#TOURNOTES: View from a Blue Moon Premiere with John John Florence - Stab Mag

Live Now — Episode 3 Of Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico

330 Views

#TOURNOTES: View from a Blue Moon Premiere with John John Florence

Words by Jake Howard Wandering down Ke Nui Road under the cloak of night can be a dicey proposition. But with the Kam Highway running bumper-to-bumper and excited islanders and foreigners alike making their way through the darkness like wandering Dead-heads, the premiere of View From A Blue Moon was anything but typical. It was a night Hawaii’s been waiting for for three years, maybe forever. And you can thank John Florence for that. As narrator John C. Reily (of Step-Brothers and Gangs of New York fame) so succinctly put it, “Today you can call him John.” When last we saw John premiere a movie it 2013, the title was Done, it was also held on the grass at Sunset Elementary, and toe-head grommets and North Shore strongmen were equally delighted. But besides all the hype and hysteria surrounding View From A Blue Moon, this premiere was different in that this is John’s world now, you’re just living in it. Forget the hyperbole of View From A Blue Moon being the best surf movie of all time, that’s debatable, but what’s undeniable is that with this film John has asserted himself as hands down the best surfer in the world. In fact, no one even comes close. And Hawaii couldn’t be prouder. Big-wave impresarios, pumped up grommets, seven-foot tall Hawaiians, the aina was out in mass. “I’ve seen him grow up and go through this whole evolution, it’s crazy where he’s taking things,” says Jamie O’Brien, who has a big part in the film. “I think my favourite moment in the movie is when he calls me an asshole. It’s done with love, and it’s kind the nature of our relationship. We’ve been neighbors at Pipeline our whole lives.” Asshole or not, John out surfs O’Brien at Pipe, out rotates Filipe Toledo in Brazil, and has more steeze in his straight airs than Bruce Irons. What else do you want? In View From A Blue Moon John’s unbridled talent is clearly the star, but just like his tail whips, there’s an understated casualness to it all. And by dropping of the second John from his name—the credits have him listed as simply John Florence— he’s made it clear that the once-wunder grom is all grown up and he ain’t fucking around anymore. But almost more than the surfing is John and Director Blake Kueny’s cinematic eye. Sure, they were infused with a Hurley (read: Nike) budget, and they got a little production help from Kurt Morgan and the Brain Farm guys (makers of Travis Rice’s The Art of Flight), but this creation is predominantly their vision. “This is all John and Blake’s vision,” said Morgan in an interview a couple months ago. “We offered them some technical help, but the creative vision and what they wanted to capture and how they wanted to tell the story, that’s all them.” So were there any big reveals in the film? Well, did you know John had his pilots license before he had his driver’s license? Or that his boat that they show in the movie his actually his small boat? John’s a man of many talents, but he plays his cards close to his chest, and we love him for it. “I hope you like it,” said John as he introduced his magnum opus. Yes, John, we love it.

cinema // Mar 20, 2016
Words by Stab
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Words by Jake Howard

Wandering down Ke Nui Road under the cloak of night can be a dicey proposition. But with the Kam Highway running bumper-to-bumper and excited islanders and foreigners alike making their way through the darkness like wandering Dead-heads, the premiere of View From A Blue Moon was anything but typical. It was a night Hawaii’s been waiting for for three years, maybe forever. And you can thank John Florence for that.

As narrator John C. Reily (of Step-Brothers and Gangs of New York fame) so succinctly put it, “Today you can call him John.”

When last we saw John premiere a movie it 2013, the title was Done, it was also held on the grass at Sunset Elementary, and toe-head grommets and North Shore strongmen were equally delighted. But besides all the hype and hysteria surrounding View From A Blue Moon, this premiere was different in that this is John’s world now, you’re just living in it.

Forget the hyperbole of View From A Blue Moon being the best surf movie of all time, that’s debatable, but what’s undeniable is that with this film John has asserted himself as hands down the best surfer in the world. In fact, no one even comes close. And Hawaii couldn’t be prouder. Big-wave impresarios, pumped up grommets, seven-foot tall Hawaiians, the aina was out in mass.

“I’ve seen him grow up and go through this whole evolution, it’s crazy where he’s taking things,” says Jamie O’Brien, who has a big part in the film. “I think my favourite moment in the movie is when he calls me an asshole. It’s done with love, and it’s kind the nature of our relationship. We’ve been neighbors at Pipeline our whole lives.”

