Hollywood Wipes Out Again: Knight Rider

In case you missed it last night, the new Knight Rider Episode "Knight of the Iguana" featured some of the kookiest surf moments Hollywood has ever put on film. From shots of Mavericks and Pipe representing Todos Santos, Baja, to Kitt rolling "inconspicuously" with boards strapped to the roof, to "Mike" laying on his board with his legs spread eagle, radioing to Kitt to find out how to stand up as a huge setwave bears down on him.

The dialogue in the show made Johnny Utah's surf-speak in Point Break feel authentic. Here's one of my favorite quotes:

"Seems to me you gotta live life like surfing a wave. Some are big, some are small, but in order to ride any of 'em, you gotta let the wave take you."

"But what if it takes you somewhere you shouldn't go?"

"Heh. Shouldn't is a word that isn't in my vocabulary."

Please, somebody, capture this video on the Knight Rider website before the show gets cancelled. It's an all-time classic to be filed alongside surf gems like:

The North Shore
Point Break
Gidget (TV)
Surf School
Blue Crush
Batman Surfing

If you don't have 45 minutes to devote to the rerun online, you can see the trailer HERE.

The Best Thing About Blogs...

...Is that when you open up a dialog about art, writing, film, etc., people directly involved in the subject matter you're discussing can come and be part of the exchange. I bring this up because I just noticed that author of the new Miki Dora book "All for a Few Perfect Waves" came by and gave his two cents about DiCaprio's involvement in a potential film version of his work. You can read David Rensin's comment HERE under "drensin." Basically, he pointed out that all the actors suggested as alternatives to Leo were valid (even Hedaya...), but that none of those guys offered to buy the script. Leonardo did though, and for that I have to give him credit. It's an amazing story that is ripe for the screen. As I said before, I'm not hating on DiCaprio as a person--I'm just not a huge fan of his acting.

As a matter of fact, since writing the post I've had some interesting debates with some of my most film-buffy friends, many of whom also think Leo can pull off 'Da Cat. I hope so, but until we're actually able to squabble about the movie itself, I'm looking forward to picking up a copy of the book and reading it on my next Mexico trip (in about 27 days and counting...) David, if you're still out there, thanks for stopping by!

The book drops on April 4, 2008. Pick it up at Powell's.


Syd Barrett - Jugband Blues