Minding the Gap (2018)

An autobiographical documentary about a young skater and his friends plunging into adulthood in hardscrabble Rockford, Illinois. The director and his friends all wrestle with their personal experiences with domestic violence.

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Minding the Gap belongs to 11 collections
1. Best of criticker: Documentary (public: moderated by avgcrtckr - 17 stars)
2. Skateboarding (public: moderated by djross - 2 stars)
3. Best of criticker: 2018 (public: moderated by avgcrtckr - 2 stars)
4. 91st Academy Awards: Nominated (2019) ☑ (public: moderated by 5Z5qjRCfM2 - 1 star)
5. vitamine.cineville.nl (public: moderated by amsterdam020 - 1 star)
6. Canal+ VOD (public: moderated by msa)
7. Favorites: Documentaries (public: moderated by KasperL)
8. Oscar Nominations 2019 (private: Adds - 3 stars)
9. Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) (private: PepeCamello - 2 stars)
10. The AV Club's 100 Best Movies of the 2010s (private: TychoCelchuu - 1 star)
11. Misty Bisty (private: Russ Bedford)
Browse the full list of collections
Date | User | Rating | |
Feb 24 | PruthviG | 0 6% |
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Feb 23 | fatyoshi | 8 85% |
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Feb 07 | PrestoBix40 | 34 91% |
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Jan 30 | microplast | 70 52% |
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Jan 29 | NevinLiu | 86 86% |
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Jan 25 | thirdeye42 | 77 76% |
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Jan 22 | ![]() |
jeff_v | 76 84% |
Jan 17 | kupfertj | 86 90% |
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Jan 17 | ![]() |
kk3thess | 75 75% |
Jan 15 | testaccount5 | 8 73% |
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Jan 05 | jhadden04 | 90 63% |
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Jan 04 | Grahamb | 80 61% |
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Jan 02 | ardent246 | 100 97% |
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Jan 01 | flipperrbm | 5 60% |
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Dec 28, 2020 | NotALemon | 62 69% |
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Dec 27, 2020 | ![]() |
Tiozao | 90 93% |
Dec 01, 2020 | kookyyoshiro | 80 71% |
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Nov 26, 2020 | ![]() |
TheShiznit | 73 96% |
Nov 16, 2020 | Old_Spriggan | 75 61% |
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Nov 03, 2020 | matthagen | 50 50% |
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A hugely personal slice of life. I wanted these people to solve their problems, but their problems are too deep-seated to solve. It's a tough watch, giving off a reality tv vibe, but it's effective enough.
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Sep 14, 2020 | jbro6 | 80 75% |
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Sep 13, 2020 | nunobar | 80 72% |
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Sep 02, 2020 | blucthulhu | 70 58% |
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Aug 23, 2020 | ![]() |
PrestoBix | 92 89% |
Centered on only three subjects, but evocative of the plight of an entire generation, and teeming with raw humanity. This is cinema.
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Jul 25, 2020 | hubergl7 | 80 0% |
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Jun 30, 2020 | ![]() |
deaddilly | 80 73% |
As personal as movies get - really heartfelt stuff.
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Jun 28, 2020 | ![]() |
Roshambo | 60 52% |
Jun 20, 2020 | ![]() |
aross | 75 75% |
You don't see where it is going to take you at first, but the filmmaker did a great job weaving his friends' stories together with his own, though it is in a heartbreaking way.
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Jun 13, 2020 | Natflix | 93 86% |
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Jun 07, 2020 | mvsilva | 85 78% |
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May 28, 2020 | dennis_leigh | 80 0% |
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May 17, 2020 | pedrodalen | 88 81% |
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May 11, 2020 | ![]() |
tata | 85 73% |
Apr 29, 2020 | ![]() |
CHartwell | 40 72% |
Apr 29, 2020 | account2 | 48 30% |
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Apr 19, 2020 | ![]() |
dlthompson | 80 58% |
Apr 09, 2020 | ![]() |
Mr.Cinema | 66 69% |
Apr 09, 2020 | msa | 0 5% |
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Apr 09, 2020 | z10yniger | 80 85% |
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Apr 04, 2020 | filmguy | 55 40% |
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Mar 02, 2020 | cayh | 90 89% |
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Feb 24, 2020 | ![]() |
Excelsior | 75 87% |
Feb 19, 2020 | ![]() |
slug | 8 70% |
Feb 17, 2020 | ![]() |
clayj41 | 63 35% |
Feb 14, 2020 | ![]() |
AAAutin | 88 94% |
This device may cure heartache...but it doesn't dry these tears! BWAAHHHHHH!!!
