Each August 14th a handful of pop-culture nerds, movie fans and surf tragics celebrate The North Shore – that one movie about wave pool surfer Rick Kane who makes it to Hawaii.
As the plot goes, Arizona resident Rick Kane (Matt Adler) uses his wave pool contest winnings to fly to Hawaii, hoping to become a pro surfer. He struggles, gains a mentor, a friend named Turtle (played by John Philbin) and in the process gets to rub mullets with Occy, Robbie Page, Derek Ho and other of-the-era pros.
This 1987 Universal Pictures film which debuted to scattered applause and anemic box office sales, has over the years become a cult classic with a global following thanks to its VHS, cable, and DVD releases.
“What Universal Pictures didn’t realize, is that it far from tanked in the wide eyes of hundreds of thousands of young people who found it captivating, inspiring, hilarious and just straight up unreal,” said the Listen2Turtle brand in a social media post. “(People are) exchanging favorite one-liners with their friends and family…naming their kids and pets after their favorite characters, and even inspiring some fans to surf, to shape, to dream big and to keep the stoke.”
Recently, actors Matt Adler and John Philbin hit Waco Texas for a special film showing, audience Q&A and surf sessions.
The Waco Indie Film Fest screened North Shore at Texas Music Cafe in downtown Waco. Matt Adler and John Philbin appeared on stage with Waco Surf’s David Taylor and Mike Schwaab to answer questions from the audience. The following evening featured a poster signing on the Baylor Campus.
But the main lure for the duo was the nearby wave pool.
“They surfed, like 3-5 sessions per day between private and public, and I think they jumped into a few staff sessions,” said Amy Hunt of Waco Surf. “I’ve never seen two dudes THAT tired when leaving property.”
