gorilla flicks

last call: the 2017 gorilla flicks holiday party

This year, like every other for the past three to be precise, Tremaine locks down a location and rounds us all up from our various corners of the universe for a family-style night of drinks, food, and fun—the pinnacle of fun being a certain "White Elephant" gift exchange game that has only grown and amped up in energy over time. Catch LA was the restaurant of choice, and they wisely provided us with a room and bar all unto our own, thereby minimizing any collateral damage to other patrons of more intimate, eating minds and tolerances. But look at the photos, look at the silly little photos, and have yourself a good one this holiday season!

Please make note how all the photos are nicely composed and well lit, because it's not going to last long. This was still early in the evening, so Barry Smoler and Jen look pretty in black at far left; middlemen Wee-Man and Chris Pontius could be Dasher and Dancer; and Wayne and Shanna Newton came totally correct in their very formal party attire at very far right.

And it just wouldn't be a big time Hollywood night if Tremaine wasn't taking a call, so Sean Cliver and Mae Quijada adapted to the moment in kind at left, while Rick Kosick at right later caught him off the phone and in a shirt bearing his bang-a-gong likeness from jackass the movie!

Once the food hit the table, so did the people. At far left, Shad reflects upon his life choices and the watershed of reasons he doesn't allow people to comment on his Instagram profile, while Guch remains the eternal sage; Joe Oz ran the middle of the table in pitch perfect 1st AD form, while his next door neighbor David Siev made sure all the strings were orchestrated behind the scenes and running smooth, just as he does at the office; and then of course Amanda Adelson had to tell everyone to "Go To 15" via sign language amid an animated Spike Jonze, a bemused Kosick, and a confused Tremaine at far right.

Shanna and Spike eventually managed to coerce Amanda into not doing something unladylike for a photo at far left, while Lucky Pierre's Johnny Knoxville and Sean Cliver went the complete opposite direction. Wee-Man, on the other hand, grabbed the bull by the beef and filled his stomach accordingly at far right.

And so we finally arrive at the "White Elephant" game of thrills, where Dimitry Elyashkevich arguably came up on one of the true premiums of the night, a coveted #MAGA hat, at far left; or, did Shanna score the score of scores in the middle with Spike's original drawing of "Jeff and PJ Forever"? No, it was definitely Tremaine at far right who locked up the prize possession with some cockamamie if not outright disturbing Edward Scissorhands-esque straightjacket fresh off the racks of Hot fucking Topic.

Thanks again to Tremaine and Shanna for throwing down for the night of extended family fun. Thanks also to Kosick, Wee-Man, and Mae for having the presence of mind and wherewithal to take photos amid the revelry!

last call: the dumb screening at cinefamily

In Los Angeles. Last Friday. And Saturday, actually, but that was more of a public affair, whereas the previous night was the VIP extravaganza (with an extra helping of the vaganza). Anyway, as always, here is a smorgasbord of people photos to pick through and feast upon, kind of like the fried macaroni and cheese balls that Cinefamily served up as eventide whore dervz… or hors d'oeuvres, I suppose, if you want to get all fancy-pants about it.

Dumb: The Story of Big Brother Magazine has since launched on Hulu and can be streamed on-demand in the privacy of your own home. Please be aware that this documentary features lots and lots of naughtiness, defecation, and full-frontal nudity—male full-frontal nudity—so maybe take Jeremy Klein's advice and not watch it with your mother. Historically speaking, Big Brother has never fared so well with the parental types.

Thanks again to Cinefamily and Hulu for pulling out all the stops on this West Coast event! Now on with the faces and traditionally dumb captions.

Left to right: Giovanni Reda may have wound up on the cutting room floor, but he was nominated to be the moderator of the post-screening Q&A; Johnny Knoxville was fresh off the boat from filming in South Africa; The Q&A panel consisted of almost all the mag's former staff, sans Chris Nieratko.

Left to right: Bret "Scan Boy" Banta with his twin-ish brother Bayard; Aaron "King of All Skate Nerds" with Mother Fuckin' David Deery; The Mansfield audio dudes.

Left to right: Rick Kosick curated a photography and ephemera show for the Cinefamily patio gallery; Keith "Blind Date" Hufnagel; Dave Carnie, Marc McKee, and Dimitry Elyashkevich anchored the left-side of the Q&A shitshow.

Left to right: Heather Lee Jones is now Heather Lee Dixon after getting hitched to Kenny; The one and only Earl Parker with Scott Manning, Jason Jessee, and the Carn Carn; Shanna Zablow Newton with the time zone-punched Chris Pontius.