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Feb 11, 2020 | ![]() |
CoffeeMage | 88 91% |
Feb 09, 2020 | maka | 95 95% |
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Feb 05, 2020 | ![]() |
snallygaster | 75 84% |
Jan 16, 2020 | ![]() |
YMS (Adum) | 70 72% |
Jan 08, 2020 | Krafty | 90 83% |
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Jan 03, 2020 | ![]() |
Calexico | 85 82% |
Personal, heartfelt, sad, and beautiful. In many ways feels like a documentary counterpart to mid90s.
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Dec 31, 2019 | roscoe_1891 | 90 82% |
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Dec 29, 2019 | ![]() |
Daisoujou | 95 90% |
Dec 15, 2019 | spoiledff7 | 95 98% |
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Dec 12, 2019 | ![]() |
cankutozturk | 79 89% |
Dec 12, 2019 | thomaskok | 96 96% |
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Dec 09, 2019 | ![]() |
STFUDonny | 8 78% |
Dec 08, 2019 | cable101 | 80 86% |
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Nov 22, 2019 | timalander | 90 69% |
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Nov 20, 2019 | Olbap | 60 0% |
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Oct 30, 2019 | toddsalter | 88 51% |
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Enjoyed the skateboarding scenes but couldn't get inspired by skater boys being losers later in life because they only really spent time skateboarding. There were a few heartfelt moments but it just didn't come together or age well for me over the few days after I watched it.
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Oct 22, 2019 | ![]() |
emreco | 60 15% |
Oct 11, 2019 | ![]() |
PaulB1 | 85 83% |
Oct 05, 2019 | ![]() |
Florin92 | 70 68% |
Sep 15, 2019 | ![]() |
ludymylla | 75 56% |
Sep 05, 2019 | kissgyozi | 85 84% |
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Sep 01, 2019 | tomi | 85 87% |
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Aug 25, 2019 | toro913 | 88 95% |
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Aug 18, 2019 | Contreras | 4 77% |
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Aug 16, 2019 | ![]() |
meliorism | 85 87% |
Aug 12, 2019 | ![]() |
coolcoolcool | 87 81% |
Aug 05, 2019 | tcclemson | 90 96% |
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Jul 23, 2019 | TheStraub | 69 52% |
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Jul 22, 2019 | ![]() |
laika | 81 80% |
Jul 20, 2019 | z4k1r | 88 91% |
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Jul 16, 2019 | Ethan_Hunt2 | 90 77% |
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Jul 16, 2019 | mkdaun | 90 94% |
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Jul 14, 2019 | robochaa | 80 71% |
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Jul 11, 2019 | Siegel Hans | 80 81% |
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Jul 09, 2019 | ![]() |
aurora | 77 83% |
Jul 07, 2019 | debaser1985 | 80 90% |
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Jul 05, 2019 | zkas1225 | 80 80% |
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Jul 02, 2019 | ![]() |
FreddieQuell | 77 70% |
Jun 25, 2019 | ![]() |
fzycow | 87 60% |
Jun 20, 2019 | jhmee8 | 100 96% |
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Jun 07, 2019 | ![]() |
Demorest | 5 94% |
Jun 07, 2019 | CarsonWid | 75 74% |
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Jun 04, 2019 | ![]() |
alexlma | 8 75% |
May 28, 2019 | ![]() |
kendell | 9 89% |
May 26, 2019 | ![]() |
Teproc | 73 81% |
May 09, 2019 | ![]() |
KasperL | 90 97% |
It's such a great film that I watched it two nights in a row! It becomes so much more than a documentary about a subculture and a community - an intimate and highly affecting story about growing up in which the long-spanning chronicle of the intertwined pasts and fates of these three troubled young men who found much-needed solace in skateboarding is turned into drama of the highest order. What an astonishingly accomplished debut!
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May 07, 2019 | ![]() |
Ser_Bronn | 84 78% |
May 05, 2019 | ![]() |
cke | 7 56% |
May 03, 2019 | ![]() |
MartinTeller | 87 89% |
Apr 23, 2019 | ![]() |
fenixdown | 83 85% |
Amazing, really sneaks up on you.
