaign, to show that to an extent motorbiking has grown up, though it goes without saying that it still has a sharper edge.

The film follows some of the history of American biking icons, like Daytona, some of the dirt tracks, some famous figures, and biker culture over the years, including events like the Sturgiss Rally. One issue then for non-Americans then is that it can seem a bit disconnected. As a non-American myself, I understand the allure of biking to be universal, and some of the background on Daytona to be interesting and informative, but as I don’t follow American motorsports, I didn’t know who some people were, or their larger relevance. It’s not a criticism, just an observation. It’s also odd that they discuss European biking and MotoGP, but don’t seem to interview or go into that at all.

One person I did recognise, and I think the one who came over very well, is Ted Simon, of Jupitalia fame. I’ve read his books, and he’s a fascinating man, whose dual round the world trips inspired the Long Way Round & Down series. As ever his insight was concise and based on personal experience of going around the planet on a bike. I’m biased though; everything he says I find to be interesting.

Even if I didn’t know some of the people, or the relevance of their achievements, the key is really the points they make, there’s a focus on those women who ride, both now, and those who have ridden their whole lives, and how it’s not just about riding pillion, but being the rider. There’s a lot from kids and how they’re safely and constructively introduced to motorbikes, and thus the family and community built around it. It’s endearing to be sure, and so it’s not so much a documentary as a rallying call for those who already ride, and something of an advert perhaps to those who don’t, mainly though it’s about the people - some are champions, some of just people who like to get out on the open road.

One interesting aspect not discussed, but just something I noticed in the shots themselves are the split in those wearing helmets, and those who aren’t. It’s an issue to some, not to others, but in a documentary trying to show how safe and responsible it’s participants are, it’s interesting to see no discussion on this, and plenty of comments about feeling wind in your hair.

For what it’s worth, I’ve always worn a full face helmet on scooters/motorbikes, though I don’t mind what other people choose to wear - its a personal choice, sometimes with personal consequences either way. I remember riding 50cc Zoomers around packed Tokyo streets at night, and how bad the taxi drivers were and how close those trucks got, so any additional protection was a good idea for me. I know in America helmet laws vary by state, but in many European countries (and here in Japan) they’re mandatory.

So who is this targeted at? People who currently have a motorbike for sure, it may also coax some people back, and perhaps get some new converts, or re-assure people they can still ride. Truthfully, I think you could expand that to people who like to see some great cinematography, and listen to people who truly love doing something. In that aspect, it reminds me of the snowboard film " Art of Flight".

It’s nice it covers so many branches of the biking community - it’s not all speed freaks, or custom bikes, or off-road, it’s a collection of different riders, and so does live up to it’s title, why we ride.

The Blender Open Source Film Projects

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:07:11 +0000

One aspect of open source which perhaps people aren’t aware of are open source films - creative, original content, created by open source software and open source themselves. One of the best ’ studios’ for this is the Blender Foundation and its open source film projects. Blender is itself an open source 3D modelling and rendering system, and they use foundation and industry sponsorship to produce content where all of the source materials - models, music, renders, all of it, is available open source, with the CG works mainly done in Blender itself.

I first got into open source in 1998 when I installed Caldera’s OpenLinux. Open source worked for me as I could barely afford hardware, let alone software, and I’ve always kept a Linux (or FreeBSD) box running for various tasks and for tinkering with. Today, most people have heard of open source, or at least use some open source software, whether they know it or not.

I first bumped in to these film projects in 2008 with their " Big Buck Bunny" short film, which was well written and well made, taking on the childrens animation genre.

Then I went back to their 2006 project ’ Elephants Dream’ , which is darker and more for adults, a grainy, atmospheric tale of two workers who inhabit a seemingly almost sentient machine.

Next up was ’ Sintel’, a fantasy short about a young woman searching for the dragon cub she nursed, and lost.

Their latest work is ’ Tears of Steel’, which is unique as it’s goal was to use Blender to create the CG parts of a mixed live action VFX short film, based on a science fiction premise.

