Rob Machado Movies
A surfing penguin currently riding the wave of success enters his first professional competition in this computer-animated family-oriented comedy from directors Chris Buck and Ash Brannon. Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf) may be a relative amateur when it comes to hanging ten, but he's sure he has what it takes to surf his way to superstardom. With a little help from his cantankerous King Penguin mentor, ex-surfing legend Big Z (Jeff Bridges), and a little encouragement from star Pen Gu Island lifeguard Lani (Zooey Deschanel), there may be hope for this tuxedo-clad wave twister after all. James Woods, Jane Krakowski, Michael McKean, Jon Heder, Mario Cantone, and Brian Benben all lend their voices to this inspirational tale that proves anything is possible when you put your heart and mind to it. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, (more)
Steven Lawerence examines the state of surfing around the world in the documentary Down the Barrel. Some of the sport's biggest names are seen in action, and also discuss how the lifestyle has spread throughout the globe. Among the experts featured are Kelly Slater, Kalani Robb, and Joel Parkinson. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 2006
For nearly half a century, grassroots filmmakers Spyder Wills and Greg Weaver trekked around the world with their movie cameras, shooting now-legendary footage of one and only one subject: surfing. On multiple continents, with extraordinary cinematographic intimacy, Wills and Weaver captured nothing less than the evolution of this sport as it spread, slowly but definitively, around the world. And in time, helmers of both features and documentaries, such as John Milius (Big Wednesday), Larry Yates (The Forgotten Island of Santosha) and John Severson (Pacific Vibrations) began to turn to the Wills/Weaver image archive as a definitive resource of footage for use in their films. For quite some time, film historians regarded much of the pair's footage that went unused in the theatrically-released projects as permanently lost; recently, much of that rediscovered footage was recovered. It forms the backbone of Greg Schell's documentary Chasing the Lotus. Schell intercuts rare super-8 images shot by Weaver and Wills with recently-shot interviews and archival photographic stills chronicling the filmmakers' groundbreaking, decades-long creative journey that paved the way for much of our contemporary understanding and perception of surfing. Jeff Bridges narrates. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Gerry Lopez, (more)
Second generation surfing documentarian Dana Brown (son to Bruce Brown, who directed The Endless Summer 2) strikes out with his own original piece of filmmaking with his 2003 ode to the world's surfing enthusiasts entitled Step Into Liquid. Part travelogue, and part attempt to redefine surfing's image, Brown travels to some of the ordinary surfing locales -- such as Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States -- as well as some rather unexpected ones, including the west coast of Wisconsin on Lake Michigan to Easter Island to a secular surfing school in Ireland. While in these diverse locations, Brown interviews the numerous souls whose lives have been taken over by the lure of surfing, ranging from seasoned professionals to casual hobbyists, in an attempt to dispel the myth of surfers being perpetually stoned slackers. Step Into Liquid was selected to screen at a handful of film festivals in 2003, including the Nodance Film Festival in Park City, UT. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Knost, Alex Knost, (more)
This video features skateboarding extraordinaires Tony Hawk, Andy Mac Donald, Kris Markovich, Terje haakonsen, Blaise Rosenthal, Kelly Slater, and Rob Machado. Footage of the skaters at their best is set to a pulse-pounding techno/industrial beat.
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
Jack Johnson directs the 40-minute surfing documentary The September Sessions. Featuring champion surfer Kelly Slater in action. Filmed in 16 mm off the coast of the Sumatra Islands in September of 1999. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Musician/filmmaker/surfer Jack Johnson teams up with Chris and Emmett Malloy to direct the surfing video Thicker Than Water. This 45-minute program was shot on-location in coastal regions of India, Ireland, Tahiti, Australia, and Hawaii. Composed by Johnson, the musical score also includes Philadelphia rockers G. Love & Special Sauce, Japanese pop band Natural Calamity, and British electronica trio Smoke City. Top-name surfers like Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, and Timmy Curran are shown in action. Thicker Than Water was voted Best Video of 2000 by Surfer Magazine. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- 2000
Marshall K. Hatori is a filmmaker and surfing enthusiast who is a big fan of the work of pioneering surfing documentarians Greg MacGillivray and Bruce Brown. Hatori is also a man who is studying a number of spiritual disciplines, and in his documentary Imagine: Surfing As Sadhana, he examines wave riding as a sport, as a leisure activity that has (unwittingly) spawned a multi-million dollar industry, and as a means of following one's own path to inner peace ("Sadhana" is a Hindi word that refers to a state of enlightenment). However, while Hatori sees surfing -- and the making of this film -- as a means of reaching a higher plane, his crew and the surfers he's brought along for a trip to some of the world's most spectacular surf spots (including Christian Enns, Stephen Slater, and Veronica Kay) seem to have a narrower view of the sport, which leads to some conflicts between Hatori and his collaborators. Along the way, Hatori also visits spiritual leaders in India, a vegetarian farmer in Australia, and explores the beauty and the poverty of Sri Lanka. Imagine: Surfing As Sadhana was shown in competition at the 2001 Dances With Films Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Enns, Veronica Kay, (more)
