Last night I was able to attend the Encinitas premiere of Modern Collective over at the historic La Paloma theater.  Modern Collective is the result of years of work from director Kai Neville.

Basically this flick is all killer, no filler.  Showcased here are the talents of Jordy Smith, Dane Reynolds, Dion Agius, Yadin Nicol, Mitch Coleborn, and Dusty Payne.  It’s a circus riot of airs, ridiculous slashes, and one foot recoveries.  I don’t know how these guys stick these moves but they do.  The movie doesn’t take itself too seriously though, and they often show a series of gnarly looking botched attempts until they get it down.

Basically Jordy steals the show here, but everyone pulls their weight.  It’s hard to believe that Jordy can be so light on his feet yet pull the insane turns that he does.

It’s funny to note that the waves the guys are tearing to shreds in this movie are not the typical dreamscape waves you draw in your notebook and see in surf movies.  It’s onshore and dumpy, but somehow these surfers make these waves look like a million bucks.

The soundtrack here is progressive and full of electropop gems.  Some songs bordered on a little repetitive, but you might uncover some new tracks here.

The only thing that got a little tiring about the movie was that it was full of one hit wonder waves.  It’s a great talent showcase but there’s only so much slash and burn you can take before it all bleeds together and loses its effectiveness.  Thankfully there are some good barrel sections scattered throughout, and Dane’s black and white section is a welcome style changeup.

The pyramid motif was great.  Very 80′s Tron feeling with a modern twist.  The glowing names of the surfers burned on various parts of their bodies in the opening credits was genius.

Modern Collective teaser ft: Jordy from Poor Specimen on Vimeo.

Overall Modern Collective is a fun, fun ride.  If you can’t make a premiere in your town then check out the DVD when it’s released.

http://www.moderncollective.tv