~PLANET B-BOY
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.