I was looking through some of the DVDs that I have watched during the year (I am compiling a list of my highest rated of the year so I can tell the Academy what is wrong with their nominees etc.) and realized that I watched both of these films a while back and never mentioned them here. Let me correct that.


Dogtown and Z-Boys is the documentary of the Zephyr skating team from the 1970’s that evolved into the skateboarding phenomenon and eventually the X-Games themselves. Stacy Peralta – one of the original Z-Boys – wrote and directed the film and it is obvious he lived this stuff. It is a great history of the skateboarding movement and even manages to involve you with the human interest angle. It rocks.

RATING 8 out of 10


Four years after the documentary, Peralta was back at it – but this time with the dramatized version of the same story. He wrote Lords of Dogtown, but this time handed over the director role to Catherine Hardwicke. If the documentary excited you, the dramatization is really just more of the “good stuff.” Sure, it’s not a groundbreaking film, but when put side by side with the documentary, it is amazing how well they portrayed reality in the film. If like me, you have never found a reason to like Heath Ledger, this one will show you that he really can act.

RATING 8 out of 10