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Reviews Of The Schengen Files, The Swiss Account, Better Than Chocolate & Midwest Unknown
A chance for you to win something for free and a few thoughts on The Schengen Files, The Swiss Account, Better Than Chocolate and Midwest Unknown just as soon as the cops are done swiping my credit card...
The Schengen Files
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="194" caption="The Schengen Files"]
[/caption]The Schengen Files is a short ~20 minute video that chronicles some of the hardest sends from the latter portion of Paul Robinson's recent stint in France and Switzerland. The movie starts with Robinson repeating a couple of the more well documented problems in Font and closes with rare repeats of lesser seen problems like Trip Hop (V15) and Angama (V15) in Font and The Story Of Two Worlds (V15)in Switzerland.
Almost entirely shot and edited by Robinson and girlfriend Alex Kahn, The Schengen Files is beautifully done, which belies the fact that this is really their first major filmmaking effort. If one of the only negatives people can come up with after seeing the movie is that they want to see more then, I think Paul and Alex are on the right track.
For under $7 this movie is a no brainer for any fan of bouldering videos.
Website:
Better Than Chocolate
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="194" caption="Better Than Chocolate"]
[/caption]Like The Schengen Files, Better Than Chocolate is another example of the evolution of climbing media these past few years. The movie is the first effort from Haroun Souirji who describes the movie as "a one man low budget project about bouldering in Switzerland. It's edited, filmed, produced and advertised alone." Well, he could have fooled me because the movie has a nice polish to it and is tightly edited throughout.
The hour long movie is sort like if you would hit the random button on your MP3 player as it features a random assortment of climbers and problems from throughout Switzerland. For the American audience many of the climbers will likely be unfamiliar, but there is footage of Paul Robinson sending Ill Trill and the variant to From Dirt Grows Flowers as well as appearances from familiar names like Chris Webb Parsons, Michele Caminati and a brief cameo by Fred Nicole.
Again, for fans of bouldering videos this is most certainly worth adding to your collection.
Website:
Cost:
- $14.99 - HD Download
- $27.99 - DVD
The Swiss Account
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="194" caption="The Swiss Account"]
[/caption]The Swiss Account is the story of three Americans (Jon Glassberg, Connor Griffith and Carlo Traversi) visiting the boulders of Switzerland with very brief guest appearances made by the likes of Paul Robinson, Adam Ondra, Alex Puccio and Dai Koyamada. What ensues is pretty much what you would expect: climbing, antics, beautiful scenery, more antics, controversy and tons of amazing looking granite boulders.
Your enjoyment of the movie may vary depending on your tolerance levels for non-climbing shenanigans and techno music, but the quality of the footage is generally pretty good and the quality of the boulders is well established at this point. I personally thought the sequence where Traversi gets pulled over for speeding and has his credit card swiped by police on the spot was a highlight of the movie, but I'm guessing he might beg to differ.
At almost an hour The Swiss Account would be worth dropping some money on to watch, but thanks to sponsors like Revolution Climbing, La Sportiva, Five Ten and Verve Clothing the movie is 100% free. Seriously.
Website:
Cost:
- "FREE whether you like it or not"
Midwest Unknown
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="194" caption="Midwest Unknown"]
[/caption]This last video is not really on the same level as the previous three, but I wanted to share it since it has a local connection to boulders I've actually climbed on. Filmed and edited by Ian Cotter-Brown, Midwest Unknown gives a taste of the bouldering in Wisconsin and Minnesota at areas like Governor Dodge, Rattlesnake Mound, Taylors Falls and Devil's Lake. The quality of the footage and the editing are not of the highest quality, and it's probably overpriced when compared to the other offerings out there right now, but if you've ever thought about bouldering in Wisconsin then this movie could be worth checking out.
Website:
Cost:
- $10 - Download
If you made it this far then congratulations. Here's how you win free stuff. Simply leave a comment on this post and you'll be entered for the chance to win a free download (including extras) of Better Than Chocoloate. The winner will be picked one week from today (8/18/2011). Good luck!
86 comments
Awesome job with the review it looks like I'll be getting the Schengen Files!
I'm psyched on the review! I've been trying to figure out which movie I should buy next and the winner is... The free one. Next may be Better than Chocolate though, it looks sweet!
I can't wait to get home and watch these.
Top quality stuff.
First time commenter, long time obsessive reader (as long as that sounds cool and not...uncool). You had me at chocolate.
Glad we could bring you out of your hiding spot :)
I concur. Carlo getting pulled over and his $640 ticket face were priceless.
Was it really for $640?! And I thought $280 was terrible...
The Schengen Files is worth buying, if only for The Story of Two Worlds. Better than chocolate is really enjoyable, and I especially liked the stuff with Robert Leistner.
Thx for the review! I also very much enjoyed the scene where Carlo gets pulled over - just got myself a 280 ticket.. crazy swiss
Only 30min in Narc and the free goodies are already having a heavy impact, ha!
i liked swiss account and can't wait to check out the others!
i liked swiss account and can't wait to check out the others!
great review. gotta love free stuff, especially when its quality. plus i had no idea wisconsin had any climbing whatsoever
So many boulders. It's really pretty brilliant to be able to swipe the credit card for speeding right then and there. I mean it sucks, but at least you can avoid a court date. right?
