Because everyone at the Underground badly needs a laugh, we’re reduced to throwing funny video at you – the latest from Underground Fave Filmmaker Steve Apple (we mugged Moldy Chum to get it).
Apple’s was the man behind Hustle & Fish – the movie that should have become Fly fishing’s Spinal Tap.
This short’s not fly fishing related, yet because it’s jammed with painful, awkward and funny moments (handled admirably by amateur actors) – and I dabbled in Internet dating prior to meeting the L&T – we’re watching it (again) anyway.
It’s a humorous video shot for Steve’s wedding (his wife is hot; all we can figure is her seeing-eye dog really likes him).
In truth, Apple’s deft handling of everyday awkwardness suggests a brighter future outside the fly fishing universe. (We’re thinking more Woody Allen than trout bum.)
See you in Hollywood (and congrats to the happy couple), Tom Chandler.
ps – It’s not too late to get Apple a present – we suggest buying a copy of Hustle & Fish, so he can move on to making his next painfully funny video.
I’m typically lukewarm about promoting fly fishing videos on the Underground (and for all sorts of reasons I am not going into here). That said, Felt Soul Media may just be the best video guys going in fly fishing.
Their Red Gold documentary on the Pending Pebble Mine Disaster was stunning, and at the very least, their movies are produced with a minimum of the posturing and other obnoxious behavior that mars so many other videos.
Plus, their films are things of beauty.
Here’s an excerpt from their forthcoming “Eastern Rises” documentary about their trip to Kamchatka. Stowing away on this voyage is On The Rise host Frank Smethurst, who – despite still being left-handed – manages to lay his grubby mitts on a few really nice trout, including a special breed of ocean-going char that you have to see to believe (too bad you don’t).
Plus, you see bigfoot. Really.
Today’s Bonus Quiz Question For the Undergrounders: If felt soul bans are enacted across most of the fly fishing world, will Felt Soul Media be forced to change their name to Studded Rubber Media (which suggests a whole different genre of filmmaking…)?
Basically, you can’t swing a dead trout over your head without hitting one of the “new breed†of fly fishing videographers, and a yes – a large number of them hope to make a living shooting whatever the hell they want.
Traditionally, that’s a recipe for fiscal ruin for all but a gifted few (ask all the Gierach-wannabes who tried to write their way into trout-bum-hood).
Still, for those willing to soil their artistic sensibilities in the service of commerce, opportunities abound – especially for those who realize the world is not all that interested in watching them fly fish.
Email was the Internet’s first “killer app†(both on a personal and commercial level), but the world continues to spin, and in this case, it’s spinning towards video becoming the “next†killer app.
That’s why I’m not surprised to see commercial videos embedded in Catch Magazine, or even this interesting-looking episodic video sponsored by outdoor gear manufacturer ARC’TERYX and the New Belgian brewery:
You’re looking at episode one of The Season – a series of videos following the lives of five outdoor athletes for one season.
Despite a somewhat ponderous start to the first video, the series appears genuinely interesting; it’s more documentary than music video, and because the videographer isn’t part of the narrative, there’s little incentive to posture or sink into the climbing/kayaking/mountain biking/snowboarding equivalent of fish porn.
In other words, it’s a beautifully shot video about people doing what they love. And perhaps a model for some erstwhile video entrepreneur in fly fishing.
In this economic climate, I’m betting fly fishing’s manufacturers are largely unwilling to fund more epic, chest-beating fish porn adventures in return for a superimposed logo in the opening and closing credits.
Is The Season a look into the future of outdoor video – one that lives at the intersection of art & commerce?
Anyone who has ever taken someone fly fishing for money will suffer from Post Traumatic Guide-Related Stress Flashbacks after viewing this video. (Better put that crisis counselor on speed dial.)
Those with common sense, disgust for those who mistake a chipmunk for a rattlesnake, or a weak stomach may want to turn away.
Let’s be clear; I’m not endorsing the video advertised in the following trailer as much as recognizing its existence, though I am wondering just how bad America’s drug problem has become.
Still…
A fly fishing comedy short (isn’t that redundant)? Remember, telling us it’s comedy does not make it a reality (dieing is easy, it’s funny that’s hard), but because we love comedy at the Underground (which explains a lot about my life), we’ll wait for the movie.
