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EPF 18: Dawn Patrol v. The TideEPF 18: Dawn Patrol v. The Tide The tide and the Dawn Patrol are swinging out of sync again.  Aaron and I paddled out early and were able to snag a high wave count before the tide elevated and the crowds...

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EPF Episode 17: Oh, Summer...EPF Episode 17: Oh, Summer... The summer doldrums continue to rain blows down on the southern California surf world.  Another week of 2-footers goes by. But as always, a dumpy surf day with friends is...

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EPF Episode 0016: Lost Winter WavesEPF Episode 0016: Lost Winter Waves Aaron asked me to grab some stills of his new board (the P-volver) from the recent video footage.  When I went back into iMovie to get them, I noticed that when I imported...

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EPF Episode 0015: No Waves Without MikeEPF Episode 0015: No Waves Without Mike NEW VIDEO! I'll disclose right from the get-go that this video is sub par.  After such a dry spell, I'd been waiting for some sort of magical day to get a new video out. ...

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On Surfari: Haiti ScreeningOn Surfari: Haiti Screening I was invited by the great guys over at Harbour Surf Shop to attend a screening of the latest On Surfari episode Haiti hosted by Shayne McIntyre at the Harbour shop.  It...

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The Maiden Voyage of the Sea NymphThe Maiden Voyage of the Sea Nymph NEW VIDEO!  I know, I know.  You thought we reached episode 13 and were cursed.  Wrong, scurvy dogs.  We just got delayed by rain and holidays.  But I am happy to bring...

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Local Report from the Eddie Aikau Big Wave ContestLocal Report from the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Contest My buddy Duane, who lives on Oahu, went over to watch the In Memory of Eddie Aikau Waiamea big wave surf contest after work yesterday.  He was only able to see the last heat,...

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El Porto Fridays Rss

The Ghosts Are Calling is a most interesting piece in my barrage of movie watchings. Although “movie” isn’t really the right word – film.  But not film as one might use to distinguish a fine movie like The Godfather from a fun flick like Point Break. It is more like a film piece one might find as a video art loop running at a little art gallery you stumbled upon by accident while wandering a metropolis for fun. Indeed, by accident is really how I found this film in the first place.

The Ghosts Are Calling is a film by Andrew Kidman and Eduardo Madera. Andrew Kidman is noted for his surf films Glass Love and Litmus. I’d been interested in seeing Glass Love and was watching the trailer on The Surf Network when I noticed Ghosts under the “More movies from this producer” header.  I watched the trailer for Ghosts and my interest was piqued.  Then I saw the price – $6.99.  And I thought, “Well, Hells Bells.  For $7, I’ll give this a try.”

In a word – superb.  I was really blown away by this film.  The pace, soundtrack and visuals all flowed so well.  Right off the bat, the titles tell the viewer this is “A collage by Eduardo Madera and Andrew Kidman.”  Surf film often substitute “a film by” with a funny or snarky phrase to set the tone of the movie, but I’ve never seen “collage” before.  But “collage” is a great way to describe the film.

Then the film opens with animation, live action, treated film and surf shots blending in and out of each other.  The soundtrack leads in with a light tune, but later drifts into a gritty, heavy, pulpy jam.  The visuals and audio start blending in interviews and spoken word.  And so goes the ebb and flow of this film until the end sequence where the viewer is rewarded with series of zany antics by to hilarious hair band wanna-bes, always clutching their talls, who play out the film.

When it was all played out I just sat there for a moment processing the whole thing.  As I always do, I went to the Internets for some answers, but brother, there are none to be found. As far as the Web is concerned, this film barely exists.  So I watched it again…and it was still awesome and mysterious and intriguing and wonderfully baffling.

So worth $7!  Full shakas.  Please watch it. Tell me if it’s crazy entertaining or if I was just up too late.

Twitter Comments

elPortoJeff Watched The Ghosts Are Calling by Andrew Kidman and Eduardo Madera - super sweet! http://elportofridays.com/nx #surf
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Comments (1)

i ordered litmus and glass love on dvd a couple days ago, will lend when here

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