If anything, midwest unknown has me excited for the fall.
YES. My employer has ruined my weekday climbing plans but you should make me come out on the weekends injured or not.
i demand all of your free shit.
Triathletes and volleyball players need not apply
zzzziiinnnnnnggggg! Ouch
What about Badmintoners?
100% in
I wantz the free videos! Give me ALL of them.
Like the reviews! Always looking for new climbing movies and reviews are helpful. Thanks Narc!
So sick!
After a long series of misfires, a few friends and I are planning on finally hitting Devil's Lake this September.Gnarly.
Nice! Where are you guys coming from?
I want to say my buddy and the group he'll be bringing are working out of Verona, WI. Me, I'll be coming in from work in Dallas. We're both native Californians though (San Diego & Oakland, respectively).
I think I hit you up with some questions about the Lake when I was working in Chicago about, oh...last fall...so this has really been a long time coming!
Good reviews.
Narc, does posting a crappy joke yesterday give me extra credit?
The Schengen Files was totally worth it for the price. They did an excellent job for their first video project. I'll have to check out Better Than Chocolate next.
the Midwest bouldering look amazing. think i may have to take a trip out there.
I only watched the Swiss Account out of all of these. It didn't make me very psyched. These kids need to grow up. The boulders looks sweet and I'd love to watch the other vids as well.
Rest assured, they have more fun than you and climb harder than you. It got me psyched, but that's because I like rock climbing. Maybe you need to lighten up.
Midwest bouldering sucks. Do not come here. Go to hueco, where the cool kids are..
Good article, i've seen the swiss account and its pretty damn good
Commenting for free stuff. Want to see Schengen Files but can't bring myself to pay 35 cents a minute when I could just watch The Swiss Account again. Haven't logged in, if I win will you know who I am?
Pick me Narc!
I liked the Schengen Files ... a good drinking game is to drink every time Paul looks at his hands after falling on a problem ...
I am guilty of this frequently as well, looking for something to blame.
even better, hands on hips!
probably my favorite video out of this lot so far though
well sign me up!
Glassberg's video is for free so he doesn't have to pay for music rights.
you are the man Nietzsche, too bad you are not a nihilist...
I seriously hope this is jemerson... and you are correct Nietzsche wasn't a nihilist.
Comment inserted. Pleasure requested.
nice write up, especially on the swiss account--i'm getting it now!
Great reviews, def going to check some of these out.
Great reviews, def going to check some of these out.
free stuff!
The Swiss Account was very good. Definitely impressed that a 1 hour vid was released for free!
Looking forward to watching the Midwest Unknown soon
Paul is a beast, I'm psyched to see Better than Chocolate!
The Swiss account is pretty good, especially for a free video.
Hey thanks for the review! Definitely appreciate it!
Hey thanks for the review! Definitely appreciate it!
All those people in the swiss account are foolish noobs. But I would love to see Better Than Chocolate for free!!
Thanks for the reviews, I'll check out the midwest video
The scene where Carlo Traversi gets pulled over makes me giggle.
I love ACID!!! I mean drinking!....I mean climbing...I'm getting my movie references crossed again.
Neato!
thanks for the reviews and the trailers! The swiss account will definitely be watched later.
word word
I like climbing videos. And free stuff.
I want to go to Sweetzerland!
Ok, I guess I will.
Midwest unknown would have been better if it showed more people from the Twin Cities. That place has one of the best scenes around, and there are some great boulders close to the city, as well as up by Duluth.
The Scene ... May not be cheap ... but soooooo looking forward to this one!
Yep. Certainly one to look forward to.
Thanks for the reviews, love your site. Looking forward to seeing these.
woop woop!
Thanks for the reviews! And keep bringing the climbing news!
Great videos. Would love to win one!
Pretty cool that The Swiss Account was released for free and even more cool was Carlo's response to the controversy.
Good review! I think I will definetly watch the 2 first ones!
So many new videos to watch! And here I was, about to go and have a marathon and re-watch all the other climbing videos I own. Yaaaaay for climbing movies! :D
Love free stuff !
I'm really a climbing movie fanatic! Didn't watch those three above and would love to have a copy of Better than Chocolate!
The Swiss Account was fantastic. I would pay money for a video of that quality and length. I'm looking forward to seeing the other videos reviewed here.
Dude i know it's obvious that bouldering videos are easier to make but I really want some trad action. Can't wait to see TC and Kevin on El CAP!
you and me both
I love chocolate, but I love climbing more. The title makes sense to me.
I'm in agreement with the posts above. I can't wait to see footage of the Dawn Wall stuff. That project is crazy!
sometimes, i like to climb..............
watching The Swiss Account was the best lunch break ever.... except for the time that i had just enough time to redpoint my project :D
Cool to see so many quality movies being released. Now just need to find the time to watch em all!
Thanks to everyone who entered! Random.org picked Allen E as the winner so congrats to him. I'll be contacting you shortly.