At The Cinema: Breakdancing as Far as the Eye Can See

In addition to a whole mess of anime and Katt Williams specials, i somehow found myself watching the original Breakin' movie about three times whilst resting up the past couple of weeks. OK, i feel asleep while it was on more than actually, intently watching it, but it's really only about three or four dance scenes anyway, right? And while the cable channels apparently think it's fine to taunt viewers with Epi One, only to NOT show Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo, i personally find it borderline criminal. And while i'm not going to be hosting the entirety of either flick here at LET, that doesn't mean i can't post a few tracks for the community's enjoyment.

Essentially, it's the story of a couple of street dancers hooking up with a rich, white chick who helps the troubled, inner city youth take their moves to the next level of acceptance in the dance community. No, there's no confusion over Oscar overlooking any Thesbian talent here, but there are some dope moves, so you take the cheesey acting as the price of admission. Of particular interest to me is the fact that there's virtually no hip hop at all on either of these soundtracks, just a lot of dance heavy R&B. It's all good, though, because the movie does mark the first appearance of one Mr. Ice-T, so it's not all goofy BS. Which is nice.

Incidentally, i also caught Planet B-Boy this past weekend on a friend's recommendation. Whereas the Breakin' franchise was pure fiction (though we all wanna be Turbo, Ozone or Special K), Planet B-Boy was a documentary about the annual Battle of the Year breakdance dance-off held in Germany. At least according to this movie, it's the high water mark for breakdancers the world over. And get this, the U.S. isn't even a top three contender in these things. Anyway, not a bad look at the contest and the teams that made up that particular year, but it suffered badly from the whole reality TV phenomena wherein more focus is given to the teams than the actual dancing. i'd have preferred to see a lot more locking and popping and a lot less talking and jiving about living in South Korea, but to each, their own, i suppose. Unfortunately, i do not have any music to share from Planet B-Boy, but you inquisitive minds can find something, i'm sure.

So bust out your cardboard, load these tracks onto a cassette tape, blast the boom box, and let's get freaky, y'all.

mp3: Reckless (Chris "The Glove" Taylor and Ice-T from Breakin' OST)

mp3: There's No Stopping Us (Ollie & Jerry from Breakin' OST)

mp3: Body Work (Hot Streak from Breakin' OST)

mp3: Din Daa Daa (Original Mix) (George Kranz from Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo OST)

mp3: I Don't Wanna Come Down (Mark Scott from Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo OST)

Well, shit, i guess we do have time for a couple of Breakin' moves.