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Apr 21, 2019 | ![]() |
Phelipe | 81 73% |
Apr 13, 2019 | ![]() |
SpaceSpiff | 93 76% |
Apr 09, 2019 | Mirzatory | 90 64% |
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Apr 08, 2019 | ![]() |
joeroxy | 78 84% |
Apr 04, 2019 | ![]() |
haljordan2 | 1 0% |
Mar 26, 2019 | ![]() |
FancyMike | 4 58% |
Mar 22, 2019 | ![]() |
DarrenCB | 80 64% |
Mar 21, 2019 | Sts95 | 60 31% |
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Mar 16, 2019 | ![]() |
filmaffinity | 71 84% |
Mar 10, 2019 | jjrocketman | 40 68% |
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Mar 06, 2019 | ![]() |
dennerik | 82 83% |
Mar 03, 2019 | Barxday | 79 94% |
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Mar 03, 2019 | ![]() |
Revjhou | 80 73% |
Feb 25, 2019 | ![]() |
sebby | 60 44% |
Feb 24, 2019 | ![]() |
Licio | 85 76% |
Feb 24, 2019 | ![]() |
dequinix | 70 73% |
Feb 21, 2019 | ![]() |
Kavu | 88 90% |
Really impressive and heartfelt documentary about broken people trying to get through.
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Feb 20, 2019 | lefterisd99 | 60 41% |
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Feb 20, 2019 | ![]() |
MontyCircus | 20 11% |
Skater kids become deadbeat dads. Who gives a fuck?
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Feb 19, 2019 | Jenjen | 89 71% |
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Feb 19, 2019 | Nacho353 | 50 59% |
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Feb 17, 2019 | demasc | 87 79% |
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Feb 16, 2019 | ![]() |
nobamba | 85 91% |
Someone else aptly said they went into this expecting Hoop Dreams for skateboarding and got it for abusive homes instead. A deeply personal look from Bing on his childhood home, friends, and masculinity. Zack is a TPOS. Keire was an inspiration. Fav scene: interviewing Zack when he returns from Denver and seeing the look on his face as he avoids the camera and makes projecting insecure comments. You hope that there's a sense of self-realization in there, but that's not always the case in life.
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Feb 15, 2019 | ![]() |
balseiros | 87 86% |
Feb 11, 2019 | chiphall72 | 78 73% |
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Feb 10, 2019 | ![]() |
tsumanne | 75 71% |
Feb 10, 2019 | ![]() |
Algernop | 5 33% |
Feb 10, 2019 | ![]() |
cascade | 83 93% |
Feb 08, 2019 | Ram0n | 79 81% |
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Feb 06, 2019 | ![]() |
buddhalou | 70 50% |
Feb 05, 2019 | ![]() |
cryteno | 7 60% |
Feb 03, 2019 | Philosofem | 79 71% |
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Feb 03, 2019 | ![]() |
chadisdanger | 83 71% |
Feb 01, 2019 | stecheru | 96 91% |
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Jan 31, 2019 | ![]() |
cambel | 74 62% |
Jan 31, 2019 | ![]() |
Ercan | 5 36% |
Jan 28, 2019 | kylerkelton | 35 61% |
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Jan 28, 2019 | shanebarlow3 | 82 83% |
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Jan 26, 2019 | ![]() |
mattorama12 | 77 82% |
Marries my love of skateboarding with my love of good film. I put this off for a while expecting it to disappoint on either of both of those dimensions, but it did not. More crucially, it's one of the better examinations of how domestic violence propagates through communities like a virus, with plenty of heartbreak and hope.
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Jan 26, 2019 | EllenMarie79 | 93 83% |
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Jan 20, 2019 | ![]() |
thuckabe | 98 98% |
Jan 17, 2019 | ericambler | 80 76% |
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Bing Liu's MINDING THE GAP is an intensely intimate documentary examining the racial and economic divide in America through the lens of three young skate punks, all with similarly troubled upbringings but wildly disparate journeys into adulthood. I get the feeling that Liu went into this project intending to make a film about escapism, but ended up with a heart-wrenching chronicle of pain: his community's and his own.
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Jan 10, 2019 | ![]() |
avgcrtckr | 78 98% |
Jan 08, 2019 | ![]() |
TychoCelchuu | 91 93% |
Jan 07, 2019 | ![]() |
bybrt | 50 25% |
Jan 06, 2019 | CesarCastag (CinePlayers.com) | 60 39% |
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Jan 04, 2019 | Kabbjeh | 65 54% |
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Jan 04, 2019 | daver | 85 43% |
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Jan 04, 2019 | abesempire | 90 75% |
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Jan 03, 2019 | ![]() |
Dally | 85 77% |
Jan 02, 2019 | ![]() |
rehasavin | 88 90% |
Jan 02, 2019 | ![]() |
Laddie Bird | 60 47% |
Jan 01, 2019 | ![]() |
redboots | 80 76% |
Jan 01, 2019 | ![]() |
frederic_g54 | 8 77% |
The story told here by Bing is clearly a very personal one, but the notion of escapism as a safe harbour from troubled experiences is one that applies on a universal level. In this regard, this is a competently shot and well put together portrait featuring testimonies that beautifully capture both the pain and hopes shared by its central characters.
