BENSON LEE’S - PLANET B-BOY is playing in NEW YORK at the LANDMARK SUNSHINE on DELANCEY, Lower East Side - looks like the last 2 days !! are today & tomorrow WED & THURS MARCH 26-27, 2008.
TIMES: 12, 2:20, 4:40, and 9:30
note: the showing has been extended thru beginning of APRIL - check with SUNSHINE !!
you’ve got to check out the film’s website - the film looks to be great !!!
and the site’s graphics are wow - !!
(do not miss hitting the VIDEO option - !!)
see: PLANET B-BOY/new official website !!
more info: LANDMARK SUNSHINE/DELANCEY ST.
specifically: PLANET B-BOY
PLANET B-BOY/IMAGE COURTESY: ELEPHANT EYE FILMS
PLANET B-BOY/IMAGE COURTESY: ELEPHANT EYE FILMS
P.S. - VASCO LUCAS NUNES is the cinematographer, (official title: Director of Photography) of PLANET B-BOY.
. . . here in NYC - JOSH HARRIS & MILLENNIUM 2000 QUIET PARTY PEOPLE - know him - as an associate of ONDI TIMONER’S - who filmed QUIET for JOSH. they are now married and have a small child. ONDI TIMONER went on to make DIG! - WINNER of the 2004 SUNDANCE GRAND JURY PRIZE. VASCO NUNES was the cinematographer and co-producer of DIG!. PLANET B-BOY looks to be another victory - VASCO !!
ONDI TIMONER, founder of Interloper Films (1994), who wrote, directed and edited DIG! - WINNER of the 2004 SUNDANCE GRAND JURY PRIZE - with VASCO LUCAS NUNES, the cinematographer and co-producer of DIG!, at the DVD RELEASE SCREENING, in New York City, APRIL 11, 2005
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
see: the original TIMONER/DIG! post
UP-DATE: THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2008
PLANET B-BOY is still playing in NYC !!
B-BOY stands for Beat-boy or breakdancer. this film’s got the real juice - 100% - and its really all about the B-boys. the footage is incredible. Vasco must have loved this assignment - big time !! the story is really & truly told by the photo footage.
first: what’s great about the film, from the point of view of an artist - is the way the filmmakers really focus on the skills, and try to break down for the viewer, the individual crew styles of the 18 different competing international teams - which helps the audience to truly comprehend the range & evolution of beat dancing. so we see the crew from FRANCE is very musical and very ‘kid friendly’ in way that couldn’t be believed until seen, here !! - the Japanese & Koreans are like - ACROBATIC DEATH MATCH TO THE WALL - combatants, and the USA team from Los Vegas - is kind of like - showmanship-in-motion fluid. They are all super super great & hyper dedicated 24/7 performer/athletes. it’s kind of heart breaking to see them compete. they all pretty much put their entire lives on hold to train (& develop heart stopping routines) - at very grass level starting points, (translation: no real financial funding whatsoever) and they are all so engagingly ego-pumped up & driven from all the physical training & dedication - esp. with the B-boy stress on street smarts and one-upmanship - that to watch them face-off - to the music and with the ‘moves’ - is just plain outright - amazing.
the camera says it all: you watch this kid - who you know is the best !! - and he knows he is the best - but his jaw just drops - when he sees - what the next crew lays down. I left thinking - wow - I’m just glad that kind of highly charged competition doesn’t exist in my world - I’d be screwed. I just have to face off against, who: a pretty tame ‘writing’ crew to put it politely.
second: they should take some of that mainstream big bucks they throw at figure skaters - and throw it at the B-boys.
third: as well as highlighting the individual crews so well, the film also pinpoints the individual stars within the crews, flashing their names on the screen - and giving them plenty of individual air time. like one contestant says: whenever you see a JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE up there, on stage - better believe - there’s always an un-named and un-recognized beat boy off-stage - showing him the moves. the film definitely tries to address that.
fourth: the final throw-down - when the 4 top crews - compete - is the kind of war dance - you wish all wars could be decided on. individual crew members just spontaneously spring into action, and get literally, in-the-face of the other crew - with improvised riffs that defy my writing ability - just skills skills skills onslaught no-stop - to the beat of the tough street kid music.
these guys should be running the world, not just b-dancing the streets.