In reply to Aiden Wright:
Hi Aiden,
So scathing was your review of my review I just had to watch Grit Flick again whilst I was doing my Saturday morning chores.
> Most of the filming seems to have been done by Ian Burton
...and Al Lee and Ben Pritchard I think, could be wrong there. Al would be able to give you a breakdown. This is becoming typical of many climbing films these days, see Big Up and Sender film credits.
The Gaz Parry section on Reservoir Dogs is about 2 minutes long. It's in the supporting acts section. Yes it is weaker than the rest, although I liked the nervous heavy breathing and his quote at the end...
back to bouldering now.
The Headliners are the strength of this £12.99 DVD. I'm glad he charged that price rather than £20. Climbing films are moving on, no longer are they rare, it's competitive market what with the internet and bigger budget productions coming out of the USA.
My favourites in the headliners are Lucy Creamer on Slab and Crack, Jordan Buys on Widdop Wall and Ryan Pasquill on Gerty Berwick....less so Ben Bransby at Rylstone.
My three favourites are well filmed, well crafted and entertaining. The dialogue from the climbers is clear and informative, and entertaining....especially Old Skool John Dunne, a great climber and great self publicist, wax about grades, continually contradicting himself, it provides a great insight in to the mind of 80's/90's climbers and how they used the E grade system to inflate themselves.
I loved Lucy Creamer on Slab and Crack...especially her dialogue. Explaining why she is doing the route and how she feels about it. Then she just gets on with it.
These are climbing stories not just climbing porn.
Over the years the gritstone myth has been deflated. Hard Grit is brilliant and of its time. We've moved on. Grit Flick shows this... these everday top climbers featured just go about their business of enjoying these Hard Grit routes without much fanfare, hype or drama. That's what I mean about Grit Flick being a worthy successor to Hard Grit.
McHaffie at Brimham I also enjoyed. That lad is ripping it up on Grit at the moment.
Some of the humour I found laugh out loud, some of it lame. That is the nature of humour.
Art is subjective whether it be writing, paintings or films. I enjoyed this film, you didn't and that is fine.
It isn't a blockbuster film by any means, not ground breaking, but a fine record of some climbers climbing some great grit routes over the last year or so.
Mick
I stand by my review and you can stand by yours. That is the nature of the interaction and opportunity to comment that the internet gives us.