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"RIZE" (2005) (Documentary) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons *Mild None Moderate None Minor Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy None None Moderate *Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy None Moderate Heavy *Minor QUICK TAKE: Documentary: A look at the energetic and frenetic dance form that's taken off with young people in South Central Los Angeles. PLOT: Documentary filmmaker David LaChapelle takes a look at a wild dance form, called clowning, and a derivative of it, known as krumping, that are wildly popular in South Central Los Angeles. The film starts with a look at the first "clown," Tommy Johnson, an ex-con who turned around his life by dressing as a clown for children's birthday parties and then developed a following of young dancers. It then progresses through introductions to his various disciples and those who went on to develop the street variation of clowning -- krumping -- including the likes of Larry, Dragon, Tight Eyes, Miss Prissy and La Nina. As we learn what motivates the dancers and fuels their frenetic dancing, we see the various participants preparing for and then competing in an annual dance off between the two groups. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're into the dance style or "street dancing" in general, they probably will. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For suggestive content, drug references, language and brief nudity. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: The dancers who are shown in the film appear as themselves, people who want to help others and keep kids out of gangs, such as Larry the Clown, and others, who simply want to stay out of gangs and thus dance, whether to express their feelings or simply as an entertaining diversion. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this documentary that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of a possible "f' word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Some sexually related dialogue is present, as are various sexualized dance moves (some of them graphic in nature, but everyone is clothed), while various buff male dancers are seen shirtless (some African tribesman are also seen in traditional loincloth type garb that shows part of their bare butts) and various buff women are seen in skimpy and/or revealing attire. All of that sexualized and/or frenetic dancing might be enticing for some kids to imitate, as might various ways of dressing and/or accessorizing (in a fashion sense). There's talk of dead, absent or drug-addicted parents and some material briefly touches on inner-city riots (we only see the results via archival footage). There's also mention of two teens being shot to death and talk of drug use, addiction and dealing (but there's no actual use). Some bad attitudes are also present. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, a great deal of the footage is of the shaky, handheld variety that could cause such a reaction in some viewers. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE There's no actual use, but the following drug related comments are present: We hear that Tommy was a drug dealer in the past who served time in prison, but that he's now reformed and trying to help keep younger kids straight and out of trouble. A kid says his mom is in jail and smokes dope, while an adult woman talks of that mother having drug problems. Lil C says that he had to go to a crack house to get his mom out. Dragon's mom says that her parents were drug addicts and that she suffered from substance abuse for 15 years. She states that when she first saw Dragon dancing, she thought he was on drugs or that someone had given him something. There's a lyric in a song about selling coke (cocaine). BLOOD/GORE None. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE A narrator on some archival footage talks of "negroes" rioting in Watts in 1965. Tommy makes a joking comment about some other dancing being "retarded," with Larry then jokingly adopting the look and speech of a stereotypical such person. Various dancers appear to have bad attitudes toward their competitors during a dance contest, but some/all of that could just be posing. We hear that someone broke into Tommy's house while he was gone. We then see that they ransacked the place and hear that they stole stuff. FRIGHTENING SCENES None. GUNS/WEAPONS We see archival footage of African tribesmen carrying spears. A cop wears a standard issue handgun. A painting or arty graffiti shows a person holding a shotgun. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Don't mean sh*t to me," "Bullsh*t," "Nuts" (crazy), "Bull-crap," "Holy-Watts," "Worked his ass off," "Old bat" (said playfully) and "When you get hating, start shaking." All of the various dance moves and mannerisms might be enticing for some kids to imitate. Some young men and women do an improvised dance based on the Rodney King beating footage (mocking hitting one person). Dragon has a large tattoo on his face, while various other people (young men and women) have tattoos on various parts of their bodies. Various people have multiple piercings in their ears, while we see some young women with pierced navels. One guy has a pierced area just above his chin. Various women wear midriff and other sorts of revealing attire. There's some pelvic hip thrusting in some of the dancing moves. We see Larry washing his head in a sink, with his feet on the opposite wall (meaning no part of his body is touching the floor). Various people wear various styles of clown paint on their face. There's talk of the "stripper dance" and then an explanation and demonstration (where a young woman in a bikini top spreads her legs in a squatting position and then rapidly shakes her rear like a stripper might on stage). We also see a shirtless guy do the same. Tommy makes a joking comment about some other dancing being "retarded," with Larry then jokingly adopting the look and speech of a stereotypical such person. Battling another female dancer in a dance-off, a woman pours some water onto her clothed chest (but that does not result in the standard wet t-shirt look). One male dancer mimics a dog raising its leg to pee on a seated dance opponent. A male dancer does a pelvic thrust toward his male competitor (in a power rather than sexual manner). JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) None. