Dogtown and Z-Boys

I never surfed or skateboarded but I still found this documentary fascinating. I accidentally stumbled on it while channel surfing (not sidewalk surfing) and watched it a second time later in the day. The Z-Boys made me think of the early days of rock and roll when young kids with no formal musical training basically "invented" rock and roll as they went along.. It seems the Z-Boys did the same with skateboarding.

This documentary struck a great emotional chord with me. Just reminded me of what it felt like to be a kid in the 70s trying to figure out who you were. Yeah, the men/women talk about their teenage selves like they were superheroes - but that's exactly how I like to remember those years in my life, too. ;) And I didn't do anything quite as cool as those kids did.

I love this movie because it shows the people and the developing sport of skateboarding as being truly products of their environment. Where you grow up, what you see, and who you hang with - these things create you. It was great to see people looking back on that, acknowledging it, accepting it, and taking pride in it. Yeah, maybe a little too much pride in some cases...

Interesting to see where everyone ended up at the end.

Oh, and a good soundtrack.

I bought the movie and will watch it many times over the years, I'm sure.

I'm sure glad I finally took the time to rent and watch this documentary! It really brings back a lot of fond memories of skateboarding when I was a surfer kid back in the early seventies. Everything in this movie was familiar to me, the surfing, the skating, the names of the skaters, the equipment they were riding. As I watched all these kids ripping and doing the moves we strived so hard to emulate, I could feel the old stoke returning to my veins. Peralta (a great skater himself) really captures the electricity and energy of the time and the place. I'm 47 years old now, but after seeing this movie I'm so fired up I think I may have to get a board and get back out there (wearing a helmet and lots of pads, of course).

A close-up look at the birth of skate board culture in Southern California, Dogtown and Z-Boys has attitude to burn, just like the sport it documents. Directed by Stacy Peralta, one of the legends of the sport, it captures the punk rock spirit of skate boarding, and perfectly places it into context within the boundaries of time (the 1970s) and location (a neighbourhood between Santa Monica and Venice, California). Even if you are not a fan you'll be fascinated by the story, which is told using a combination of narration, stills, great vintage 1970s skate boarding footage and new interviews with all the key players. Sean Penn provides the narration, and adds a flair all of his own. The opposite of stodgy, Penn speaks to the audience not at them, sounding like someone sitting at a bar telling the tale. At one point in mid-sentence he coughs, pauses for a moment and then continues. It's this kind of approach that gives this movie its edge.

If you have ever been, has a friend, or a kid that is or was into skating at one time, then watch this flick!. I have seen it several times and I get something new out of it every time that I see it. It reminded me of why I got into skating in the first place (a long time ago) . It reminded me of what skating brings to a person and I have found will also help a person who doesn't understand why skaters, well, skate. Sure there is a very dark side to the whole seen, which the movie does touch on slightly. But it tends to focus more on what is at the core of skating. Just a person on a board, doing it because they love to do it. This movie was so inspirational to me that I'm now skating once again (I'm 32) and I haven't been this happy with my self in years….. Give this one a go, you will not be disappointed.