To Live & Ride in L.A. (2010)
For fixed-gear cyclists, Los Angeles is a city that has it all. From the neon glow of Hollywood to the sun-drenched boardwalk of Venice Beach, fixed-gear has evolved into a vibrant street culture that is uniquely L.A. From director David Rowe (Fast Friday) comes a new documentary feature that explores a side of L.A. few outsiders have seen. From races through rush-hour traffic to midnight loft parties, To Live & Ride in L.A. is a fast paced-trip through the busy streets and back-alleys of one of the world's largest cities. To Live & Ride in L.A. features talented local riders tearing up the streets with first-time visitor Keo Curry (Fast Friday, Macaframa) - one of the living legends of the sport. Bike to hidden spots off the map, race a midnight alley-cat, keep pace with the riders from Wolfpack, and hang with the local crews, graffiti artists and other L.A. personalities burning up the fixed-gear scene.
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One of my all time favorites.
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
Initially excited about this "documentary," seeing that I myself am a fixed gear commuter and have been impressed by other riding videos from MASH and Macaframa. The latter, of course, sets the standard for what one of these should look and feel like, and the former being the one that threw open the flood gates for a million copycats. What is noble about To Live and Ride in LA isn't the riding, as opposed to Macaframa or MASH, but it falls into the same category of Pedal. It takes on the grand and arduous task of making a documentary of what it means to be a biker in LA. Not just fixed gear, either, for you hipster bashing 29r jocks out there, there are plenty of different kinds of riders displayed. From the suburban raised SoCal street savvy mechanic to the humble brakeless BMXer, this documentary intends to glorify their city through depictions of alleycats, interviews, and wide shots of a smog filled metropolis.Unfortunately, everything feels staged like how most reality TV is. This is the MTV of bike culture, and their attempt at bringing Keo into it could not make this better. Scenes of Keo overlooking the city from a hill or chilling with the locals are not as poetic as Macaframa's slow motion sunset pans. PJ Wiebusch in Macaframa achieves a level of finesse that can only be displayed through careful, slow motion study of his technical skills. Watching Phill Cheng's masterful command of skid positions before completely blowing through San Francisco at top speed is awe inspiring. Nowhere in to Live and Ride in LA is this same feeling. MASH SF's relentless hill bombing is completely raw, you get this sense that there is no fear in their hearts. Instead of living up to their tag line, To Live and Ride in LA is not so much "a film about living fast," but rather slowly. There are dull points. There are uncharismatic interviewers and interviewees. There are wasted words and poorly executed edits. While the goal in mind is commendable, of depicting the community and the vast harshness that is LA, they fall short in many ways.
I rented it in the apple store for 3 dollars, man after 15 minutes I wished I could keep it, its amazing,i have seen a lot of movies like this and this is y favorite, L.A. is a pretty nice city and a lot of other countries will know this thanks to this movie, the ending was pretty cool,something that i honestly didn't expect, also the soundtrack was pretty nice, it fits perfectly with the movie, this made me want to ride my fixed gear right now, and its 1:39 am, I think that would be crazy, right? but anyways, so if you ride a bike, like to see some bike tricks, or just want to see a nice movie, definitely check this one out.