Oh God I feel old...
On the cemetery side of thirty and already I'm on the long slide. Out of touch too; like Perry Hatchett, booted from the Head Judge position cause he didn't understand hi-fi surfing. Well, let me tell you, I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems scary and weird.
None of us, not Perry Hatchett, not Grandpa Simpson, not me, not anyone over thirty, will fully appreciate Now, the latest movie by Analog.
Now is the first biopic for Chippa Wilson, the white-haired, well-inked fella from Cabarita. Chippa, a white boy who really can jump, fills his thirty minutes with spins, tweaks and grabs in every possible variation.
Followed around the world by young filmmaker, Riley Blakeway, the duo stop in at New Zealand, Panama and California (plus one or two other locations I can't identify) to launch and tweak and spin. Along the way they're joined by Dion Agius, Thom Pringle and Dillon Perillo, all of whom can also jump.
Dialogue is at a minimum, as it should be in films such as this. A biopic is, after all, a resume of sorts for the featured surfer and Chippa ain't hired for his eloquence.
Despite its cutting edge title and talent Blakeway uses a bleached, cross-processed effect to give Now a faded, home-film feel while the brittle and melodic sounds of garage rock (Frowning Clouds, No Monster Club) provide the soundtrack. The packaging looks familiar while the content is anything but.
Forget what they say about Forever Young, it's a fairytale to make old pricks feel relevant. Between the past and the present - between then and Now - is a line drawn in the sand, and it's only young blokes, like Chippa and Blakeway here, who can cross it.