Left to right: Longtime Dickhouse and Gorilla Flicks men Matt Kosinski, Barry Smoler, Seth Casriel, and Mike Kassak; Loomis Fall poses beside an original Wee-Man photo from 1995; Andy Roy did not have to goggle Dumb director Patrick O'Dell after all.

Left to right: Lionel Boyce makes a dwarf of Jeff Tremaine; Proud pee-er Kendra Gaeta and the barely present yet still accounted for Sean Cliver; The Beastie Boys were there! No, no they weren't. That's just Matt Probst and Josh Lingenfelter.

Left to right: Jason Shelton, Jason Searcy, and Bill "Not a Jason" Weiss; Duh, obviously; Photographer Tobin Yelland, artist Chad Muska, and musician Dave Roen cover all the creative bases.

(Photos by Rick Kosick and Jennica Abrams; courtesy of Cinefamily)

last call: the dumb big brother premiere at tribeca

I don't think any of us ever imagined a documentary about Big Brother skateboard magazine would find its wayward way into a film festival, but by god it did! The Tribeca film festival no less. So it was with great grandeur and a little red carpet that several of us (and Tony Hawk!) kicked Dumb: The Story of Big Brother Magazine into the spotlight at New York City on Thursday, April 27th. A jam-packed Q&A session followed the premiere, during which time questions were asked, some were answered, and a brief but ludicrous debate ensued regarding the metal talents of Dio versus that of Ozzy in Black Sabbath.

Unfortunately the formal after-party will not go down in history as a legendary Big Brother shit show, as so many have in the past, so there are no new tales to tell of tallied up damages. Several more screenings and Q&As followed in the days after, but now the documentary is back in the can until the wide release happens June 3rd on Hulu.

Photos left to right: Tony Hawk was always a good friend to the magazine and he proved it once again by happily talking us up on the red carpet; And here Tony proves yet again how good of a sport he is by making ridiculous poses for a press feature on the premiere; Oddly enough, and appropriately enough, Dimitry Elyashkevich was the only one to wear Dave Carnie's signature pro model DC Shoes shoes.

Photos left to right: The Q&A session that followed the premiere was not the shit show it was widely anticipated to be. Rick Kosick was the monkey in the middle of all 10 dudes with varying levels of hair gel or loss at play.

Photos left to right: Dimitry poses with Alex Corcoran, a staple feature of the New York skate scene; Fun fact: Brendan Canty, the drummer of Fugazi, did the original scoring for the Dumb documentary, and he's shown here interlocked with Supervising Post-Producer Volney Howard IV; Assistant editor Lacey Reilly and Associate Producer Lizbeth Gonzalez hang tough with Director Patrick O'dell of Epicly Later'd fame.

Photos left to right: Former Big Brother editors Dave Carnie and Chri$ Nieratko; Steve-O was perhaps the most handsomely dressed dude of the night; Travis Pastrana and Lyn-z Pastrana made an East Coast leap to attend the event and sit beside the right arm of Gorilla Flicks, Shanna Zablow Newton.

Photos left to right: Former Big Brother editor Sean Cliver with fiancee Donna Stack; Former Big Brother art/editorial director Jeff Tremaine with wife Laura; Scene-stealer and maker Atiba Jefferson with the man who was pretty in pink, Steve-O.

Photos left to right: Portrait of a man asking a question at the post-premiere Q&A; Matt Deis, Jess Margera, Brandon Novak, and Raab Himself brought an air of CKY ambience to the affair; Can you spot Rick Kosick in this photo from the world famous bathrooms of Max Fish?

(Photos by Rick Kosick, Donna Stack, and Sean Cliver; 2017)

endless summer: the 2016 wake-surf safari

What does summertime mean to you? It could be many things, I suppose, like enjoying time off barbecuing with family and friends, going on a fancy European vacation, swimming at the pubic pool, taking a nap on a hammock in your backyard, camping in the wilderness, riding bikes, hanging out at the beach and sitting around a fire pit... the ideas are endless. Now that it’s winter, though, I’ve been thinking about the time I spent this past summer with Jeff Tremaine at his lake house. Wee-Man and I met up there with one of our other work colleagues, Shanna, and we all had blowout weekend wake-surfing until our legs fell off—and then we surfed even more. I mean, what can I say, it was a lot of fun hanging out on a boat, relaxing and watching my friends shred on a little surfboard. Especially Wee-Man, because he caught the longest rides and had the best style. That’s why I took the time to shoot this video, so we can remember our "endless summer" of 2016. —Rick Kosick

last call: swerved season two wrap party

The phrase "all good things must come to an end" never rings truer than it does in Hollywood, where every production does indeed run its course in a fast, furious, and fun as hell fashion. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is always a wrap party—provided there's any gold left in the pot—and this one for the second season of Swerved took place at Mr. Furley's in Sherman Oaks, aka The Valley.

