SEEN ONE 'DOGTOWN,' SEEN 'EM ALL.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic ``Lords of Dogtown'' is basically ``Dogtown and Z-Boys'' with melodrama substituted for self-importance. The feature film about a bunch of trend-setting, ragtag rag·tag adj. 1. Shaggy or unkempt; ragged. 2. Diverse and disorderly in appearance or composition: "They're a small ragtag army of racketeers, bandits, and murderers" SoCal skateboarders is, like Stacy Peralta's 2001 ``Z-Boys'' documentary, at its best when focusing on speed and stunts. Unlike ``Z-Boys,'' though, that's about all ``Lords of Dogtown'' has to offer. ``Lords of Dogtown'' was written by Stacy Peralta Stacy Peralta (born October 15, 1957) is an American director, as well as a former professional skateboarder, team surfer and entrepreneur. He is one of the original Z-Boys. He was born in California. , again romanticizing his skateboarding youth in what has become something of a cottage industry cottage industry: see sweating system. for him. (Peralta co-wrote and directed ``Dogtown and Z-Boys.'') If you've seen the documentary, you've seen this movie, which plays like an episodic collection of highlights from ``Z-Boys'' without the doc's heart. The movie tells the story of how a group of Venice street kids changed the face of skateboarding (and, to some degree, youth) culture in the mid- to late 1970s. The adolescent boys found a home away from their own dysfunctional homes at the Zephyr Zephyr or Zephyrus: see Eos. Shop, a surf store run by Skip Engblom Skip Engblom was one of the co-founders of the Jeff Ho/Zephyr Surf Shop in Santa Monica, California. Engblom helped to create the Zephyr Surf Team and the Zephyr Competition Team, aka Zephyr Skate Team aka Z-Boys. (Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (born April 4, 1979) is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actor. Biography Early life Ledger was born in Perth, Western Australia, the son of Sally Ledger Bell (née Ramshaw),[1] channeling Val Kilmer channeling Jim Morrison). Engblom recruited the best skaters for the Zephyr Team. Among them: hotshot Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk from ``Rasing Victor Vargas), quiet pillar Stacy Peralta (John Robinson, ``Elephant'') and troubled bad-boy innovator Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch). With the introduction of urethane urethane (yoor´ithān´), n ethyl carbamate used as an anesthetic agent for laboratory animals, formerly used as a hypnotic in humans. wheels (``they come from oil - and they grip!'') and the timely SoCal drought that emptied out area swimming pools (giving the boys perfect locales to practice their gravity-defying maneuvers), Zephyr became the be-all-end-all of the skateboarding scene. ``Lords of Dogtown'' follows the rise and inevitable fall of the team, efficiently conveying the events with a flat precision that emphasizes history over character development. Director Catherine Hardwicke (``Thirteen'') does an outstanding job of re-creating the seedy '70s atmosphere (San Pedro subs for Venice; the decaying Pacific Ocean Park Pacific Ocean Park was a twenty-eight acre (110,000 m²), nautical-themed amusement park built on a pier at Santa Monica, California which was intended to compete with Disneyland. "POP," as it was soon nicknamed, was a joint venture between CBS and Santa Anita Park. Pier was re-created at Imperial Beach near San Diego), so much so that you could be forgiven for assuming you were watching archival outtakes from ``Z-Boys.'' Hardwicke also understands the thrilling nature of speed for these kids. (She even employs a point-of-view camera from a skateboard's wheel to convey the rush.) What she and screenwriter Peralta fail to do, though, is show how skateboarding filled a hole in these kids' souls. And since the Z-Boys and their associates are largely ciphers instead of fleshed-out characters, the third-act drama feels like a day at Topanga when the sets are coming in at 1 to 3 feet - flat, dull and uninspiring uninspiring Adjective not likely to make people interested or excited Adj. 1. uninspiring - depressing to the spirit; "a villa of uninspiring design" inspiring - stimulating or exalting to the spirit . Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com LORDS OF DOGTOWN - Two and one half stars (PG-13: drug and alcohol content, sexuality, violence, language) Starring: Emile Hirsch, Heath Ledger, Victor Rasuk, John Robinson. Director: Catherine Hardwicke. Running time: 1 hr. 47 min. Playing: In wide release. In a nutshell: Redundant feature adapted from 2001 doc ``Dogtown and Z-Boys.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Emile Hirsch, left, and Heath Ledger are two of the Venice denizens who help bring Southern California skateboarding culture to the fore in ``Lords of Dogtown.'' |
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