The Lords of Dogtown
A Film Review By Paul Perkins
Grab You Skateboard And Go
There some things in life that I would not do one are go scuba diving I would be afraid I get lost in the middle of the ocean. Two go on a hot air balloon I would be afraid I would crash; last but not least you would not catch me trying to ride a skateboard. I would fall on my but every time I tried to.
But Skateboarding is very popular sports among male and some females and to be honest it is not an easy sport esp. when you start to do death defining stunts. So Hollywood loves to make sports movie and if it base on a true story they love it more. This week we get honor with two sports movie that base on actually events in history.
The tough, gritty streets of “Dogtown” in Venice, California didn’t look like much to outsiders, but to a handful of teenage surfers (Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva and Jay Adams) in the 1970s they were the hard, winding, sloping inspiration for a revolutionary style of skateboarding. Transferring the aggressive wave-riding moves to concrete from their death-defying surfing skills at the Pacific Ocean Park pier, the Z-Boys – mostly kids with rough home lives and rougher attitudes – became sensations, local legends.
They were freestyle wizards on urethane wheels, turning empty pools into arenas of wild, beautiful athleticism, the genesis of today’s “extreme sports.” Skating competitions didn’t know what to make of them, girls threw themselves at them, and suddenly marketers and promoters wanted to grab a piece of them and what was fast becoming a worldwide counterculture phenomenon. But would the friendships of this tightly knit group last as a teenage pastime turned into big business, and energetic personalities became out-of-control celebrities?
I am no sports fan I do not watching any type of sports on TV. The only thing I like is Professional Wrestling which is sport entertainment. But lately I have got second thoughts because of some great sports movies that came out lately. Last Year was Million Dollar Baby which was outstanding and will be available on DVD in July. And the other movie that came out this week that our Critic Clyde Ayles have seen and loved called Cinderella Man. I have not seen it yet but am planning to see it this week.
The Lords of Dogtown had some skateboarding shots and stunts and the story kept me interested from start to finish, the film did not drag at all and kept it pace. This is a film that of course hard core Skate fans will like because they can relate to the stunts and the movies and the cool colors of the skateboards. But people like me who never got into the sport will like it just as much as the die hard fans of the sport.
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© 2005 Paul Perkins