It’s another well executed short film, which brings home the flexibility of the open source tools, but also the wealth of talent of the people who use Blender and the strength of the community.

I quite like the idea of artistic works like this being open, so just as programmers and tap into source code to learn how things work, aspiring film makers and also take a look inside some of these high quality films and maybe learn a few things.

Elves and X-Files

Sun, 21 Aug 2005 05:40:58 +0000

Friday night saw myself and a couple of friends at the Toho/Virgin cinema at Roppongi Hills for the all-night “Lord of the Rings - Extended Editions” run. Thirteen and a half hours from start to end. I have to say it was worth every minute of it, even though I have those editions on DVD.

I hadn’t seen The Fellowship of the Ring at the cinema though, as I somehow managed to miss it, so that was an added bonus. I did discover a couple of new things though: firstly that Orlando Bloom is as bad as I suspected he was, and secondly that throughout the night, the only time I nodded off was during Liv Tyler’s scenes, which could be some kind of clever subliminal filter.

That theory ties in with most of my Saturday and Sunday, as I’ve managed to damage my big toe rather badly, meaning I can’t walk very far, so I’ve decided to watch the whole of ‘The X-Files’ season two, which I think is beginning to effect my mind. That said, one of the best lines in the many years of the show, is in the episode ’ [Soft Light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_Light_(The_X-Files%29)' when Dr. Banton announces “They’ve been waiting to do the brain suck on me for years!” (that’s paraphrased). Indeed they have, sir, indeed they have.

Alien Night

Tue, 05 Oct 2004 15:23:16 +0000

A late post [again], but just to say we survived the all night Alien movie fest at Roppongi Hills Cinema. It started at 10pm last Friday, and comprised of all 4 Alien films, with a 20 minute break between each film.

We emerged bleary eyed at 7am on Saturday and with Aliens on the mind. I’d never seen the first two in a cinema, so that was good to do, and amazingly, except for the odd nod, I stayed awake for the whole thing. I have to say that I still consider No.1 to be the best one, but I was surprised how much I thought No.2 had aged. No.3 I think would’ve been a decent film except for the poor ending, and Joss Whedon of Buffy fame should be slapped for penning part 4. Just a so-so Sci Fi flick at best. Anyway, it was a good night out - and remember, if you find some drool and a discarded skin on the floor of the apartment and you’re not a 6ft actress or a producer, it might be best to run like hell…or blast it out of the airlock, if your apartment has one.

Cutie Honey

Sat, 05 Jun 2004 04:46:01 +0000

Yesterday night I finally got to see the Cutie Honey film at the Virgin Cinema in Roppongi. It’s a live action version of the ‘70’s animated cartoon. Let’s get it straight, this is a low budget ‘cute’ film action with virtually no plot, and some very low-budget special effects.

However, unlike recent ‘comedies’ like “The Haunted Mansion”, this one is actually *fun*. It’s the story of a cyborg girl who can change costumes to help her fight the evil “Panther Claw” gang as long as she eats enough food, which in the film is 90% onigiri from Family Mart. The hook is that she has to be naked to do her ‘Honey Flash!" identity change. Also, when she runs out of energy, she loses her clothes. Fear not, in the film, she never gets out of her underwear - much to the annoyance of a lot of the other male movie-goers I suspect.

Eriko Sato as Cutie Honey does a fairly comedic performance, though there is the otaku pleasing ‘yoga in underwear’ scene, the rest of the film is more cheeky than some fans may have liked. Her ‘flashes’ are mostly an anime style CG, and many other action sequences are very manga in their design, which makes for a very fantasy style to the film.

Why was I watching it? Well, I’m just trying to take in more smaller Japanese films, which is getting easier to do as the general quality is getting better, and most of the recent big Hollywood films have been pathetic (Matrix: Revolutions, Haunted Mansion and Day after Tomorrow for example), and also because more and more Japanese films in Japan have showings of English subtitled versions, which helps me with some of the plot points.

The Japanese film industry goes beyond Akira and Takeshi films, so try some of these smaller films and see what you think!