Left to right: Game, set, and match with Tremaine, Race Car Willie, and Producer Guy Barry Smoler; Set stalwart Jon Dockery and his significant other; The first and only AD Joe Oz and his clan over the rainbow.

Left to right: Play name that theme with Lacey! First, she plays the smoked ham to bread slices Charlene Weiss and Atousa Hojatpnah; Then she takes up a bookend position opposite Taryn "Hello Junior" Thordarson with Holly "The Defector" Bertelsen as the fierce Lucky Pierre; Lastly, Lacested posts up with Charlene and new kid on the Gorilla Flicks block Lizbeth Gonzales.

Left to right: Prank stunt woman Carly Adams, Race Car Willie, and Director Ben Pluimer; Editors Matthew Probst and Scott Simmons go ape with Tremaine; Faces that you've already seen but just not so handsy as here.

Left to right: Ryan Nemeth does his darndest to try and convince Barry to buy one of his Hardbody fitness books; Field Producer Allie Floering and Production Coordinator Kasey Bates with a friend of petite proportions; Executive Producer Shanna Zablow and the man who took all of these photos except this one, Rick Kosick.

Left to right: New intern in the troop Dalton Dondero and new Holly at the desk David Siev; Lionel Boyce and Shanna na na; SPFFs John Earnest and Charlene, who just so happens to be in the next photo as well with editor dudes Matt Kosinski and Stephan "Gentleman of the Evening" Olsen.

last call: the swerved wrap party

There's no new Swerved on the WWE Network tonight (next episode airs Monday, August 10th), but there was plenty of swerving to be seen this past Saturday night in a certain suite of the Staples Center during the WWE Live event in downtown Los Angeles. The following potpourri of photos will tell one side of the story, the other side being too sloppy to recall due to unfortunate life choices made in the heat of an open bar moment. That being said, on with the selective show and tell! 

being evel: sundance film festival photo potpourri

All last week we bombarded our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds with images and links linked to the premiere of Being Evel at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. The documentary was collaborated on and produced by HeLo and Dickhouse, with Tremaine, Johnny Knoxville, and Mat Hoffman being the main men beneath the 'bow of many colors, and Daniel Junge in the director's chair, so everyone came together in Utah the weekend of January 23-25 to whoop it up and debut the flick in style. Here's the resulting scrapbook of iPhone photos:

Photos clockwise from upper left: Mat 'n' Jeff in the tent with authentic Evel Knievel memorabilia; A daredevil bathtub feat performed by Tremaine with Justin Moore-Lewy from HeLo; Tremaine goes off on a virtual trip a la Birdman; Johnny Knoxville takes the podium at the Being Evel premiere with Evel's Wembley Stadium helmet.

last call: the gorilla flicks holiday dinner

Continuing on in a merry party pic tradition started in what now feels like a whole other galaxy a whole long time ago, we're proud (or whatever) to present a "Last Call" serving of shots from our close-knit holiday dinner party hosted this past Wednesday night at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills. Fortunately Tremaine locked down a private room for us so we could all happily drink and loudly cuss to our collective heart's content (mostly for Holly's benefit, though she'll likely declaim otherwise). Be forewarned, these are not Kodak moments. These are  iPhone pops—the equivalent of which to a professional wedding or party photographer suffering from chronic grand mal seizures—and the lighting was subdued at best for hues at their worst. That said, let's rock!

a humble request for a sharpie sponsorship

I may not have learned much of anything in this lifetime, but what little I have is that it is of utmost importance to find a solid sponsorship in connection to anything you love. And if there's one thing we absolutely love at GORILLAFLICKS it's the awesomeness of a Sharpie, which we almost always have a need for both at work and play—specifically speaking when we're on the road, of course, because it's simply not unusual for us to go out at night with at least two on hand and in pocket.

skylanders trap team: capture evil, unleash prank!

In the ongoing saga of hidden camera commercials directed by Jeff Tremaine, here is his latest: a spot for Skylanders Trap Team, featuring the added voice and comedic talent of Adam Carolla, with a behind-the-scenes set-up by El Hefe Himself. And though you don't see them in the video proper, Miss Shanna and Miss Amanda posed as store employees for all rosey ruse purposes—selfied as such above in the lower left position—and for that they shall be archived here for GORILLAFLICKS posterity.