Lords Of Dogtown [DVD]

Drama set in the 1970s where a group of teenage surfers from a tough neighbourhood known as 'Dogtown' in Venice, California pioneer a revolutionary new style of skateboarding. Riding the waves at the Pacific Ocean Park pier, the Z-Boyz, known for their aggressive style and hard street attitude, combine the death-defying moves of surfing with the art of skateboarding and become overnight sensations and local legends. With empty pools as their canvas, the Z-Boyz pave the way to what is now referred to as 'extreme sports', and create a lifestyle that spreads infectiously to become a worldwide counterculture phenomenon. But all of this fame begins to take its toll on the friendships that they thought would last a lifetime, as the sport that started out as an afternoon hobby turns into big business. From .co.uk ----------- Lords of Dogtown captures the sheer kinetic joy of skateboarding like no other movie (except, perhaps, Dogtown and Z-Boys ( /gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Dogtown%20and%20Z%20Boys ) , a documentary about the very skateboarders this movie depicts). Set in the mid-1970s in Venice, CA--a.k.a. Dogtown--the movie starts with three young aspiring surfers turned skateboarders: Stacy (John Robinson, Elephant ( /gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Elephant )), Jay (Emile Hirsch, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys ( /gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=The%20Dangerous%20Lives%20of%20Altar%20Boys )), and Tony (Victor Rasuk, Raising Victor Var ( /gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Raising%20Victor%20Var )). When alpha-stoner Skip (Heath Ledger, A Knight's Tale ( /gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=A%20Knight )) recognizes the potential of skateboarding as a new sport, his surf shop becomes the centre of the boys' universe. They swiftly rise as skateboarding stars and find their brotherhood threatened by sex, money, fame, and ego--it's a common enough story, but director Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen ( /gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Thirteen )) has a gift for capturing the raw messiness of life. Lords of Dogtown seems to unfold haphazardly, yet every scene moves the increasingly dizzy rise (or fall) of each skater forward with headlong momentum. The excellent cast includes Rebecca De Mornay (Risky Business ( /gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Risky%20Business )), Johnny Knoxville (Jackass: The Movie ( /gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Jackass:%20The%20Movie )), and Nikki Reed (Thirteen ( /gp/search?search-alias=dvd&field-keywords=Thirteen )). Lords of Dogtown, written by skater Stacy Peralta (and based on his own life), both celebrates the excitement of testosterone-fuelled recklessness and quietly reflects on the cost of getting what you want. --Bret Fetzer

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