It's too bad that Michael Moore's fat ass, media exposure, and box office receipts are dominating the world of documentary film, because surfer-turned-skater-turned-filmmaker Stacy Peralta has made two back-to-back films that blow Moore's "Extra Super Ass Relaxed Fit Oh Please Won't You Shut Up Already" pants off.
The skateboarding documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys" was a clinic in storytelling and Paul Crowder's editing just might have been the most solid of anyone's in the last ten years -- and maybe the best ever in a documentary.
Peralta's latest film, "Riding Giants," traces the history of big-time surfing through the stories of three major surfers, and while the editing is more subdued, it's also flawlessly seamless. (Another mark of a great film editor: you don't notice him.) The winner here, however, is the cinematography. You will not see better footage in a film this year. Where they got all the insane archival stuff, or how they got that close to the waves (some of them 2 hours off the coast) to get the new shots is beyond me.
"Riding Giants" is now available on DVD.
Posted by colrus at January 6, 2005 12:59 AM | TrackBackMy childhood was spent at the Powell factory in Santa Barbara, back when it was Powell-Peralta.
Posted by: Nat at January 10, 2005 12:21 PM