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) A song has lyrics about "doing his thing" and "doing their thing" that may be sexual innuendo. Various rap songs included several uses of the "s" word, other expletives and phrases such as "nigger." There's a lyric in a song about selling coke (cocaine). Other songs had lyrics that we couldn't understand, thus offering the possibility of them potentially containing additional objectionable lyrics. PROFANITY Some songs had lyrics that we couldn't understand, thus offering the possibility of them containing additional profanity. That said, we did hear at least 1 possible "f" word, 7 "s" words, 1 slang term using female genitals ("p*ssy"), 3 asses, 1 crap and 2 uses of "Oh my God." SEX/NUDITY Various women wear midriff and other sorts of revealing attire. There's some pelvic hip thrusting in some of the dancing moves. A large poster on the wall shows a woman in a small bikini top that shows a great deal of cleavage. While dancing with a girl (both are clothed), a guy pops up so that his rear is at her crotch and wiggles around, thus simulating a reverse gender, rear entry sexual position. A song has lyrics about "doing his thing" and "doing their thing" that may be sexual innuendo. There's talk of the "stripper dance" and then an explanation and demonstration (where a young woman in a bikini top spreads her legs in a squatting position and then rapidly shakes her rear like a stripper might on stage). We also see a shirtless guy do the same. We see more pelvic gyrations during more dance moves, including from some somewhat scantly clad women. A guy says about young girls "popping" (shaking their butts rapidly) that it's not a sexual thing as they're out there on the dance floor by themselves. We see archival footage of African tribesmen doing dance moves somewhat similar to what their young American counterparts are doing. During some of this, we see some of the tribesmen in loincloth type garb, some of which shows various parts of some of their nearly bare butts (with just a strip of material hanging down in front of their crotch). Various scenes show young women wearing bikini or bra tops (some of which show cleavage). We see Miss Prissy in a bikini top. A dancer does some pelvic thrusting on the floor. Battling another female dancer in a dance-off, a woman pours some water onto her clothed chest (but that does not result in the standard wet t-shirt look). We see more female dancers rigorously shaking their clothed butts while performing. A painting of Jesus shows Him with just some material across his crotch area. We see Miss Prissy dancing in slow motion in a small bikini top. Her skin is glistening with water or sweat, cleavage is clearly visible and her breasts slowly bounce up and down in that slow motion footage. We also see several buff and shirtless men also dancing alongside her (with glistening skin). SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES A kid says his mom is in jail and smokes dope, while an adult woman talks of that mother having drug problems. Lil C says his father committed suicide by shooting himself in the head (and we briefly see the young man visiting his father's gravesite). Lil C says he was shot in his arm (in the past) by a relative who was shooting at his mother and another kid. There's talk of some kids who have no or absent dads. There's talk of possible random violence in the inner-city neighborhoods and then hear that one of the young dancers (a 15-year-old girl) and her friend were shot dead. What may be the girl's mother cries about that. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT A narrator on some archival footage talks of "negroes" rioting in Watts in 1965. We see archival footage showing the results of rioting (vandalism and burning buildings) following the 1965 Watts riots and the 1992 Rodney King riots (where we also see a burning car). We hear that Tommy was a drug dealer in the past who served time in prison, but that he's now reformed and trying to help keep younger kids straight and out of trouble. Some of the dancing that's sexual in nature. A kid says his mom is in jail and smokes dope, while an adult woman talks of that mother having drug problems. Lil C says his father committed suicide by shooting himself in the head (and we briefly see the young man visiting his father's gravesite). There's talk of some kids who have no or absent dads. Tommy is upset that someone has broken into his house while he was out trying to do some good for the local kids. Some of the guys talk of seeing a person be shot in person. There's talk of possible random violence in the inner-city neighborhoods and then hear that one of the young dancers (a 15-year-old girl) and her friend were shot dead. What may be the girl's mother cries about that. What constitutes art, especially when it comes to dancing. Gangs. There's lots of talk from the young people about how religious they are. VIOLENCE We see archival footage showing the results of rioting (vandalism and burning buildings) following the 1965 Watts riots and the 1992 Rodney King riots (where we also see a burning car). There are various scenes where dancers push each other (sometimes quite hard), but we're told that's part of the expression and isn't fighting. There's talk that one of the young dancers (a 15-year-old girl) and her friend were shot dead, but we don't see the violence. We see the results of someone having ransacked Larry's place. Reviewed June 1, 2005 / Posted June 24, 2005

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