As Himself

Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001)
directed by Stacy Peralta
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix

There's so much good footage here, all anchored by that black and white shot of the Zephyr gang in t-shirts, jeans, and kid hair for miles. And it's obviously a great story - youth and the grace of empty backyard swims. You could argue that, since this is the story Peralta and Craig Stecyk decided to tell - since Dogtown is the way they convey the images, the photos, the history they have - that the MTV Cribs-style pace and organization don't matter. That this is Peralta's story, to tell as he chooses. And it's nice to hear the joy these men still have for the people they were. But means have to count for something, and it's hard not to wonder what someone else could have done with those Super 8s. Like the "Love in Vain" sequence in Gimme Shelter, don't you know - maybe Sean Penn has a personal anecdote he can tell us about that, too.