The makers themselves have this to say (and yes, the all-caps stuff is theirs):
GO WEST TV IS A NEW FLY FISHING COMEDY THAT WILL BE FEATURED ON THE FLY FISHING FILM TOUR. (http://www.flyfishingfilmtour.com/ ) THIS YEAR. IT IS A SHORT FILM ABOUT 2 GUYS THAT GREW UP FLY FISHING THE FRONT RANGE OF COLORADO. TWO OF THEM ARE COMEDIANS!
For now, we admit that parts of the trailer made us laugh – but many others left even the comedy-friendly Wonderdog (wag, wag) cringing. Which is it going to be when the popcorn’s eaten and the lights come up?
The Underground’s always up for a good spoof, and this one – sent to us by Alert Underground Reader Andrew (if that is his real name) – is short, but amusing. As an added FREE BONUS VIDEO, we’re including another spoof – this one at LLBean’s expense (no nasty emails please):
Let’s hope LLBean has better sense of humor than they do a legal department:
Here’s one movie I wish I’d see come across my desk for review: Rivers of a Lost Coast. It’s a documentary chronicling the Golden Era of Pacific Coast steelhead fishing, the larger-than-life characters who inhabited it, and the rapid decline in the quality of the fisheries.
Coming soon to a theater near you?
Fly fishing legend Bill Schaadt is at the center of the movie, and though I never met the man – and I don’t do a lot of steelheading – the stories about him still circulate freely around here.
Some seem so far fetched that they couldn’t possibly have been real – until someone you know says they are.
A case in point are the steelhead flies Schaad was rumored to have tied with a razor blade in the bend of the hook. When cast over somebody’s line, a quick jerk would sever the line from the fish.
I figured them for urban legend – until a recent conversation with someone who had held one in his hand.
Naturally, Schaad’s more extreme behaviors have become the unfortunate focus, which is inevitable, but sad. After all, more than a few suggest he was the best fly fisherman who ever lived.
My cousin and I spent part of each summer in his parents’ cabin on the Russian River. It was during our first shad season in the early ’50s that we started hearing of a fisherman named Bill Schaadt. The name is pronounced “shad,” like the fish, and not knowing at the time about the German spelling, we thought that man and fish were named alike. Besides, Schaadt is a sign painter, and his trademark SHAD SIGNS appears on all his work.
In the Russian River resort area there are numerous billboards along the roads. Everywhere we went there was a SHAD sign, and the work was distinctive. You could spot it easily from a distance, and it was always a thrill to discover a new one. One year Schaadt repainted all the store fronts in the town of Guerneville, leaving behind to the citizenry an open-air gallery of his art.
When we went fishing on the Russian River we would often be asked: “Have you seen Bill Schaadt?” An article appeared by the venerable Ted True-blood telling about the new sport of fly-fishing for shad on the Russian, and in it Schaadt figured impressively, further fueling our imaginings about the man. We began to stalk Schaadt, who at the time drove a distinctive 1937 black Dodge that he had elaborately striped. After a time he was forced to hide his car and take other measures to avoid people like us who followed him, primarily hoping he would lead them to fish.
But my cousin and I were not particularly interested in being led toward good fishing. In fact, it would have been an embarrassment. For us, Schaadt himself was the subject of the quest. When we would see his car parked along the river, we would stop and peer through the trees searching for the solitary figure who practiced the art of fly-fishing so dynamically. He was our hero.
One spring much later, I was shad fishing on the Russian with a friend who was older and had known Schaadt for years. “I think you should meet Bill,” he said. “Let’s go down to Monte Rio.”
While the movie recounts the rivalry between Schaadt and Ted Lindner, the real message is one of failure – the collapse of some of the richest fisheries in the world.
A couple years ago, word got out that people were catching steelhead on the Trinity again, and soon the turnouts were so clogged with angler’s cars that many couldn’t find a place to park.
That so many anglers would react to the presence of fish that way speaks volumes about the current state of our fisheries; when confronted by even a small fraction of their former abundance, our rivers are considered recovered.
They aren’t.
In truth, it’s our perceptions that are damaged – skewed by years of fly fishing unhealthy rivers for the small handfuls of steelhead and salmon that remain.
