Banff FF disappointing this year?

Saw the second night of films at the Boulder Theater last night. I look forward to being inspired by the Banff films every year. But it didn't happen this time. Was it just me?
I'm not up for writing a scathing review of each of the films, but really, the only one that got me motivated was "Gimp Monkeys" which was about three guys who happened to be amputees, climbing El Cap because they wanted to climb El Cap.
Reel Rock was 10 times better.

I was hoping this year would be good guess i can skip it this time around

You do know that every show is different, right? They don't show the same films at every location/night, they switch them up. I did not see Gimp MOnkies, and I was kind of hoping to.I thought this year was ok, I saw it up in Burlington and enjoyed it. They showed Alex Honnolds triple crown. Last year I was a little disappointed. I could have done without the Spirit Bear and the flyfishing!Bring back the Giant Metal Box (anyone remember that one?)!

csproul wrote:You do know that every show is different, right? ...I saw it up in Burlington and enjoyed it. They showed Alex Honnolds triple crown. ...!Bring back the Giant Metal Box (anyone remember that one?)!

Yes, I probably should expound on the individual films, so folks can decide based on the line-up at their venue.

The Honnold film was excellent, but maybe viewing it once is enough. It was shown as part of Reel Rock here. Maybe it was shown on Day 1 at the Boulder theater.

What's the metal box?

We went last night as well.
I enjoyed the videos as entertainment, but I too don't have that 'I should quit my job and just go feeling' I often hope for.

"Gimp Monkeys" being the only one that did. Respect to them and the film makers.

-Jon

Brassmonkey wrote:This is the list for the showing I am going to on Saturday, is it a lot of the same ones you saw and didnt like? Crossing the Ice Lily Shreds Trailside Reel Rock 7: Honnold 3.0 Industrial Revolutions Flow Hunters Unicorn Sashimi Moonwalk 1st Afghan Ski Challenge

Crossing the Ice- a reprise of the duo who did the Tasman Sea crossing. Enjoyable enough, but kind of the same film, just with ice instead of water. Not bad, just derivative, if you can say that of film makers and their own prior films.

Honnold- excellent. Worth going to just for this.

Industrial Revolutions- spectaular mountain bike tricks, but kind of joyless- a lone guy doing tricks in an abandoned industrial park. Great tricks though.

The others weren't on our program last night.

As oppose to everyone on this thread, I thought the night I went was really good. Crossing the ice was awesome.. It's amazing what shear will power can achieve. Gimp monkies were great. An unexpected one that I thought was also good was a mountain biking clip.

Flow Hunters was awesome. Probably my favorite one from the whole night. Short though.

Agree - disappointing; I saw first half first night in Boulder. I checked out the website, and I think that the Radical Reels Tour is what I am looking for - reminiscing about a failed snowmobile epic, which went on for 45 minutes the night I went, was a waste and overshadowed the good short films.

thomas.w wrote:An unexpected one that I thought was also good was a mountain biking clip.

Was this 'Strength in Numbers'? If so, I agree it had some good footage, particularly of the dirt park. And the subsequent trail building echoes the "build it for the community" theme. Doesn't mention whether these were approved trails or not, but that's a different issue.
But what was the poin of the Swiss footage at the start of the film? Doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the movie. Just to write off the trip for tax purposes?

Mark. It was 'Strength In Numbers' as you said, and I think they were trying to emphasize the universal language of mountain biking in the swiss clip (doesn't matter where you come from or what language you speak). It doesn't tie into the overall theme all that well, but sometimes it just comes down to enjoying watching people ride sweet lines. Lines that haven't been ridden by these guys before and just enjoy seeing the sport at it's highest and most aesthetic level. My 2cents.

thomas.w wrote:Mark. It was 'Strength In Numbers' as you said, and I think they were trying to emphasize the universal language of mountain biking in the swiss clip (doesn't matter where you come from or what language you speak). It doesn't tie into the overall theme all that well, but sometimes it just comes down to enjoying watching people ride sweet lines. Lines that haven't been ridden by these guys before and just enjoy seeing the sport at it's highest and most aesthetic level. My 2cents.

The other weird thing about that Swiss section, where were all the hikers? I've been to Zermatt, the trails are busy! Of course that was decades ago, or do they have dedicated mountain bike trails now?

Petzl Roc Trip China was the biggest hit amongst climbers and non-climbers at our showing. The music in the clip is just incredible.

Another good climbing clip was Viva La Vie but more because of the Verdon scenery than the narratives.

-Strength in Number was also really good.

I'm planning on attending in Denver tomorrow night...how were you able to find the lineup of films for a particular night?

just a silly observation

Seriously though, I enjoy Banff because I get to see lots of different things, not just climbing. Do I love every film? No. Most of them are quite good though.

[edited for grammar]

Wild Bill's Last Ride about Bill Cooper's two attempts to snowmobile from Minnesota to Moscow was probably the best adventure film I've seen in years, if not ever.

willeslinger wrote:Wild Bill's Last Ride about Bill Cooper's two attempts to snowmobile from Minnesota to Moscow was probably the best adventure film I've seen in years, if not ever.

...and it was entirely bizarre for that to be in the Banff FF. Good film, just not what I was expecting.

Garret Nuzzo-Jones wrote: ...and it was entirely bizarre for that to be in the Banff FF. Good film, just not what I was expecting.

Fair enough, but I liked it immensely more than the bro brah powder skiing gnar that was on before it, which is something you'd expect to see.

That female longboarding movie was terrible.
The bmx one was fucking rad.
Jeremy Jones quoting himself in the beginning of that boarding movie in Alaska was ridiculous, and it had some cool lines but felt like a waste of time.
I enjoyed watching La Dura Dura again, even though I saw it at Reel Rock.
The wingsuit movie was fucking insane and I loved it.
Kite-skiing is the bomb.

Overall, pretty happy with the films.

Saw the 2nd night of films at Boulder Theater as well. I agree that some of the films were a bit weaker than I had hoped...the one about busing old black women to yosemite for example, and the canyoneering one...I'm sorry, old guys getting psyched on rappelling and making a huge deal about whether their rope is long enough doesn't really do it for me :/

Jeff McLeod wrote:Saw the 2nd night of films at Boulder Theater as well. I agree that some of the films were a bit weaker than I had hoped...the one about busing old black women to yosemite for example, and the canyoneering one...I'm sorry, old guys getting psyched on rappelling and making a huge deal about whether their rope is long enough doesn't really do it for me :/

I'm with you on both of these films.
The Yosemite film seems like the worst kind of political correctness, plus, I don't think ANYBODY should be allowed to take bus tours into the Valley. Everyone should walk in from the entrance! Thin the herd for sure.

And how did they manage to make exploring really cool beautiful canyons seem like a tedious exercise in ticking off every last unknown? Whenever they have to tell you again and again just how dangerous what they are doing is, you pretty much know it's not that dangerous.
The editing of Allen Steck was cruel, letting him repeat himself pointlessly.
Lots of old guys rock in the canyoneering world, but you wouldn't know it from that film.