Last night I drove to Beverly Hills for a surf movie premiere. Feels good to say that. I hadn’t been to a big surf premiere like this since Kai Neville rolled out Cluster in 2015 and my mom and dad sat next to Anthony Kiedis at the Ace Theater in Downtown LA. We got the stars of wave and screen and skating and music out for that one and I definitely got a room and definitely extended my stay to see Patti Smith play the following night on the same stage Creed McTaggart spilled an entire gallon of beer during a botched chugging attempt. While there have been plenty of surf movie premieres since (and I love each and every one of them, no matter the scale), not many transcend beyond La Paloma and go on to attract the super rockstars, testing our barometer for mass consumption — at least not like they used to (yeah, 50 Cent played a premiere for the original Trilogy in Las Vegas). That moment peaked for surfing and seems to have been diluted by the mega-famous and mega-funded and mega-hot being more interested in reality show wave pool invites than surf movies on the big screen. I think it's time for that to change. We got more to offer than Lemoore, CA.

I know this all sounds a little shallow — and I’ve read some of your reviews of the film and understand your concerns (Trilogy: New Wave = Megalopolis, took too long, cost too much, there’s no story, etc.) but let’s remember that's what blockbuster movies are for. They are something that fires us up one way or another. That feeling, that passion is what it’s all about. I’ll never forget the roar in the Ace when Noa Deane stomped that bomb drop in Cluster. And I’d rather we throw some popcorn at the screen in disgust of the ones we don’t like than not have them at all. Blockbuster surf films keep us feisty.

Last night’s premiere of Trilogy: New Wave by Andy Mackenzie is the warning shot we needed. The film will either go down as the starting gun for a new run of blockbuster surf cinema or flame out, sending the surf movie to live in perpetual hangover and this becomes our last dance. Please don’t let it be the latter. We have so much more to give.

I do have to tell you about the unexpected electric feel I got coming around the dark corner last night, with zero expectations, to a marquee reading Trilogy: New Wave illuminated over the flashbulbs of a firing step-and-repeat flooded with surf stars, movie stars, IG stars and beautiful people spilling all over the sidewalk. I also got way more nervous because I was scheduled to host the panel with director Andy, plus surfers Seth Moniz, Ethan Ewing and Griffin Colapinto afterward. Things had escalated quickly.

My nerves weren’t anything a couple light beers couldn’t quell, but wow, this was a treat. After shaking hands with attractive, fit, excited surf fan after excited surf fan, and a few of our favorite liabilities (we all need ‘em) chugged and spilled foamy beers on the paisley lobby carpet, we took our seats with full tubs of popcorn, fresh beers and enjoyed a surf movie loud and large. Regardless what your analytical review of the film is, damn it was good to be back yelling at the screen together, hooting for pits and spilling beer on pseudocelebrities. Let’s do it again real soon, my treat.—Travis Ferré

[Above Photo: Grant Ellis]