March 2015 | GLOBAL GRAPHICA

We did a little spring cleaning yesterday at our NYC HQ and discovered a box full old cellphones and gadgets. Pictured below are models of mobile devices spanning the past 12 years. The Razor was a great “feature phone” and a real leap in device design, form factor and aesthetics. The rather simple, little Sony-Ericsson “candy-bar” style phone pictured next to it was an un-sung hero and my favorite phone of the pre-smartphone or “feature phone” era. What’s not pictured here are a couple of other Blackberries, a couple more iPhones (including the iPhone 6 that we took these photos with) and 3 or 4 Japanese DoCoMo / Kyocera / Tukka candy-bar phones we’ve used in the past 20 years.

“Expencive Porno Movie” (sic) is not your ordinary surf film. Directed by Argentine surfer and filmmaker Tin Ojeda and released in 2014, the movie features the to-be-expected great surf sequences by great surfers (the very talented Alex Knost making a couple of lengthy appearances in the flick) and highly original, arty interludes.

But what is so special about this surf film is that it was all shot on actual 16mm film in an experimental retro-style that celebrates — almost to the point of fetish — the low-fi, rough-hewn early 1970’s-era filmmaking style common to low-budget, independent American Blaxploitation, sexploitation and X-rated “adult” films of the period. All sorts of happy accidents that come with using celluloid — light leaks, dust, scratches and other flaws — can be seen in the footage. And the soundtrack is a beautifully curated set of organ-laden R&B, Afro-pop, funk, jazz, and jazz-rock from the era that perfectly matches the film’s aesthetic.

Surfing aside, the movie is a beauty, a true original that has raised the aesthetic bar for the genre. Check out the trailer below and this Wax magazine interview with Ojeda.