NORTHWEST: DVD
Copyright Date: 2003
Review Date: 5-03-04
More 8mm footage brought to you by the same guys (Coan Nichols & Rick Charnoski) that made Fruit of the Vine, the barometer by which all skate videos should be held to. Northwest isn’t as interesting as Fruit of the Vine, and by default sort of comes off as an infomercial for the Dreamland and Grindline crew. It’s not the filmmakers fault since those park builders are pretty much the reason that the area gets the attention that it does. Reviewing Rick and Coan’s films is kind of hard since their approach is more of a craft than the typical skate video. So, do you rate it as a film or as a skate vid? Some of the highlights include but are not limited to a fun and flowing Ben Krahn segment, some insane Port Orford over vert, and a short segment on a Porltand’s board manufacturer and local favorites, M&M skateboards. On the down side, Northwest does not include some of the recent parks, which would have been nice if only in the extras. Hey they keep building them here so it’s impossible to keep up. There is a fair amount of extra footage on the DVD includes some good Halloween footage at Burnside. The soundtrack is good as well, avoiding the typical (not for them) prepackaged punk, metal, or hip hop in favor of unknown artists or small performances that sound like they might have been done low-fi and live just for the movie. Rather than driving the movie, the soundtrack is more complementary. It will be interesting to see what they do next. They will need to up the ante a little or they will run the risk of being pigeonholed as the mellow super 8 skate video guys. When watching Northwest, it’s pretty apparent that their production skills have increased. Northwest has a much more polished feel, but it lacks the compelling content that Fruit had. All in all it’s a good effort, but not as good as the last one. A must watch, but not a must own.
Extra Features: Random Outtakes, Bainbridge, More Burnside, Whiskey Mountain, Asbury,Peter Hewitt, Vagabond, Burnside Halloween 2002, San Diego, Freaks
Online Action: www.ncpfilms.com
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