Videograss Leaves Grass Stains on Portland

Mr. Popper's Penguin is actually the subtitle of Gus Engle's section.

Videograss brought the whole crew out for a real-deal world premiere of both their movies, Retrospect and Shoot the Moon. Going in I thought there might be the feel of an 'A' movie and a 'B' movie, but it wasn't the case. So much that I can't really distinguish them in my mind anymore. Retrospect played first, so I'll talk about it first.

Title: Retrospect

Riders: Alex Andrews, Alex Cantin, Ben Bilocq, Austin Smith, Curtis Ciszek, Bryan Fox, Ethan Deiss, Jake Blauvelt, Jake Kuzyk, Harrison Gordon, Knut Eliassen, Xavier De Le Rue

Points of interest: The first rider's part ran in front of the obligatory sponsor section. Not sure I've seen that before. I like it. A decent dose of quality freeriding, including a surprise (to me) part by De Le Rue. Of course you know where Blauvelt, Smith, Cizek and Fox do most of their riding (hint: not on rails, with some exceptions). Ethan Deiss owned rails like Superman. The bespectacled rider never did find a phone booth to change out of his Clark Kent garb and into the cape and tights, though. No matter, the secret is out now.

Quick Verdict: Great balance of riding. Quality flick, but nothing extraordinary. Lacked lifestyle. All trick porn.

Imagine a brief intermission here. Product toss, raffle drawings, rock-paper-scissors, etc. NEXT!

Title: Shoot the Moon

Riders: Chris Grenier, Darrell Mathes, Gus Engle, Jake Olson-Elm, Jed Anderson, Johnny Miller, Jon Kooley, Jonas Michilot, Jordan Mendenhall, Justin Bennee, Louif Paradis, Nick Dirks, Nima Jalali, Will Tuddenham, Zac Marben


Points of Interest: Lots and lots of urban in this one. Then again it's about the best urban around. Jake OE slides things in ways I've never seen. Jon Kooley returns with a sickness. Gus Engle and Nick Dirks are true characters. Louif and Jed, well, they are just going to have the best video parts until they're dead or in jail, like the rappers say.

Quick Verdict: 90% urban, 100% trick porn yet still 100% enjoyable. Goes to show that if you do it well, you'll get the result