B-Boys, Standin' in Their B-Boy Stances

Alright, so if you've known me for quite some time, you know that I have been known to dance, and if you know that, then you know that I get kinda goofy with my dancing, the drunker I get, the more of a marionette my flailing resembles. I guess the only explanation for that is that I'm a child of the eighties that grew up in Hialeah surrounded by Trans-Ams, checker board, Panama Jack hats, parachute pants and lots of zippers for some reason. My older sister was raised on Led Zeppelin and AC/DC, but fucking shit man, when breakdancing hit, she was a poppin' and lockin' Cuban girl that knew how to throw down like a badass. Naturally, me being the annoying little brother that she needed to take EVERYWHERE she had to go (or else my parents wouldn't let her out of the house), she made the best of it and made me her little breakdancing partner. It was the absolute shit!! I still, to this day get chills when I hear Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force's "Planet Rock", remembering those days and nights out with my sis, rockin' the cardboard and just letting loose. Back in those days (I think it was around 1985), kids would hang out at the beach......and I'm not talking South Beach homie, I'm talking Sunny Isles!! Crazy shit. Anyways, my point is that I've always loved breakdancing for as long as I can remember. Sure I moved on to Metal, Grunge, Punk, Hardcore, back to Hip Hop and everything else, but I could never turn my ear away from a good electro or breaks track.....it's in me man, what can I say?

My point? The point is that while totally going nuts on the new Netflix to Xbox 360 setup, I ran into a recent breakdancing doc called "Planet B-Boy" (directed by Benson Lee) that caught my interest. The beauty of anything catching your interest on the new Netflix/Xbox hook up is that if after 10 seconds whatever your streaming is a steaming pile of shit, you can tell it to go take a flying fuck and get rid of it and watch something else.....instantly! This was not the case with "Planet B-Boy"!!



This movie was...........(wait for it)......FRESH! Right away you get sucked into the world of modern day competitive breakdancing and are introduced (at least I was introduced) to "The Battle of the Year", a yearly event in which breakers from all over the world gather in Germany for the top spot of Champions. Sounds corny as shit right? No! The great part about this movie is that it shows how breaking has really carved out a place in the world as more than just a fad, but rather a way of life and how the early hip-hop philosophy of originality and self expression is still alive. The film takes you all around the world and focuses on a handful of crews that have qualified for the tournament and lets you get to know them before they get to the battle. It taps into the social values of each country and gives you insight on why some of these kids need to release the tension from their everyday lives while others just do it for the love. Technique-wise it's pretty typical of an "event documentary" like "Spellbound" or "Murderball", the formula of filming a couple of subjects and their journey, allowing for character development and eventually breaking somone's heart because they lost, but fuck, the crews are INSANE!! There's these crazy Korean dudes that just make Jackie Chan look like what Chriss Angel is to magic (basically the asshole of Kung-Fu is what that translates to)! It's amazing how what started as Black, Hispanic and White kids just getting down in the poorest neighborhoods of New York, has never faded but rather exploded into a way of life for kids as far as Japan, Korea, and France. And these guys get it, they aren't just fucking dancing because it looks cool, they understand where it came from and why it matters. The philosophy of unity and fun is definitely captured, and shit is crazy son!! The director really captured the energy and the global vibe going on......definitely worth a watch. Check out the clips below and tell me Jackie Chan ain't the asshole of Kung Fu!!






Planet B-Boy on IMDB.com