Abandoned swimming pools, plentiful drugs, punk-rock rhythms – skateboard movies have been there already. But few are as vibrant or visionary as DRAGONSLAYER, which follows first-rate oddball Josh "Screech" Sandoval as he drifts between mild notoriety on the skate circuit and an ill-defined but adaptive existence in Southern California's recession-wracked suburbs. In a setting where nothing seems whole, first-time director Tristan Patterson finds arid beauty, hazy intimacy and a thread of hope. — JW

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John Baker
iamadragonslayer@gmail.com