Sk8 Or Die

April 29, 2002

I caught a screening of Stacy Peralta’s new documentary on the Zephyr Skate Team tonight, and woohoo, my elementary school was in it. Peralta is one of the original Z-Boys (as well as the organizing force behind the revolutionary skate crew of the 80′s, the Bones Brigade), and the documentary follows them from their roots as surf/skate punks in Dogtown (downtown Santa Monica/Venice) to their later fame and fortune as the sport broke larger and larger.  The film alternately provides a fascinating look at the area and it’s evolution as a West Coast Coney Island into a “seaside slum” during the 1960′s and 70′s.  Of course, today “Dogtown” is a gentrified, yuppie haven (yes, I live about 10 minutes down the street from Dogtown proper).

The documentary staggers a bit towards the end as it begins to wax a bit nostalgic and the skaters start to repeat themselves a bit.  Still, there’s a hell of a lot of fun stuff here, including tons of home film from the era, as well as some brilliant black and white still photography from Craig Friedman.

Posted in Moving Pictures