Optimistic? Review

Within my collection of Absinthe snowboard films 2005’s Futureproof reigned supreme. From Gigi Rüf’s AK opener to DCP and Nicolas Müller’s Japanese pillow parade, with Futureproof the hits kept coming. Now that I have seen Optimistic?, Futureproof may have just been unseated.

While not as focused on fancy film work as last years Pop or some other high profile new releases Optimistic? relies on the progression to happen in front of the lens which in my estimation isn’t happening enough these days. In a year where Mother Nature did her damndest to remove snow from the snowboarding equation, Hostynek and company persevered and produced a winner.

Each season an Absinthe rider seems to rise above the rest on the marquee. With Futureproof it was Müller and with Pop it was Rüf. Anyone who has seen Optimistic? would agree that this film could jokingly be called Sübjekt Wolle. Wolfgang Nyvelt opened the Optimistic? show with an AK stunner that included steeps and multi air lines. Then he heads to Interior BC to take down powder caked trees with all manner of bonk revert madness including a front foot stump plant. You’ll need to see it to not believe it for yourself.

Most of the times when videos strive to infuse a little comic relief into the action it falls short due to it either being contrived or too insider for your average viewer to understand. Optimistic? actually succeeds with its lighthearted sections. Mikey Leblanc’s humor always hits the mark and here he mounts up a toboggan and proceeds to both jump and jib better than anyone should be able to on a heavy, sidecutless sled. MFM takes the tried and true rideby snow spraying to the screen as he lights up one innocent bystander after another. The dude getting sprayed while talking on his cellphone is all time. Of course Marco and Mikey both set down legit tricks as well. Marcos lazy no grab style never gets old and while every urban jibber is either acid dropping to flat or wallride reverting, one of the originators, Mikey Leblanc, can still do both bigger and better than most.

New faces in the lineup this year include Danny Davis, Marco Fleicher, Philip Damianakes, Sylvain Bourbousson, and Hans Ahlund. Each of these Absinthe rookies has not only an abundance of clips but some of the standout shots as well. Marco Fleither in particular airs to a full body check fifteen feet up a Canadian tree. Instead of crumbling from the force Marco immediately pops off effortlessly into a 270 or 360 and stomps it flat. Annie Boulanger also makes an appearance onscreen in Optimistic? and settles the same steeps as the dudes. Annie also pulls a long pillow ride to boot.

Like all Absinthe films, Optimistic? isn’t a quick fix but this movie has virtually no filler. There isn’t even an opening riding montage. If I had to point to clips that could be cut I would have a tough go of it. Simply put Optimistic? is wall to wall off the wall riding. I wonder what Absinthe filmers Justin Hostynek, Patrick Armbruster, Shane Charlebois, and David Vladika and the Absinthe riders could have created had last winter not been so trying.