Dogtown And Z-Boys (DVD)

...the run down area of Dogtown - this is where it all began - the "cool" white scene , and it is revealed that skateboarding developed from this very surfing culture in Dogtown.Surfboard designer and builder Jeff Ho has a shop nearby and is a bit of a "buddy " to the young crew.

By the time we learn all this , which is fairly early on in the DVD, we're totally hooked !

The documentary show s us the ...
...must - see documentary - Dogtown and Z-boys really highlighted at the Sundance Film Festival , winning both the Best Director and the Audience Awards as well as winning the Audience Award at the AFI Film Festival and taking the Independent Spirit Award for the Best Documentary.

The film was produced by Agi Orsi while Director of Photography was Peter Pilafian.

An atmospheric soundtrack really helps get you in the mood ... more

For any of you who are remotely into skateboarding, whether doing, watching or both, or even if someone in your family or network of friends is into it, this is one to watch if you want to "know what the fuss is all about !"

The movie charts the rise of the skateboarding phenomenon, fast becoming one of the world's most popular sports in terms of the numbers who take part.

It all began in Santa Monica, California. We are treated to some rare historical footage of the area itself when it was promoted as the American Venice, complete with canals, back in the 19th century - how Gee !

The area gradually became"uneconomically viable"
and sort of run down , and the movie moves on to the 60's and the rise of surfing as the one and only pusuit and love of the youth culture from the run down area of Dogtown - this is where it all began - the "cool" white scene , and it is revealed that skateboarding developed from this very surfing culture in Dogtown.Surfboard designer and builder Jeff Ho has a shop nearby and is a bit of a "buddy " to the young crew.

By the time we learn all this , which is fairly early on in the DVD, we're totally hooked !

The documentary show s us the lives of the Z-boys ( the Zephyr sakateboarding team) who spend their days surfing at Ocean Park Pier , a broken - down amusement park ( a la Atlantic City only smaller and warmer ) now known as "Dogtown".

This is a particularly dangerous part of the beach , surrounded by a jetty on either side which made showing your chops a rather dangerous business. Their part of the beach is defended quite ferociously - should any out - of - towner gooks be foolish enough to find their way there , this would be heralded by a barrage of rocks - we're talking boulders here and not Colorado - and we're talking force. So much of the time the Z's have the beach to themselves!

The documentary , superbly narrated by the man himself - Sean Penn - is there anything this guy doesn't do ? hey - not that - very funny - well , would you ? - throws an interesting light on a fascinating period in the development of youth culture.Up till then the coolest things to be associated with , apart from a boyfriend/girlfriend that is !were yo-yo's , hula - hoops or roller -skates.

The film shows us that the guys find themselves very bored during the few winter months when they can't surf ( think Scotland in reverse) until someone comes up with the idea to
take the wheels off a pair of roller-skates and attach them to a piece of flat wood. Ugh ! Fire.. Ugh! Wheel. ..Ugh! Skateboard.
The History of the World Part One.

Seriously , though , the way the material is treated makes you feel that you're an intimate part ( not that one, you fool !) of this crucial moment in the emergence of what is now a sport / way of life we take for granted. This is helped , I'm sure , by the sure and experienced eye of the Director , Stacy Peralta , ex Z-boy and now world - famous skateboarding legend.

The thing that really got me was realising that skateboarding really was an attempt at creating surfing on dry land , and it's almost quite natural to see these fathers of skateboarding showing their surfstar "katas" on wheels - going from gods of the surf to gods of the concrete and turf .

Jay Adams and Tony Alva are the guys who really stand out with Jay translating his top man status from the one discipline to the other.

One of the best bits in the film is when the Z-boys enter a competition some time after the sport began to catch on
(though we're still tallking 70's here). The guys do their stuff and blow everyone else's minds with the things they can do - I 'll leave you to see the rather strange result for yourself.

As time goes on , finding places to skate becomes more and more difficult as places become out -of -bounds / off -limits,
so our guys take to commandeering the local swimming - pools while the owners are on vacation ( imagine finding one in your laundry basket !). Some superbly seamless editing by Paul Crowder of mounds of original footage shows us big - airs and ollies being born there and then - it's superb - you must see it - it's what Bill Haley did with rock and roll for the previous generation - acted as a catalyst to release the " teen spirit ".

Original photographs taken by Z- boy photographers Craig Stacyk and Glen E. Friedman make an astounding and valuable contribution to the material displayed in this documentary.

We also see how the guys lives evolved later on courtesy of some excellent one-to one interviews - I won't spoil this for you
(What do you mean "You might as well - you've ------ the rest of it
come on guys !)

This is a must - see documentary - Dogtown and Z-boys really highlighted at the Sundance Film Festival , winning both the Best Director and the Audience Awards as well as winning the Audience Award at the AFI Film Festival and taking the Independent Spirit Award for the Best Documentary.

The film was produced by Agi Orsi while Director of Photography was Peter Pilafian.

An atmospheric soundtrack really helps get you in the mood for this definitive landmark in skateboarding biography , featuring a range of punk/heavy metal which somehow underlines the messages being conveyed.l

Tony Alva , as many of you may already know , went on to become a world famous skateboarding legend. Some rare footage of someone alse you will have heard of - Tony Hawks - also features.

For my money , however , the King of Cool , the guy who could be anyone's hero , is Jay - he's the man - it's worth watching just for him ! At £5.03 , it's a snip.

There was also a movie released about these very guys , directed by Catherine Hardwicke, called Lords of Dogtown , in 2004.

But hey - this one's is no fake , Ollie !

 

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