The News Review:
- Planet B-Boy: Movie Showtimes and Reviews on washingtonpost.com’s…
- With great power come laughs as spandex superheroes get sent up in…
- A night of comedy poetry and song
- Despite struggles over the years the Winter Music Conference remains…
- Dance war: Indie doc tracks international b-boy crews en route to…
Planet B-Boy: Movie Showtimes and Reviews on washingtonpost.com’s…
Washington Post – Mar 28, 2008
ShowtimesNOTE: Showtimes are currently unavailable for this movie Editorial Review Remember break dancing? That acrobatic kinetically graceful art form that busted out of the streets in the 1970s? Do you miss the power moves the freezes the head spins that seemed to go on forever?Where did it go? Global according to “Planet B-Boy” a documentary about the spread of break dancing throughout the world and its almost spiritual importance to the “b-boys” (and they are mostly boys) who practice it. After a brief history of how breaking emerged with emceeing DJ-ing and graffiti art as part of hip-hop culture filmmaker Benson Lee takes viewers on a whirlwind tour of Japan France South Korea and Las Vegas profiling break-dance crews preparing to compete at the 2005 Battle of the Year an international break-dance competition in Germany. Lee does a good job of raising the stakes along the way so by the time we see the crews take the stage at the battle (think the Sharks and the Jets on Red Bull) viewers are intimately familiar with their personal stories from the Japanese and Korean crew members grappling with similar issues of filial piety to the white French kid who is the mascot of his multicultural team. For all the energy and personality of its subjects “Planet B-Boy” tends to drag especially toward the competition finals. But Lee makes a spirited and persuasive case for break dancing not only as an art form of strength beauty discipline and instinct but as a means of transcending caste and culture… Lee does a good job of raising the stakes along the way so by the time we see the crews take the stage at the battle (think the Sharks and the Jets on Red Bull) viewers are intimately familiar with their personal stories from the Japanese and Korean crew members grappling with similar issues of filial piety to the white French kid who is the mascot of his multicultural team. For all the energy and personality of its subjects “Planet B-Boy” tends to drag especially toward the competition finals. But Lee makes a spirited and persuasive case for break dancing not only as an art form of strength beauty discipline and instinct but as a means of transcending caste and culture. — Ann Hornaday (March 28 2008)Contains profanity. In French German Japanese Korean and English with subtitles.
With great power come laughs as spandex superheroes get sent up in…
Sci Fi Wire – Mar 28, 2008
However some of the skits are worth the price of admission alone. There’s a spot-on one lampooning Tom Cruise’s notorious YouTube pro-Scientology rant (he’s portrayed by a chameleon-like Miles Fisher) plus pop-culture references sniggering about everything from the iPod empire to “2 Girls 1 Cup. ” Mazin even takes things old-school putting the Dragonfly into a cracked break-dance routine set to electronica. There’s a running gag featuring the unable-to-run Stephen Hawking (Robert Joy does a sensational impersonation) silly sendups of famous scenes from other superhero movies (the Superman and Lois “Who’s got you?” flying scene; Spider-Man and Mary Jane sexy upside-down lip lock; and Wolverine’s hair hygiene to name a few) and the requisite lowbrow hijinks (I can always live without scatological humor so I was relieved to see it relatively toned down when compared with the Scary Movies). A few Zucker faves do single-bound cameos: Simon Rex is a super-hot superhero who shows the Dragonfly the best way to pose atop a Gothamesque gargoyle rainspout; Hall shows up as the bald “Mrs. Xavier” who gets into a rather bouncy catfight with Anderson’s “Invisible Girl”; and Airplane!’s Robert Hayes plays our costumed crime buster’s ill-fated father in the requisite flashback scene. Superhero Movie does do a little laughing at geekdom but it mostly laughs with.
A night of comedy poetry and song
Diamondback Online – Mar 28, 2008
When Nainan appeared onstage after the drum group he immediately joked about how the group’s African-Brazilian style was performed only by white girls. While that factually incorrect statement was greeted with little reaction Nainan did receive a big laugh with a slide-show presentation of humorous pictures. “This is a picture of something I thought I’d never see: It’s an Asian guy teaching an African-American how to break dance” Nainan said. © Copyright 2008 The Diamondback.
Despite struggles over the years the Winter Music Conference remains…
International Herald Tribune – Mar 28, 2008
“When it comes to gathering so many well-known DJs and live artists for the music fans it's an absolutely thrilling opportunity. ” Over the last 23 years Miami and Miami Beach have become the gathering places for global clubbers and the industry that caters to them during the week of WMC. WMC is where DJs producers artists and their hangers-on come to break new records in preparation for the summer parties in Ibiza Spain and elsewhere. Years ago it was one of the first places where you could catch Fatboy Slim Roni Size Basement Jaxx and the Brazilian Girls. This year's big names include Erykah Badu Moby and the Bravery… ” Over the last 23 years Miami and Miami Beach have become the gathering places for global clubbers and the industry that caters to them during the week of WMC. WMC is where DJs producers artists and their hangers-on come to break new records in preparation for the summer parties in Ibiza Spain and elsewhere. Years ago it was one of the first places where you could catch Fatboy Slim Roni Size Basement Jaxx and the Brazilian Girls. This year's big names include Erykah Badu Moby and the Bravery.
Dance war: Indie doc tracks international b-boy crews en route to…
International Herald Tribune – Mar 28, 2008
Breakdancing became a global phenomenon drawing thousands to see crews from dozens of countries compete. Independent filmmaker Benson Lee explores the progression in his new documentary “Planet B-Boy. ” In the late 1990s many people thought the dance form was “cheesy or passe” after fading from the spotlight in the United States. But Lee didn't. “I was watching 'Flashdance' and saw that scene and was like 'What happened to breakdancing?'” he said at the New York premiere of his film. “I got online and Googled it and discovered this whole world and that this event — called Battle of the Year — had been around since 1990. ” Today in Americas… “Some of the crews were there and it was really dynamic. They were all such lovely kids the energy was so positive. ” Lee doesn't breakdance now but he sported a fly pair of custom-designed Adidas and gray cap during his interview with The Associated Press. It doesn't take long before the soft-spoken 38-year-old gets animated. “This is just something that gets my heart racing” he said. “I gotta move and it makes me feel something makes me want to shout. ” His first feature film “Miss Monday” earned critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998.