RIZE

I saw David LaChapelle's new documentary this past Friday night on Krumping and Clowndancing in inner city Los Angeles. It's good. A little long in parts, but the dancing is what keeps you interested. The film appealed to me because I grew up in the neighborhoods where the movie was shot. I was born and raised in Gardena, so it was a trip to see a girl wearing a "Gardena High School Cheerleader" sweatshirt... and watching footage of Ramona's Mexican Food on-screen*!

I remember seeing Tommy the Clown while going to school in South Los Angeles. He was a local celebrity. He performed at kids' birthday parties all the time in the Crenshaw, South LA and Inglewood areas. One of my high school friends worked with Tommy the Clown, he used to wear the make up and do the clown dances and birthday parties on weekends.

I first caught wiff of Tommy back in 1995 when I was a 7th grade scrub at Horace Mann Junior High School. It was during lunch period when all of the kids were on the playground. Tommy rode by in a metallic green Mustang 5.0 (the same one in the film) and he got out of his car in the middle of the street with his trunk speakers blasting Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It." I remember all of us on the playground being shocked, we never seen anything like *THAT* before. This black guy with a rainbow wig and full-clown costume poplocking and doing freaky dances in the street. It was all too much for us. He quickly got back in his car and drove off.

That was the last I saw of Tommy the Clown.

Ten years later, I'm in New York and I'm reading SPIN magazine and they have an article about "Krumping" and "Clowndancing" and they mention Tommy The Clown. I said to myself, "OMG, I remember him*!" Next thing I know there's a full-scale documentary about it and it's the talk of New York.

I recommend checking out the film because it gives you a slice of L.A. inner city life. The kids in that film remind me of ALL the kids I went to school with from 74th Street, to Henry Clay, to Horace Mann, Audubon, Crenshaw, Washington Prep, Peary, Locke, Fremont, Jordan, Gardena, Carson, all of that.

The film was shot in 2002. I was attending college out-of-state during that time so a lot of the film was new to me. I didn't know "krumping" and "clowndancing" was that intense back home. I'd see kids doing it out on Venice Beach when I would return home on breaks, but I was totally unaware of how big it was in the streets. It was really cool to see -- especially the "BATTLE ZONE" segment. Check this film out.

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[Edited 6/27/05 9:24am]

This is David Lachapelle's first movie, hopefully Hollywood willwake up to him. I would love to see him do a Movie with an origianl script, I just hope he doesn't cast on of his fag hags in it ie, Pamella Anderson and Christina Aguilera

JANFAN4L said:

I'm glad U enjoyed it! But it still looks like a DVD rental 2 me.
Was the theater packed?

twink69 said:

This film has been getting a LOT of press in New York. I've seen it reviewed in every major publication here (NY Times, Village Voice, Metro, AM NY, Newsday, Rolling Stone, Spin, etc.)

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[Edited 6/27/05 9:29am]

goat2004 said:

The lines on Friday were long. I expect this film to blow up once it gets national distribution.

It's a good movie to see in a packed theater, other than that it makes for a GREAT DVD to watch over and over again. After viewing, you'll want to copy the kids in the film.

I saw folks walk out of the theater krumping. LMAO.

There were many parts in the film where the crowd was clapping because the dancers in the movie WERE GOING OFF.

That's what's up! I was going to see this but chose 'Batman Begins' instead but I'm definitely putting this on my list for next week - Thanks for the heads up!

JANFAN4L said:

You expect a documentary about dancing clowns to "blow up?" I've heard about this film for months now, and I'm going to see it when it opens here, but I can't see the masses flocking to it.

Isnt that the same kind of dancing in Missy's video, "I'm Really Hot". Didn't she used any of the Krumpers or Clowners in the video?

JANFAN4L said:

I went to a screening of this last wednesday in NY while I was visiting and it's a very powerful film. I would recommend anyone seeing it. Some of those people are fierce with those moves but at first it just looked like they were possesed or something. Looked kind of freaky but it turned out to be really interesting. At the end the dancers came out as well as David LaChappelle and did a Q&A. What a treat!

one2three said:

Yup it is. Of course Missy was onto that shit first as always.

RipHer2Shreds said:

"Krumping" is the b-boying of this generation. I expect to see a lot more of it once this film hits. This is first fully original style of hip hop dance to emerge from the culture since B-boying over 20 years ago. The dance style will only continue to cultivate and spread.

L*rd knows, cripwalking was in vogue nationwide just a few years back. Just ask B2K and Lil' Bow Wow.

JANFAN4L said:

You really think this shit is going to catch on across america and around the world?

I saw this film this weekend and I enjoyed it a great deal. Its great to see that urban black youth in America are still pushing envelopes and creating groundbreaking art. It was so refreshing and invigorating to see on the big screen. Its just a shame that the theatre that I was in was half full and the film didnt crack the top 10 gross list for the weekend but dont let that deter you! GO and see this film ASAP. You will enjoy it!

dancerella said:

You never know.

I didn't know that it would become a dance form like it did back home. I didn't know that kids were forming clown/krump crews in the streets. Reminds me of the old b-boy crews in NYC.

You never know.