Long-disappeared Andy Irons Footage: “Full of raw torment!”

Derek Rielly

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Andy Irons' surfing throbbed with exertion, passion etc.

Andy Irons brought the thunder when the world was wilting under the heat of Kelly Slater. For three consecutive years, he owned the world title.

But, sometimes when you bring the thunder, you get lost in the storm: courting trouble, fits of temper, madness, the burden of it all.

Why bother with the modern world if it spawns so many poisons?

Therefore, ain’t it a nice thing to peel ourselves away from the anguish of Andy’s death almost a decade ago and melt into a bonus extra from Taylor Steele’s 2001 film, Momentum Under the Influence, a film populated by surfers under twenty three.

It’s a joy, an honour to watch.

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The Bali-based surfer Dylan Hayllar hoists backwards into the lap of a Desert Point wedge.

Watch: Flap your wings inside pretty and blue and user-friendly Desert Point pipes!

Derek Rielly

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Five-ish minutes of easy backside tubes… 

The Bali-based surfer Dylan Hayllar took a puddle jumper (plane, not board) across the Lombok Strait recently to ride a wave that puts everyone in a good mood.

Desert Point.

Is it ok to say its name now that it’s populated by surfers of all race and nationalities, stand-ups, lay-downs etc?

In this five-and-a-half-minute short, Hayllar whittles easy-looking four-foot Desert Point tubes down to toothpicks. His face, I imagine, is frozen in a tube steak shine after so much shade.

It ain’t John John’s Space but, in some ways, its accessibility and how makable the waves are, even for everyday mutts, gives it something you might love even more.

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Meola's cold-cocked airs cushion the trauma of all the slow motion.

Helicopter-boy Matt Meola in “Wave your hands up in the air Johnny!”

Derek Rielly

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It might slo-mo you to death but wait until Matt spins like a top! Seriously primped!

Here’s a four-minute short that ain’t what you’d call feisty. It cups an ass-cheek real slow, gets you ready for harvesting time, in this case, a hit of Matt Meola spins that gonna make you spit a gob of your tobacco.

Slow motion, slow motion, slow motion. It kills me

But then Matt, who is twenty nine years old (oh don’t the time fly) and from Maui, awakens what I thought was dead from the waist down.

There is a flint and steel in Meola’s surfing that is impossible to ignore. He opens his housecoat and we can only stare.

The music of Hawaiian multi-instrumentalist Tavana gives it a pleasing fuzziness, like the cool air in your face from a just-opened window.

I would suggest, watch.

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John John plays a little solitaire in West Oz.

Watch: John John Florence’s new (short) film “You Could’ve Escaped This Years Ago!”

Derek Rielly

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Missed the Hurley Facebook stream a couple of hours back? Watch John John's hypnotic new short film here!

A couple of hours back, Hurley streamed the new short of John John Florence, officially called Space but perhaps more aptly titled You Could’ve Escaped This Years Ago, on their Facebook page.

Didn’t work in Australia. But you can watch via video channel Vimeo. Hit the big play button above.

Back in June, I wondered: was John John’s knee injury part of the theatre of his transition from the tour? Was he wrapped in an intolerable existential crisis?

Last at Snapper to Mikey Wright. Second-last to the fanatically intense Zeke Lau at Bells. A long dick in the guts at Lemoore. Second-last to Jesse Mendes, Bali. His withdrawal from the Margaret River Reboot had the undercurrent of a drowning man who’d do anything to find a little air, to breathe.

Of course, pro surfing needs John John more than he needs it.

The two-time world champion, who is twenty five, radiates a calm and dignity unseen in any sport. No regularly updated social accounts, no interviews, nothing.

John John lives to surf.

It’s evident in this film.

 

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Justin Cote

Dane “Danger” Reynolds stars in, “When I surf, I surf for God!”

Derek Rielly

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A best of compilation from Cluster, Chapter 11, Premium Violence, Controller Crux and Copacetic…

The best friend of Dane “Danger” Reynolds is the bodyboarding expert and noted surf-filmmaker Jason “Mini” Blanchard. Mini has his name tattooed on his knuckles, wins boogie contests at a whim and has singlehandedly, and with great proficiency, documented the rise and now plateau of his slightly younger master.

This four-minute short hits the floor with a thud and it’s if something has been knocked loose. It is a compilation of highlights from the films Cluster, Chapter 11, Premium Violence, Controller Crux and Copacetic.

It really does slam the barn door, as they say.

And when you’ve washed your hands of “When I surf I surf for God” watch this old classic from almost a decade ago!

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Photo: Justin Jay/@justinjayphoto
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