Rivers of a Lost Coast will likely correct those impressions while introducing us to the original “extreme” fly fisherman.
Hustle & Fish is filmmaker Steve Apple’s second fly fishing movie, and it delivers handily on the promise of the first.
Stick around – you’ll want to know more.
Fishizzle – Steve Apple’s first fly fishing movie – showed plenty of promise (but lacked polish), but his latest effort – Hustle & Fish – offers us a glimpse of a fly fishing movie far removed from the simple fish porn formulas now occupying the mainstream.
The first half of Hustle & Fish feels like extended autobiographical sketch comedy that – simply put – shines.
In simple terms, Apple wants to fly fish – and thinks making fly fishing movies is his ticket to that future.
Sadly, he’s confronted by a world (including his girlfriend, parents & friends) that thinks he’s crazy.
In the wrong hands, the story could easily end up flopping on the bank, but Apple handles the the subject with a deadpan charm, imbuing some of the quieter moments with a dry wit you might miss the first time through.
Using amateur actors, Apple plows through the story of a young fly fishermen at a life-sized turning point, and while the scenes with his parents and friends are funny, Hustle & Fish really hits its stride when it turns it lens on the fly fishing industry – the caricatures of fly shop employees land hard, and yes – made me laugh out loud.
And yes, the return of fictional Fishizzle character and irritating informercialist Al Braughtinwood – who now makes and sells “Extreme” fly fishing videos – is a highlight.
I can only guess at the real targets of Apple’s send-up of Braughtinwood’s “extreme” fly fishing video series, but the fictional commercials are hilarious; the irritating Braughtinwood combines muscle cars, women, and fishermen kneeing each other in the crotch to sell his videos.
Like all good satirical characters, Braughtinwood looks and acts just lifelike enough to maintain the pretense of reality; his appearances are hilarious, barely grazing the border between satire and cartoonish.
Hustle & Fish‘s lead character is confounded by those who love Braughtinwood’s trashy “extreme” videos – even his father watches the wretched things.
In short, the first half of Apple’s Hustle & Fish delivers handily on the promise of Fishizzle, offering us a satirical (and far more human) look at the fly fishing life.
Simply put, I was impressed as hell.
Unfortunately, the movie eventually falters; Apple largely breaks with the endearing, funny-as-hell satire of the first half, opting instead for long sequences of fish porn and guide hijinks.
Yes, it’s gorgeous, well-done fish porn – and lacks the egocentric posturing that often blights the genre – but feels a little schizophrenic when contrasted with Apple’s earlier story line.
The videography is excellent, but like most fish porn, it’s a collection of pretty pictures largely lacking insight or vision, and Apple’s reliance on slow-motion video for almost every river scene eventually wears thin.
The movie wraps up nicely, and yes – if you’re waiting for me to say it, I will – Hustle & Fish is definitely worth owning.
The soundtrack (mostly up-and-coming independent bands) is excellent, and the editing is professional (though the overbearing fly fishing product placements played havoc with several scenes – the product of an independent filmmaker dependent on manufacturers for funding).
Yes – if I were Absolute Ruler of the Video Universe, I’d tell Apple to go back and finish his movie in the style he started it, creating fly fishing’s equivalent of This is Spinal Tap – the famous rock & roll “mockumentary” that changed the way we viewed both rock & roll bands and documentaries.
And yes, It’s likely a large chunk of Apple’s target audience is going to love Hustle & Fish’s fish porn sequences, so I’m going to give Hustle & Fish four fins (out of five) – largely for Steve Apple’s willingness to extend the somewhat rootbound fly fishing video genre.
In many ways, it’s a groundbreaking fly fishing video, and I suspect a bit of a wakeup call for others working in the genre. It’s also one of a small handful of fly fishing videos I’ll bother to keep.
It’s tax day, and as pick-me-up for the Undergrounders who are sending Uncle Sam the equivalent of a couple fly rods, we’re reporting on yet another hot-looking video trailer that’s crossed the Underground’s desk. This one’s called Once in a Blue Moon, and it’s set in New Zealand during “mouse” season:
Interesting stuff (great soundtrack), but we gotta ask: how does an industry that can’t quite cover the marketing basics support a movie that includes helicopter time? Just asking is all.
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