Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)

Very best movie i ever watch

Strong and Moving!

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Been looking for films to watch with my teen boys, and this was on my list and then a lot of friends agreed it would be a winner. Definitely was, even though my kids are not at all into skateboarding by any stretch.The film is well set-up (who knew that Venice was indeed meant to echo the canals of Italy, not me) and thanks to Craig Stecyk's instincts to document so much of the history as it was happening, really has a time-travel you-are-there flair.The scene at the '75 Del Mar skateboarding contest where Z-Boys make their debut and lead by the youngest, and arguably wildest, skater is just a triumphant moment for teens in general. It's that shattering of the boring archetype that should be encourage even by those of us sitting on our archetypes.And the detailed character studies are also quite engrossing in and of themselves, that classic "sell-out" mentality versus needing to make a living and might as well as be you profiting from the revolution that quickly becomes packaged. Usually I think of this in musical notes, but skateboarding nailed it here.And surely music was involved, my wife I think was drawn to join us based upon the mix-tape soundtrack. (And it pleased one of my boys who has bumped into Bowie sadly posthumously, to spot so many slices of said Thin White Duke.). I do have to say that it was Devo's "Gut Feeling" that was used to do a lot of the heavy lifting in the DVD packaging, so there with Hendrix, Led Zep, Bowie, and Iggy are the Spud boys?!?! It is a helluva riff! E-G-C-A! The lone female skater doesn't get too much focus, but perhaps preferably for her is just tossed in with the boys. Even though I think she was the only one who won at that contest that is a key moment in the film. The swimming pool scenario, and this notion of the rich dying kid wanting to share his love of skateboarding with the ne'er-do-well stars of the burgeoning sport, again just a small but significant piece of the story. Really that sets up the almost astronaut-launch that is just delivered in the film as good as any car chase in a boilerplate action film.The tone of the filmmakers is reverential, and moments like that are mythic, but then the interviewees are largely such "dudes" (in the best possible sense...and yes even Peggy Oki) that it makes for a fascinating watch.RIP several of them since the original release. It was interesting how the film created a dark aura around Jay Adams. Was he the most pure and the most corrupt character? Well they focus on the former but hint at trouble beyond the weed (later I read something about a bar fight not sure about all the details on that).For me it was great that my boys enjoyed the film, and got an appreciation for all of the skaters, but especially Adams who would have been a kid they might have ignored (or not gotten along well with) in school, but to see his side of the story, not just the flamboyant burst at that contest....but even later his commitment to just the excitement of skateboarding just for that excitement's sake. That got their wheels spinning I think.My wheels are spinning on whether this film is taught in modern-day film courses on documentaries? Or is it too much of a labor of love from an outsider. But wait, is that the point of the film?

Documentary looking back at the influential role that the Zephyr surfing group had on the development of skateboarding as more than just a passing fade and the effect they had on shaping and defining the skating world and culture.It seems a bit petty to point out but it is hard to watch this film without the little voice in my head reminding me that this film was made by the very people it is about. I'm not paralleling the two but imagine I made a film about the impact on IMDb culture of user "bob the moo" and had people I know gush about me and them. Now before you start sending me abuse please read on because I am not saying the two are the same – just that you need to keep in mine that this is about the same people who made it. The difference between this and me doing my own is staggering though. Firstly the fact is that this group did have influence and cultural importance and so what if it is some of their own that ending up making the film – somebody was going to so why not them. Anyway the other main difference is that this film is actually very good as it moves slickly through the period, capturing the essence of the lives as I goes.The film benefits greatly from having a huge amount of film and photographs of the people so that we are not just hearing about abstract memories but actually seeing them for ourselves. The editing is quite intense at time but it suits the people and the period as it is rather freewheeling and disrespectful towards convention. It also benefits from having almost all the protagonists as the contributors rather than having celebs who were aware of the action etc and don't have much of value to say. The only film star involved is Sean Penn, who narrates the film with a rather dull tone of voice and a script that is a bit too heavy for its own good; it is sparingly used though and at one point he stumbles over a word and it is left in – which I thought was a nice touch and suited the style of everything else.Overall then this is an interesting and energetic documentary. I'm not a surfer or a skater but yet I found it totally engaging, which speaks volumes about the quality of the material , the delivery and the total structure of the film. Well worth a look as it is fun and informative.

One may need an acquired taste to sit through this movie. Just like one needs to love beer to be an alcoholic. It doesn't make it any less interesting, just tough to get to grips with.Shot in TV-style documentary, it is odd this should get a theatrical release, but who cares? The movie is about a Seventies ghetto neighbourhood in L.A. and how kids turn the ruins of past architectural mistakes into something useful...for them.There are burnt down piers to surf through, concrete basins to skateboard in and empty pools to seize and claim for themselves. The kids are almost tribal in nature, sharing hatred towards outsiders, never splitting up and helping each other out. They have nothing in their life but skating and surfing, no future or plans.Chance comes in the form of skateboard competitions and some of the kids are catapulted to fame, while others make wrong choices and turn to drugs and partying.And that's about it, really, but it does hold your attention for 90 minutes. All the documentary clichés are here. Rapid fire cuts, grainy black-and-white shots when interviewing people and a gazillion Seventies tracks. But with such an elitist subject matter, this kind of film-making is essential to make the movie appeal to the masses, or, at least, smaller groups of people.No doubt, Trouble TV-watching, baggy pants, text message generation, middle class kids, trying to be street, will love it. Me? I say it's good to watch once, to help understand an unavoidable culture.

I must say that this has to be the best documentary I have ever seen in my life. I first say the movie at my friends house, and didn't get a chance to finish watching it. From that point on, I spent my free time trying to find the movie. I never found it, but on my birthday, my friend who knew I had the hardest time finding the movie,got it for me as present. Sean Penn does a great job of narrating the documentary. I loved how it told the story of each of the Z-Boys and the history of Dogtown. I have been to Venice and the surrounding area many times, and had never known what had taken place, until I saw the documentary. I didn't get a chance to see the actual movie, and I heard it was nowhere near what the documentary was. I don't know if I actually want to see the movie, but who knows.