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Dec 31, 2018 | ![]() |
tehmarvelman | 88 70% |
Dec 29, 2018 | ![]() |
WWallce4prez | 91 97% |
Bing Liu certainly had a plethora of footage from filming his friends as they skated, grew up, and lived their lives. Then he stumbles upon a real story that needed to be told. As everything unfolds it is both heartwarming and heart breaking, with each of the three boys struggling in their own ways. Fathers, sons, expectations, domestic abuse, and failure are all wrapped up in a seeming simple documentary. Beautifully done.
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Dec 29, 2018 | ![]() |
devrimozkan | 59 34% |
Dec 28, 2018 | ![]() |
TraverseTown | 90 91% |
Dec 23, 2018 | ![]() |
drsword | 60 20% |
Dec 19, 2018 | ![]() |
natebarrios | 75 73% |
Dec 16, 2018 | freyr_rabbit | 90 71% |
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Dec 10, 2018 | filmcave | 86 93% |
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Dec 09, 2018 | ![]() |
H9k | 9 95% |
Dec 02, 2018 | ![]() |
norval_jones | 62 22% |
Dec 02, 2018 | ![]() |
glumpy_99 | 100 99% |
Beautifully constructed and edited documentary would be a triumph on its technical merits, but as both and objective and subjective observer, Liu proves an empathetic, masterful film-maker, teasing out searing insights from his friends and family (without ever feeling exploitative) and crafting an insightful, comprehensive portrait of the domestic life of his community, while functioning as a universally relatable statement on the nature of modern masculinity, fatherhood etc. Simply superb.
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Nov 29, 2018 | ekraft | 9 83% |
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Nov 09, 2018 | strangelime | 65 19% |
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Nov 06, 2018 | ![]() |
MaxVonSydow | 85 96% |
Oct 24, 2018 | ![]() |
psim | 84 89% |
Not the kind of skating documentary that lives from sick tricks and cool shots (although it has the latter in spades). The skating is merely an entry-point into an exploration of deeper and very difficult themes, told through seamlessly edited footage collected over many years. A truly impressive debut feature.
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Oct 03, 2018 | ![]() |
walkabout | 70 69% |
Starts as a powerful and authentic American portrait, then changes into an emotional film about fathers and sons, domestic violence and closure, which is a more familiar and less interesting ground, but well-done nonetheless.
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Sep 28, 2018 | ![]() |
NhanLa | 60 38% |
Sep 16, 2018 | areoharewhy | 8 83% |
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Sep 13, 2018 | slatenf | 81 61% |
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Sep 10, 2018 | ![]() |
weirdyoda | 80 57% |
Sep 10, 2018 | ![]() |
acrolyne | 84 63% |
Sep 10, 2018 | ![]() |
Syntheseizur | 90 92% |
A movie about truly fascinating people, complicated and full of character, but so recognizable in any friend group. The film explores the full range of perspectives involved in cycles of abuse without being maudlin, and yet one of the saddest parts is watching young adults struggle to hang onto their passion in an alienating society. It's also one of the best shot and edited documentaries I can recall, both stirring in the emotional moments and kinetic in the skateboarding scenes.
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Sep 07, 2018 | ![]() |
inmate | 92 97% |
Sep 06, 2018 | ![]() |
DMCrimson | 85 91% |
Aug 30, 2018 | ![]() |
AceySaid10% | 83 75% |
Aug 29, 2018 | ![]() |
nickv | 73 71% |
Aug 29, 2018 | Midaso | 6 67% |
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Aug 27, 2018 | ![]() |
thewire | 87 85% |
Aug 25, 2018 | cdub12 | 80 79% |
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Aug 24, 2018 | ethsings72 | 90 84% |
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Aug 22, 2018 | ![]() |
cowfrappe | 81 90% |
Beautiful and heartbreaking and so deeply personal.
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Aug 19, 2018 | ![]() |
Blair | 89 84% |
Aug 18, 2018 | filmcricket | 90 98% |
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Aug 17, 2018 | ![]() |
MetaCritic2 | 91 98% |
May 11, 2018 | ![]() |
Actionberg | 80 71% |
Average Percentile 73.56% from 184 Ratings | ![]() |