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Rize | 2005 | PG-13 | - 5.4.5

A new dance movement called "krumping," born in the heart of the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, is explored in this documentary. The new dance is presented as a positive outgrowth from conventional rap and hip-hop, but without any criminal connotations. With Tommy the Clown, Lil Tommy, Larry, Lil C and Tight Eyez. Directed by David LaChapelle. [1:24]

SEX/NUDITY 5 - Two young women dance suggestively on either side of a young man; the man gets on his hands and knees and thrusts toward the floor. A young woman talks about doing a "stripper dance" and demonstrates by spreading her legs, squatting down and thrusting her hips repeatedly. A young man stands on his hands, then backs up into a woman, he wraps his legs around her waist and bumps his hips up and down. Young men and young women dance slapping their chests and grabbing their crotches (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). Young men and young women bump hips while dancing.
 A young woman tears her top off and dances wearing a bra top, and a man tears his shirt off and dances bare-chested. Young women are shown in bra tops and low-cut shorts and pants revealing cleavage, bare abdomens and bare thighs. A young woman wears short shorts that reveal part of her buttocks. Young men are shown bare-chested and wearing low-slung pants that reveal the tops of their boxer shorts. Tribal men are shown in loin cloth-type coverings that reveal bare buttocks. A poster of a woman wearing a bra top that reveals cleavage hangs in the background of a scene. We see a painting of Jesus being lowered from a cross with a sheet draped over his crotch.
 A young man describes a dance move as looking like "she's begging." A young man talks about a young woman "popping her booty."

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - We hear reports that a 13-year-old girl and boy were shot dead on the street by people driving by in a car. A man talks about his father having committed suicide (he shot himself in the head). Two young men talk about a man getting shot in the head. A young man talks about his grandfather having shot him in the arm. A boy talks about someone having hit him in the head and then turned around and "beat him up real bad."
 We see fires burning, stores being looted and people being arrested during riot scenes (seems like newsreel footage). We hear that a man's house has been broken into and ransacked, and then we see the rubble of what is left.
 We hear song lyrics about "brothers getting slain." Young men and young women dance slapping their chests and grabbing their crotches and thrashing violently as an expression of anger or rage, and sometimes one dancer shoves another (there's no actual violence between the two dancers). Young women pretend to be beating each other (one stands over the other and swings her arm down).
 During dance battles young men and women compete with dance moves: one such battle has a young man imitating a dog urinating on his opponent, and when the winners of the competition are announced a few members of the losing team are angry and yell.
 We see a painting of Jesus being lowered from a cross, and he has bloody wounds. A man advertises his "Payless Caskets" store.

LANGUAGE 5 - 1 F-word, 1 obscene hand gesture, 8 scatological terms, 2 anatomical terms, 1 mild obscenity, 5 derogatory terms for African-Americans.

SUBSTANCE USE - People talk about drug dealing and having been drug dealers. A man talks about having done jail time for selling drugs, and a boy talks about his mother being in jail for drug use. A young man talks about having had to get his mother out of a crack house.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - 1965 Watts riots, 1992 Rodney King riots, ghetto conditions, oppression, evolution of dance movements, mourning, grief, story telling, tribal dancing, dance as a method of taking out one's anger, growing up without parental involvement, finding God, morals, values, hate, expressing one's talent, style, longing for affection, jealousy, competition, battle dancing, role models, gangs, gang bangers, respect, celebrity, Hip Hop, drug dealing, opportunity, freedom of expression.

MESSAGE - Everything changes and evolves. Everyone has a right to express himself, in whichever way.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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