Or is the question, what happened to Larry Linkogle?
October 29, 2009, 4:58 PM
By: Ryan Leyba
Lone Gut Productions
Takin' it back to the old school. X Games Circa ... ?
I just finished watching a screener of Larry Linkogle's new documentary titled, Mind of the Demon: The Larry Linkogle Story. I want to start off by saying that this film holds nothing back in telling the rollercoaster ride that is Linkogle's life. There's no PG action going on here — this is the real deal, true story of an action sports legend and FMX pioneer gone drug-abusing addict.
I really suck at movie reviews, but let me share a few things that really striked a chord with me while watching this film. First off ... What the hell happened to freestyle motocross? Mind of the Demon takes you back to the days when the Metal Mulisha was simply Larry Linkogle, Nathan Fletcher and Trigger Gumm and their mission was to piss off the "frosted tipped," panzy race industry while doing things their own way. I remember this time and honestly, this is one of the things that originally drew me to FMX. The sport used to be so gnarly. The insane freeriding, the baggy pants, the "f--k authority" attitude, the freedom, the drugs, the girls and the overall gnarness.
Mind of the Demon takes you back to that time and shows how Larry Linkogle is more-or-less responsible for pioneering the sport that would later become a huge, worldwide phenomenon. After going back and following the timeline of FMX from the beginning till now, I've realized that we've become the thing we were against in the first place — corporate athletes. I know there are two sides of the coin and everyone needs to get paid, but man ... what happened to that attitude? I miss it. [As I sit in my ESPN cubical].
There is so much more to this film as it documents Link's rise to the top, fall to gutter and now his recent resurrection. I don't want to get too into the details, but this thing is due for some awards. As a matter of fact, Mind of the Demon got accepted into the Bel Air Film Festival and will be showing at 7pm on Sunday, November 15 at the UCLA James Bridges Theatre. (102 East Melnitz Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095) Tickets can be purchased online www.belairfilmfestival.com. Oh, and did I mention that the films narrated by Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister? Gnar.
As far as when the film will be available for purchase, it's still up in the air. I talked to Producer Heather Santora and here's what she had to say about the release:
"We are NOT putting out the DVD in time for Xmas. We are going to do a limited theatrical release starting prob. Feb 2010 through the summer and then the DVD will hit after the X Games."
Oh, and if you don't follow Linkogle on Twitter, you need to get on it — dude posts some classic content. His blog is also pretty damn entertaining as well.
Here's a classic Link photo I got from Lone Gut Productions. Remeber this? So rad...
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Contributors
Ryan Leyba
Leyba is a bitter, retired FMX rider that likes to sit in his cubicle and call the professionals of the sport wussies for not pulling 360s and double backflips. He claims he quit riding FMX before flips were even invented... yeah, right.
Cliff Talley
Making FMX videos exciting is easy. Making them look good is not. Cliff Talley does both of these well and still manages to find enough time to piss off his neighbors with his Travis Barker-esque drum skills.
Chris Tedesco
You've seen his photos on the covers of Transworld, Racer X and more. You've also seen his tequila shooting skills at your local dive bar. Ladies, Chris is single and looking to mingle.
Grant "Goba" O'brien
FMX in Australia wouldn't exist if it weren't for Goba. Well, maybe it would, but it wouldn't be nearly as cool. I don't know why, but we can't quit calling him gobalobadingdong — it just rolls off the tongue.
Tes Sewell
Tes is the dude that's always involved in everything that's going on in FMX. How he does it, we don't know, but that's the reason we hired him to share his plethora of FMX wisdom in the form of a monthly column.
