Fridae

Grace, speed and stunts on skateboards have never looked this good.
With the film's use of stylish images and kinetic editing, you can
sense the thrill of being on a skateboard zooming along the streets
and jumping over ramps.

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Lords of Dogtown is based
on the lives of real-life skaters in South California called the
Z-boys. Coming from broken homes but determined to make their marks,
these rebellious punks re-invented the rules and style of skateboarding.
Although some eventually become legends of the skating world, the
film also details their personal problems and bitter tragedies.

If you're attracted to rebellious Ah Bengs or swaggering Mats,
you would love the boys in this movie. They are all long-haired
brash rascals played by Victor Rasuk (the Latino twink in Raising
Victor Vargas), John Robinson (the blonde twink in Elephant)
and Emile Hirsch (the brunette twink in The Dangerous Lives of
Altar Boys).

Lords of Dogtown also stars ageing twink Heath Ledger as
a hippie-father figure to the boys. With his solid performance here
and in The Brothers Grimm (now playing), as well as his poignant
turn as a gay cowboy in Lee Ang's Brokeback Mountain, Heath
is easily one of our favourite actors today.