Appleseed - the Movie

Mon, 26 Apr 2004 01:54:39 +0000

Just got back from seeing Appleseed - a CG animated sci-fi film based on the popular manga. Although it’s CG - and very well done CG, the makers have tried to keep it very cell based looking, and the fusion works well.

The story tells of a future where humans have all but destroyed the world, but where some are trying to rebuild from a new state. Human’s now live with Bionoids - human looking clone mixtures who help humans, but who are infertile, and with limited life spans. Into this there are several main characters who race to discover whether humans can live without destroying everything.

There’s a deep political plot with quite a few twists, but more importantly there are huge robots, battle suits and lots of gun battles. It’s a great film - decent plot, and none of the tiring speak-a-thons of ‘Innocence’ or ‘Matrix : Revolutions’.

Also, it features a pretty decent, loud score and soundtrack, available on CD.

Zatoichi

Sun, 19 Oct 2003 02:31:20 +0000

I finally got to see ‘Zatoichi’ with Beat/Kitano Takeshi a few days ago, thanks to an English subtitle version at Virgin Roppongi Hills. I have to say that although it’s a bit slow, it’s actually a good film with a fairly complex plot and some well acted character parts. The fighting is well done although some of the computer effects aren’t well done.

The most impressive part of the film has to be the soundtrack (including the tap dancing samurai at the end of the film) - the sounds of people chopping wood, walking, sowing rice and other facets of everyday life are woven into the soundtrack - it’s very atmospheric. I still have no idea why Takeshi dyed his hair blonde for this role…

A good film, check out the DVD, or, for the sake of the soundtrack, try to get to see it at the cinema.

The Returner

Thu, 20 Mar 2003 01:37:32 +0000

Well, a film I was waiting for finally came out on DVD here, and with English subtitles! “The Returner” is a sci-fi film starring Taiwanese born Kaneshiro Takeshi, but this is very much a Japanese film. It’s sort of ET/Matrix/Terminator but a worthwhile watch.

They went a bit long at 2 hours, but it’s good to see a decent Japanese film which doesn’t involve a lot of sadistic violence - it has some violence, but not the level of say Kitano ‘Beat’ Takeshi films; it also has some very cool action sequences. On the negative side, some bits look like a made-for-TV film, but most of it looks amazing - especially the scenes in Tibet, and (spoiler - sorry) the 747 which turns into a robot spacecraft! The special edition DVD also has a load of printed pictures, a full printed A5 storyboard booklet, and a DVD with a ‘making of’.

Worth a watch for anyone.

Films, Fish and Yokohama

Sun, 16 Mar 2003 17:33:23 +0000

Well, another busy week, but just a few things to go up.

Managed to go to a few places I haven’t been for a long time - the first was Tsukiji Sushiko close to the fish market, and the second was down in Yokohama - actually Sakuragicho, where the Landmark Tower is, and Ishikawacho, where there used to be a great bar called Dakota, which seems to have disappeared. However, just across the road, there’s an equally good bar called Stagecoach.

I also went to see the new Bond film “Die Another Day”. I quite liked it, a bit more tense than usual, but with a great selection of gadgets and explosions. Very Bond. I do kind of agree with those who say that Madonna’s theme song isn’t suitable - new doesn’t always mean better. I have no problem with a dance track for the title, but a good one would’ve been nice.

I also went for a cup of coffee in a small coffee shop just off Alta Plaza in Shinjuku; it’s a small specialist shop in the basement (B1), which will stick in my mind for 4 reasons - it has an original Mac being used as the register, the coffee can cost 1000 yen (GBP6) a cup (!), the cake slices are huge, and it’s a damn good cup of coffee. Of course, for 1000yen, I’d want a damn good coffee. It is. Very. Too many people think that Starbuck’s hot milk effort is coffee (wrong), this is the real thing, albeit expensive.

This week actually promises to be a bit quieter as I have a lot or non-social things to do - such as my mountain of Japanese homework…

Another thing is that the 10Km run I was due to do was unfortunately full (which surprised the person organising it at the company), so that’s not going to happen, however, I think I better just keep training if I *ever* want to do this damn marathon.