Asshole or not, John out surfs O’Brien at Pipe, out rotates Filipe Toledo in Brazil, and has more steeze in his straight airs than Bruce Irons. What else do you want? In View From A Blue Moon John’s unbridled talent is clearly the star, but just like his tail whips, there’s an understated casualness to it all. And by dropping of the second John from his name—the credits have him listed as simply John Florence— he’s made it clear that the once-wunder grom is all grown up and he ain’t fucking around anymore.

But almost more than the surfing is John and Director Blake Kueny’s cinematic eye. Sure, they were infused with a Hurley (read: Nike) budget, and they got a little production help from Kurt Morgan and the Brain Farm guys (makers of Travis Rice’s The Art of Flight), but this creation is predominantly their vision.

“This is all John and Blake’s vision,” said Morgan in an interview a couple months ago. “We offered them some technical help, but the creative vision and what they wanted to capture and how they wanted to tell the story, that’s all them.”

So were there any big reveals in the film? Well, did you know John had his pilots license before he had his driver’s license? Or that his boat that they show in the movie his actually his small boat? John’s a man of many talents, but he plays his cards close to his chest, and we love him for it.

“I hope you like it,” said John as he introduced his magnum opus.

Yes, John, we love it.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Correction: J-Bay All Foreplay, No Climax

Slim pickings on Day 1 of the Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025.

Jul 11, 2025

What Do Hollywood, Surf Lessons, Michael Jackson And Traction Pads Have In Common?

A Stab Interview with Teva Dexter, the man behind surfing's hardest new hardware brand —…

Jul 10, 2025

Surf100 Challenge Series Presented By Pacifico: Episode 3

"The tribe has spoken," Dane Reynolds pronounced, and a surfer's torch was snuffed.

Jul 10, 2025

How Josh Ku Nearly Died Trying To Cross From Ulus to G Land by Hydrofoil

“If someone finds me dead at least they can find my phone and know what…

Jul 10, 2025

Expect No Kiss, All Climax At The “World’s Most Perfect Pointbreak”

A Corona Cero Open J-Bay 2025 preview.

Jul 9, 2025

SEOTY: Liam O’Brien stars in ‘Friction of Perception’

"Hopefully I don’t come across like too much of a peanut."

Jul 8, 2025

10 Shapers To Watch In The Next 10 Years — Part One

“It’s like a drug empire, man. Cut the head off the snakes, and more will…

Jul 7, 2025

Mason Ho Joins Ritual Vision, Releases Remix Of Greatest Hits

Dion Agius riffs on the eyewear brand’s U.S. expansion, Ritualistic Tendencies, and the new stars…

Jul 7, 2025

Is It Time For A New Judging Format?

We have a modest proposal — a WSL head judge disagrees.

Jul 7, 2025

Luke Thompson Turns Last Year’s Priority Disaster Into Ballito Gold

+ earns himself a wildcard into Jbay.

Jul 7, 2025

Fiji Has Its First Professional Surfer, And He’s Unbelievable

16-year-old James Kusitino’s incomprehensible tube lounging leads to a deal with Former.

Jul 6, 2025

Laird Hamilton on The Limitations of Being a Purist, Invention vs. Ownership + Why He Never Had a Sticker Deal 

Untold stories from his How Surfers Get Paid interview.

Jul 4, 2025

When Surfer’s Eye Is Actually Cancer

Erin Campbell's brutal journey from surf camp dreams to chemo drops, cryotherapy, and surgical horror.

Jul 3, 2025

Surfing’s 2025 Q2 Report

An assessment of surfing's vital signs throughout the second quarter of 2025.

Jul 2, 2025

What Actually Happened to Occy’s Mad Max Plunger Pool In Yeppoon?

Surf Lakes’ brass talks: internet hecklers, the unplugging of the plunger, and the Tom Curren…

Jul 2, 2025

Poor Goofy Foots 

Data shows that the world is stacked against goofs — they even make 15% less money than…

Jul 1, 2025

Britain’s First Wavepool Has Closed — What Really Happened?

Bankruptcy, social media hackings, debts unpaid — and yet, reopening looms.

Jul 1, 2025

Watch: Was Matt Meola’s Air Actually Better Than Hughie’s?

Watch the full Swatch Nines highlight reel and decide.

Jun 30, 2025
Advertisement