40 Rivers To Freedom

The hatches DVD Store just got Rivers of a Lost Coast in!  I haven’t seen it yet, but from everything I’ve seen and read about it, it will be worth watching.

Dear Confluence Films,

Judging by your comment, your feelings were a little hurt when I published a less than flattering review of your latest DVD yesterday.

I’m sorry if this isn’t the kind of review you like to see, but I call it like I see it.  I would’ve loved to have wrote a glowing review of your movie, but it would be a disservice to my readers to lie through my teeth.  Ya see, if I told them it was decent, and then they went and bought it only to find out that it wasn’t, I’d lose all credibility.

You guys filmed at 6 of the premier locations in the western hemisphere and came back with a 70 minute guide/outfitter promo.  Which isn’t surprising considering the fact that you- assuming I’m talking to producer Jim Klug- are the Founder and Director of Operations for Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures, L.L.C., and that you have worked in the fly fishing industry as a guide, sales rep, and travel coordinator.

I understand your desire to promote your best interests, as I work for the company who sent me that DVD free of charge.  They love it when I write a good review cause it sends trillions of dollars- okay, maybe a couple hundred-  in revenue their way every year.  Fortunately, they also understand that by me giving an honest review, my readers will trust that I’m not feeding them a line of garbage, thus flocking to their storefront when I say a product is worth buying.

All these years, it has been the fly fishing magazine industry who has worked to serve it’s sponsors best interests, while sacrificing it’s own integrity by providing dishonesty to it’s readers; and now we open a new chapter in fly fishing media where we can’t even watch a movie without wondering if the film makers have an ulterior motive.  How ironic that one of your partners, The Drake Magazine, broke the magazine mold of the past, but is helping you to bring back the BS- this time to our DVD players.

Tisk, tisk, tisk.

Thankfully, the fly fishing world now has plentiful choices when it comes to film makers.  Beattie Outdoor Productions, Rollcast Productions, and Felt Soul Media immediately come to mind.  I’m sure if you gave them a call, they’d be more than happy to show you how to make a good movie. Hey, I’m just trying to help.

Sincerely,

40 Rivers To Freedom

I’ve had a fresh copy of Rise sitting on top of my TV for the last couple weeks.  Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to watch it until my weekend trip to the International Fly Tying Symposium in Somerset fell through on Friday afternoon.

The day before I recieved a text message from a friend that read, “Rise Sucks.”  I couldn’t really say I was surprised by this message, as I wasn’t the biggest fan of Confluence Films previous movie, Drift.  Not to mention, the trailer I saw for Rise gave me little to look forward to.

So instead of unpacking my suitcase, I popped a bag of popcorn in the microwave and my copy of Rise in the DVD player.

Basically, the film is broken up into 6 locations: Venezuela, Idaho, Florida, Alaska, New Orleans, and Patagonia.

The film opens with the Florida section, and it majorly sucked-  felt like I was watching a Fly Rod & Reel Magazine article.  I can’t remember what section was next, the part on two friends starting an outfitting business in Patagonia, or the part on Louisiana Redfish, but what I do remember is that both of those parts sucked, too.   Then came the Venezuela sections which wasn’t too bad, but it still sucked.  It just didn’t seem like it sucked so bad cause the parts before it sucked so much more.

At this point, I was pretty sure I’d be sending my friend a reply to his text, agreeing with his diagnosis.  Then, the part on Idaho’s Henry’s Fork got going.  The beginning was a little sketchy, then they did a brief piece on Rene Harrop that probably saved the whole DVD from the garbage can.  The Alaska part wasn’t bad either, but this might have been due to the fact that it had a great act take the stage ahead of it.

Overall, I’d give Rise 3 outta 5 stars.  Without the Idaho piece, I’d give it 1 outta 5.

To all of the other fly fishing film makers out there, including you, Confluence; take note of the Idaho piece.  Seems like you have all fallen into the trap of the personal interview.  You know, the part where you try to add substance to the fish porn.  Well, as mentioned above, your substance is turning into the equivalent of stale old fly fishing magazines.  How about skipping the interview altogether and replacing it with the narrator reading a really great essay on the topic at hand while the video rolls?   Cause like I said before, you can do better than this.

Last week, I was interviewed over the phone by journalist, Morgan Lyle.  The article was printed yesterday in one of my local papers, the Schenectady Daily Gazette.  You can see it at Morgan’s most excellent fly fishing blog, The Fly Line.

With all of the fly fishing websites aaround these days, I have no idea how something like “The Fly Line” wasn’t already taken.