SierraDescents.com

Review: ‘Salt’

One of the most satisfying things a great film can do is also one of the simplest—it can take us someplace we’ve never been before.

Michael Angus and Murray Fredericks’ film, ‘Salt’, takes us deep into the immense 3,700 square-mile salt flat of Australia’s Lake Eyre—perhaps the most featureless place on Earth (more…)

Posted in Film & Television | 2 Comments

Review: The Swiss Machine

I was skeptical as to whether or not I’d like the ‘The Swiss Machine’, but it was definitely on my must-see list.

Ueli Steck’s fame skyrocketed when he successfully soloed the north face of the Eiger in an astonishing 2:44:33. ‘The Swiss Machine’ not only tells the story of the climb—it actually shows us the climb (more…)

Posted in Film & Television | 0 Comments

Review: Cold

Anson Fogel’s 19-minute Alpine documentary ‘Cold’ was one of the films I was most looking forward to seeing in Graz.

The film documents the efforts of Simone Moro, Denis Urubko, and American Cory Richards, who on February 2, 2011 became the first people to summit Pakistan’s 26,362-foot Gasherbrum II in winter (more…)

Posted in Film & Television | 0 Comments

C2N Tonight at SIA Denver 5pm

Reminder here in Denver that my film “The Couloir to Nowhere” is playing tonight, Saturday Jan 29 at 5pm in Theater 2, in the Colorado Convention Center as part of the Ski Channel Film Festival, downstairs from the main floor of the SIA show.

SIA attendees get free admittance with your show badge, otherwise tickets are $10 at the box office. If you’re at SIA or in Denver, please stop by and say hello. Running time is a speedy 29 minutes, and I think I can promise it’ll be one of the more unusual skiing films you ever see.

Posted in Events, Film & Television | 2 Comments

Powderwhore Productions’ Television

Okay, I admit it: the prospect of spending an hour watching a crew of Telemarkers dropping their knees did not exactly fill my heart with glee. Skiing is a big tent, I understand, with plenty of room for people doing things any which way they choose, but as I inserted Television into my DVD player for the very first time, I felt not unlike I was about to wander into the wrong aisle at the adult book store—not, of course, that I ever visit such places (more…)

Posted in Film & Television | 0 Comments

Sweetgrass Short: ‘Desert River’

Sweetgrass Productions, makers of that otherworldly treasure of ski filmmaking, Signatures, are currently hard at work in South America on their next feature. But, ’till that arrives, they’ve released a 5-minute short called Desert River, shot in the Chilkats near Haines, Alaska. According to Sweetgrass, the planned four-week shoot had an unexpected result: it was, “a colossal physical struggle, full of folly and impending doom mixed in with a few sweet spine descents.”

The result for us, however, is another reminder that Sweetgrass remains among the most interesting and talented grassroots filmmakers on the planet. Enjoy!

Posted in Film & Television | 0 Comments

“The Story” Hollywood Premiere

The Ski Channel film, The Story has its Southern California debut this Sunday, October 24, in the main auditorium at Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. If you haven’t seen a film at the Chinese Theater that’s good enough reason on its own to go—it’s a huge, historic auditorium from Hollywood’s golden era. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore. As for the film itself, I haven’t seen it, but early buzz is that it’s a different kind of ski movie…and a big success. In addition to the film, The Ski Channel has arranged a gala star-studded red carpet event starting at 6 p.m. Don’t miss it!

Posted in Film & Television | 0 Comments

Beyond Survival

I have to say Les Stroud has acquitted himself nicely. When I first saw his show Survivorman, he was wandering the canyons of Southern Utah, cold, hungry, and miserable, complaining about everything every step of the way until he announced, abruptly, that he’d had enough and was going home. Compared to That Other Survival Guy, and his show, Les seemed hopelessly lacking (more…)

Posted in Film & Television | 1 Comment

Film Review: ‘Signatures’

I knew next to nothing about ‘Signatures’ when I popped it into my dvd player. I’ve kind of burned out on ski flicks, so when Sweetgrass Productions sent me an email mentioning their film and tour, I told them to send me a copy figuring I’d never hear from them again.

Surprisingly enough, they did send me a disk. Even more surprising: their film is stunning. To be honest, they had me as soon as I saw the disk’s menu screen.

This is a film made by artists who love skiing. Or maybe they’re skiers who happen to be artists. Whoever they are, they’re obsessed about filmmaking in a way that would probably put them in the funny farm if they worked a normal job. And thank god for it! What a beautiful, beautiful film. For tour dates (‘Signatures’ debuts Sept. 19 in Aspen) visit Sweetgrass Productions’ website. Don’t go expecting a typical ski film. Go instead with an open mind and an open heart. Want more than that? You can also read my Signatures Review for a little bit more info…

Posted in Film & Television | 1 Comment

The Last Battlestar

The greatest high-wire act on television came back to Earth last night—in more ways than one. It’s not entirely fair to say Battlestar Galactica’s legacy will be determined by “Daybreak”, the series finale, but the last episode is the capstone on the series, and it will be remembered as either expanding the show’s breathtaking streak of brilliance, or revealing, at last, that the show’s creators are in fact…human.

From the beginning, Battlestar was always a show with a plan. This was reinforced every time Battlestar’s opening credits ran: we were told, of course, that the Cyclons had a plan, but in reality the Plan belonged to the show’s creators, David Eick and Ronald D. Moore, and as the show began to unfold, we got the sense that the entire plot had actually been envisioned in advance—even as elements of the story became more and more impossible to explain.

Hence the high-wire act: would the plan ultimately be revealed as the kernel of genius underlying and explaining the series’ vast, sprawling plot. Or would the plan vaporize when it was finally exposed to the light of day? (more…)

Posted in Film & Television | 1 Comment

Previous Posts »