Lords of Dogtown

[pasithea]

Jon's got the right idea. Screw stress, it's movie review time.

Lords of Dogtown is easily the best new movie I've seen so far this year. Okay, granted, I've only watched about 5 movies and they were all mediocre, but still. Maybe I was just in the right headspace for this film or maybe it was just a damn good film but... Letsee. It's gritty. It's got the feel of Suburbia It's not a Hollywood glitz and glammer. They didn't change the story to sell it to the mainstream, and it doesn't have a hollywood happy ending. On the other hand, it didn't sell itself as being 'real, yo' or 'hardc0re'. Like Suburbia, it just was. (Sorry I keep mentioning this old obscure film that probably no one has every seen, it was important to me a long time ago) Anyhow.. Um. Like Jon said. The real problem with this film was that coming out of it, you wanna thrash stuff.

I sold my board in 1994. It was a Santa Cruz board with BlackCat speed wheels and low trucks. Even all bashed up, I got $50 for it when I sold it. Before RetroGirl, I was a skate punk, or at least a poser. (I certainly always called myself a poser at any rate) This movie brought me back into a lust for it, hard.

Earlier in the year I'd been thinking about getting back into surfing. I miss it. I miss skateboarding too, and I live walking distance from a fairly big skate park, no less. Last night we looked around in a shop and .. stuff is a lot cheaper than it used to be, or I have more money now. Not sure which but... I could so afford a good deck. So. Pros and Cons time.

Skateboarding		Surfing
Pros Costs less than $100 Can do almost anywhere Park close to house* Recently did art that would look kickass on a skateboard. Always accessible Skateboard way easier to carry on bicycle +2 to all Cool rolls. Alternate form of transport	Cons Concrete Not as athletic as surfing Cops Still a poser I'm over 30 Makes me talk like a dork	Pros Water Athletic Excuse to go to Santa Cruz Excuse to wear a wetsuit	Cons Costs more than $300 to really start well Glasses Salty Sand Sun/wind burn Depends on tides and waves Cold Long drive to beach Leg cramps Seriously fades hair colour

On the additional pros and cons for both, I'd haveta say that both are Athletic. The kind of surfing/skating I used to do, Surfing is a lot more athletic, but skating is still using a fair bit of energy. Both can also be done rather non-competitively, unlike say Soccer. On the other hand, both detract from art time and time for other projects. Also, what if I get on, do it for a week and then put it aside? Waste of money and all. :/ I know I'm like that a lot. i get pumped on something then when I go to do it, I turn into a total loser. And um.. Hey, this was supposed to be a movie review and no negativity!

So um anyhow.. Skate, Surf, or neither?

Edit: I also wanted to mention some odd thoughts I had about the movie. Like noting that it must be strange for the actors in that they were playing their stunt person in a lot of cases and their stunt double was better known than they were. Also, a lot of the props in the movie were made by the people depicted in the movie.

Comments

[paka.livejournal.com]

Both!

The thing about Lords of Dogtown is that it was gritty without being hopeless. Sure you had the buddies going their separate ways and really not seeing eye to eye, but they still appreciated each other. I'm also realizing that with the music especially they could have tried to play off the whole nostalgia-for-the-seventies thing or they could have done the whole skating-is-cool-let's-pile-on-totally-not-punk-modern crap. Instead of doing either they stuck with less dramatic more thematically appropriate stuff like Pink Floyd.

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I was going to try to say that. I really like how they didn't play the whole 'so nostalgic' or 'skateboarding is cool!' thing. The kids weren't persecuted outcasts. Mainstream wasn't demonized or made fun of, it just was. It was different from them but it wasn't better or worse. Just different.

[paka.livejournal.com]

They were persecuted outcasts, but in the lower case sense. They weren't some Alienated Misfits, they were kids from a poor neighborhood in a country which isn't designed for poor kids.

[frith]

Another important pro for both sides, but especially skateboarding (because it's convenient): 20 minutes of exercise a day is most excellent for physiology and combating depression. For this I say get that board.

En français maintenant! Une autre chose importante à considèrer, surtout par rapport à la planche à roullette (puisque ça se pratique en tout temps): 20 minutes d'exercice par jour est une chose souhaitable car ça fait travailler les muscles et c'est bon pour le morale. A mon avis, vas y, acquéris une planche!

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, totally. I know that. I bicycle at least that much almost every day anyhow. I started doing that as my commute. I've just been meaning to get back into doing something as an actual 'sport' instead of just a mode of transportation. It's got a different feel to it. Soccer and surfing were the two I'd been kicking around but skateboarding is seeming like a better and better option. :)

[captpackrat.livejournal.com]

Some more cons for surfing: Sharks, drowning, wiki tiki monsters, etc. ;)

[apoidea.livejournal.com]

I don't do either, but skateboarding seems like it would be way more convenient and easier to do on a regular basis

[emiofbrie.livejournal.com]

Skateboarding 'liek whut'!!!! ;)

I rollerblade, myself.... :)

[zrath.livejournal.com]

Alors! Choisi la planche a roulette!
Choose the skateboard!

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but just in case I haven't:
My brother and I were avid skateboarders in the late '70s.
He was leader of Team Pickwick, a skating team based in our Northern France
hometown of Lille, and sponsored by a large toy/hobby store called "Pickwick".
We were in numerous competitions and did really well.
My brother had every issue of Skateboard magazine and he had posters of the
Dogtown Z-Boys all over his walls. He pretty much was The French Z-Boy!!
When you see "Lords Of Dogtown", the one my brother is closest to is Stacy Peralta.
He was the middle-class kid with the middle-class girlfriend who had reponsibilities,
and was not quite as bad-boy-ish as his friends.

Recently, the sibling has expressed a desire to resume skateboarding.
Oh boy...

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

No way! That's _SO_ cool! You never mentioned it before! Awsome! Just totally awsome!

The skateboard already did win. I stopped at a place called Fishbank (across from the Skate park, walking distance from my house) the night before last. That night I did a custom grip-tape design, last night and tonight I'm painting the board (and remembering how to do simple stuff like balance on one set of wheels (which, even starting on carpet I'm having a tough time, how embarassing))

Anyhow, as soon as it's done, I'll post a picture of Rag Doll (what I'm calling/theming my new board)

Heehee. Stacey rolled her eyes at me last night because I'm planning to keep fairly low-tech and retro on gear. Like elbow pads==Tube socks with the ends cut out. ;) I'll look like the biggest flaming dork evah but it'll be fun none the less. :)