Helen's Stickler's ground-breaking documentary "Stoked: The Rise And Fall of Gator *", about the life and times of Mark 'Gator' Rogowski will make its world debut January 18th through January 25th at the Sundance Film Festival * in Park City, Utah *.

According to the filmmaker, "Stoked is the stylish and complex examination of fallen 80s skateboarding icon Mark 'Gator' Rogowski, and the first document of the 80s skateboarding boom and bust in the early 90s - featuring the styles, music and personalities from that era."

Having seen an earlier screening of a work-in-progress of the movie, we can tell you that it is a powerful work highly worthy of viewing. Other reviewers have waxed more eloquently and philosophically on this topic, though, so here we defer to them.

Ed Halter from the Village Voice said: "Rogowski's true-crime tale has its own inherently lurid appeal, but Stickler's rendering goes beyond the Court TV norm. She interviews marketers, company heads, and fellow skaters to illustrate the broader processes of how a self-created youth subculture capitulates to the commercial mainstream. ... Even more illustrative of '80s excess are Stoked's encyclopedic media artifacts, ranging from a bombastic Swatch *-sponsored tour promo to a permed Gator guest-spotting on Club MTV *."

Says A. O. Scott of the New York Times * in the article "New Videos Resonate Darkly": "Behind (Gator's) sad tabloid tale are the puzzles and contradictions that perpetually bedevil American youth culture. Skateboarding began as a spontaneous, quasi-illegal form of expression and athletic discipline, a way (one among many) for young men to thumb their noses at authority, find like-minded friends and attract the attention of young women. Then, largely through the entrepreneurial energy of its die-hard adherents, the scruffy subculture became an industry, with glossy magazines and lucrative product endorsements. Is this a story of success (leaving aside, obviously, Mr. Rogowski's fate and the far grimmer fate of the young woman he killed) or of selling out?" Concludes Scott: "One suspects that it's both."

But perhaps the most apt and concise description of the movie comes from Jesse Pearson of viceland.com in the article "Never Mind the Dogtown *":

"If you want to see a film that truly sums up skate culture and all it has wrought, the only one worth watching is Stoked."

Stoked will appear at Sundance the following times: Saturday Jan. 18th midnight at the Egyptian Theater, Sunday Jan 19th 9pm at the Yarrow Hotel Theater 1, Monday Jan 20th 6pm in Broadway Centre Cinema (Salt Lake City), Tuesday Jan 21st 9:15 am at Holiday Village IV, and Saturday Jan 25th 11:30pm at Holiday Village I.

Search this site for more about Stoked: Gator Movie Premier Sundance *