Wednesday, June 08, 2005

There's only one beer left...and rappers will scream in our ears like we're deaf

I went to see Lords of Dogtown yesterday because I enjoyed the documentary Dogtown and the Z-Boys, which is what this film is based on. If you haven't seen the documentary check it out even if you aren't a fan of skateboarding because it's a great character study. In the film these skaters come off as a biker gang reaking havoc wherever they go led by surf shop owner, Skip, who is played by Heath Ledger. Ledger's performance might be the biggest rip-off in movie history. Have you ever seen a Val Kilmer film? If so, then combine all his roles when he plays a fuck up and you have Heath Ledger. His mannerisms as well as his voice were exact replica's of Kilmer's. I am not even a big Kilmer fan and I was disgusted. Here is a pic of the ripoff: http://images.countingdown.com/images/countdowns/movies/3361895/3361895_main.jpg (My two favorite Val Kilmer films: TOP SECRET and REAL GENIUS...just thought I would mention that)
Not only was this performance distracting but Johhny Knoxville shows up with a blonde Snoop Dogg wig on and pimp gear at one point. They don't exactly explain what he does, but he represents one of the skaters as he becomes a superstar. I couldn't tell if his character was supposed to be a joke or not. Knoxville is just that bad.
This movie could have been pretty intriguing if it weren't for these two characters spreading stupidity all over the screen. Despite these two clowns Emile Hirsch did an awesome job portraying skater Jay Adams. http://i.ivillage.com/E/rd/E_Showbiz_Emile_250.jpg
They could have made the film solely about him, and it would have been ten times more watchable. Don't see it in the theaters just rent the DVD and skip past the parts with Knoxville and Ledger. That might reduce the film to about 25 minutes, but it's worth it.

PEACE

2 comments:

erl said...

i heard that movie was actually good?

Anonymous said...

now who am I going to see it with?