Lords of Dogtown 2005, 107 min

In the mid 70s a handful of scruffy rebellious teenage surfers took skateboarding to new extremes and changed the sport forever. Due to an oppressive heat wave in California and a shortage of water to fill swimming pools, this group used the sloping bowl of empty suburban swimming pools to create the new sport of skateboarding. These street smart disadvantaged kids became freestyle wizards on urethane wheels and the birth of "extreme sports" took place. Girls threw themselves at these new heroes, they became celebrities, and their teenage pastime started to become big business. This created a whole series of new tensions for the three pals that threateened to end their friendship on a sour note. Stacy (John Robinson) is the sleek beauty; Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk) is the frizzy-haired heartthrob and Jay (Emile Hirsch) is too cynical to be bought by corporate greed.

Elephant 2003, 80 min

Winner of the Palme d'Or and Best Director prizes at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, Gus Van Sant's eloquent drama Elephant takes us inside an American high school on one seemingly ordinary day that very rapidly turns tragic. Van Sant's film is set in Portland, Oregon, uses non-actors chosen from an open casting call of high school students, and is loosely based on the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999. We see the students going about their routine tasks -playing football, doing schoolwork, gossiping and socializing. We get to know some of the students in this film and each of these students sees school in a different light. But two outsiders Eric and Alex have intense hatred for some of their peers. Editing creates overlapping sequences all taking place in the morning before the 11:35 am attack. The image of John (John Robinson)in his yellow T-shirt is unforgettable.

The Heart Is Deceitful Above
All Things 2006, 97 min

"The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things" is based on JT Leroy's critically acclaimed novel of the same name. The story concerns Jeremiah, a child who is pulled from his foster home and thrown into a difficult life on the road with his teenage mother, Sarah. Soon Jeremiah learns more than he wants to know about the troubles of the world as he travels through the country roads of the U.S. with his mother. His deadbeat dad shows up and places Jeremiah in the care of his ultra-conservative grandparents. He no sooner adapts to a Christian fundamentalist lifestyle than his mother returns to claim him.  Bound by love for this mother, Jeremiah must struggle to survive when she becomes consumed by drugs and prostitution.