(no subject)
So, tonight I sat down in the dark with a bit of beer (of course) and a slice of pizza to watch this movie that I've been waiting for... just about forever. I mean no matter your age, if you're under say 40 and a boy (or like me) you were probably involved in skating at some point in your life.
Anyway, this is a documentary about the original Z-Boys from Dogtown. These are the kids that were Tony Hawk's idols. These were the kids that grew up on Venice Beach and literally invented extreme sports.
I was immediatley sucked into this film. It's loose, relaxed and fluid. Narrated by Sean Penn in such a way that you'd think he was just talking about his old pals. Stutters, coughs, everything... but that just makes it seem even more intimate. We start off with the surfers from Venice who started skating after low-tide would hit. It moves on to the younger dudes who really define the lifestyle. These are the guys of legend. Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Stacey Peralta and friends. The Z-boys from Dogtown. The film really captures you and chronicles the whole time period (1970-1980) brilliantly. By focusing on a set of articles written for Skateboard Magazine in the early-mid 70s by Craig Stecyk, the articles came to mythologise both Dogtown and it's Z-boys. You really become entranced at this point.
From the early days of skating in school yards, to the first professional skate competition of the 70s where the Dogtown team simply astounds you with their tricks, you're stuck. Culminating in the great Californian drought in which the boys skated in newly emptied swimming pools -- you simply can't take your eyes off the film. The footage is incredible in it's graininess and the absolute grace that these skaters move. I was particularily impressed by the really early footage of 11-something year old Jay Adams gliding across the pavement, and his performance at that competition where he does things with his board on a completely flat surface that would astound you.
What struck me the most about this film was how well it blended the sort "moment" of skatings early years with social commentary and yet it managed to avoid being heavy handed. The style, the counterculture and change that these kids brought to the pop society, is dealt with off-handedly and matter of factly. That's exactly the way it should have been too. These people weren't really trying to change anything. They were just trying to have fun and push their limits.
The movie is a careful blend of interviews with influential skateboarders, musicians and people who were involved in the scene. It's strange hearing Tony Hawk literally bumbling for words when talking about the admiration he has for Tony Alva, or Ian McKaye gushing about how a few photographs of some dudes skating in a swimming pool changed his life and made him get into music. The most satisfying part of the film was the stock, the stills and the music. The interviews were a good compliment, however, I found that at points the movie was trying to make the legend itself rather than document it. This could have something to do with the fact that Stacey Peralta is the director (he is also one of the main featured skaters and the co-owner of the one of the biggest skate-companies in the world). Finally the typical "where are they now" ending was unnecessary.
Vested interests aside. You really should see this. Those dudes were wearing Vans when they were just boring deck shoes and you were most likely still in the womb. They had more coolness when they were 13 than most of us (myself excluded of course) can imagine to have in a lifetime. See it. Really.
Oh, and it's cool seeing that they had Betty's even back then in the old days. Oh oh! One more thing. After you see this film make sure to write in and tell me how much we wish Venice Beach was still all crazy and mad-max like it was in 1970? It hear it sucks now.
Anyway, this is a documentary about the original Z-Boys from Dogtown. These are the kids that were Tony Hawk's idols. These were the kids that grew up on Venice Beach and literally invented extreme sports.
I was immediatley sucked into this film. It's loose, relaxed and fluid. Narrated by Sean Penn in such a way that you'd think he was just talking about his old pals. Stutters, coughs, everything... but that just makes it seem even more intimate. We start off with the surfers from Venice who started skating after low-tide would hit. It moves on to the younger dudes who really define the lifestyle. These are the guys of legend. Tony Alva, Jay Adams, Stacey Peralta and friends. The Z-boys from Dogtown. The film really captures you and chronicles the whole time period (1970-1980) brilliantly. By focusing on a set of articles written for Skateboard Magazine in the early-mid 70s by Craig Stecyk, the articles came to mythologise both Dogtown and it's Z-boys. You really become entranced at this point.
From the early days of skating in school yards, to the first professional skate competition of the 70s where the Dogtown team simply astounds you with their tricks, you're stuck. Culminating in the great Californian drought in which the boys skated in newly emptied swimming pools -- you simply can't take your eyes off the film. The footage is incredible in it's graininess and the absolute grace that these skaters move. I was particularily impressed by the really early footage of 11-something year old Jay Adams gliding across the pavement, and his performance at that competition where he does things with his board on a completely flat surface that would astound you.
What struck me the most about this film was how well it blended the sort "moment" of skatings early years with social commentary and yet it managed to avoid being heavy handed. The style, the counterculture and change that these kids brought to the pop society, is dealt with off-handedly and matter of factly. That's exactly the way it should have been too. These people weren't really trying to change anything. They were just trying to have fun and push their limits.
The movie is a careful blend of interviews with influential skateboarders, musicians and people who were involved in the scene. It's strange hearing Tony Hawk literally bumbling for words when talking about the admiration he has for Tony Alva, or Ian McKaye gushing about how a few photographs of some dudes skating in a swimming pool changed his life and made him get into music. The most satisfying part of the film was the stock, the stills and the music. The interviews were a good compliment, however, I found that at points the movie was trying to make the legend itself rather than document it. This could have something to do with the fact that Stacey Peralta is the director (he is also one of the main featured skaters and the co-owner of the one of the biggest skate-companies in the world). Finally the typical "where are they now" ending was unnecessary.
Vested interests aside. You really should see this. Those dudes were wearing Vans when they were just boring deck shoes and you were most likely still in the womb. They had more coolness when they were 13 than most of us (myself excluded of course) can imagine to have in a lifetime. See it. Really.
Oh, and it's cool seeing that they had Betty's even back then in the old days. Oh oh! One more thing. After you see this film make sure to write in and tell me how much we wish Venice Beach was still all crazy and mad-max like it was in 1970? It hear it sucks now.