Half Moon Bay

El Niño's recent storms caused big waves at Half Moon Bay, a popular surf-boarding spot in northern California and--far-out dude--surf was up! Some of these waves had 25' swells, 50'-60' falls at 17 second intervals, and were purportedly the largest ride-able waves in the world. Look, I've seen Endless Summer; I've been on surfboards in San Diego and on Guam; I've hung ten and can be just as cool as the next surfer-chick but what I saw here was an endless video loop of little black dots (grown men with names like Flea and Skindog and Barney) riding big gray waves and white foam while Beethoven's Ninth or some other wildtrack (the technical term for a soundtrack which doesn't match the film) played in the background. The camerawork was home video quality and consistently too far away from its subject for any personal identification or meaning, interviews with the surfers were less than insightful, and aside from having no story angle (there was some mention of a $50,000 competition for the biggest wave catcher, but that was never made clear), the program sported long stretches of utter sameness. In a word: a wipeout. Not recommended. Aud: P. (N. Plympton)