Shabba-Doo Movies
The first major breakdancing film, Breakin' stars Lucinda Dickey as a dancing student who dislikes the hidebound regimen of her demanding teacher. She breaks free from terpischorean tradition when she befriends a bunch of street kids devoted to breakdancing. Within a year of its release, Breakin' spawned a sequel, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucinda Dickey, Adolpho "Shabba Doo" Quinones, (more)
Breakdancing, hip-hop, rap, and a good time are the main stars of this standard teen movie about youths trying to raise money to save their community club from being razed for a shopping mall. Ozone (Adolfo Quiñones) and Turbo (Michael Chambers) are two master breakdancers who have started a community club to teach other teens how to manage the acrobatics of the dance without literally breaking anything. Their efforts create some choreographed, group breakdancing that is rather innovative. But an evil developer (Peter MacLean) sees their property as ideal for a shopping mall project -- and a crooked politician is willing to back him up for a fee. As the teens do their best to raise money to keep their center, some are also battling with restrictive parents or trying to ease into romantic liaisons that offer their own challenges. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucinda Dickey, Adolpho "Shabba Doo" Quinones, (more)
- 1990
A series of killings center around the world of dancing, and a Los Angeles police detective must unravel the murders. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
One of several films released to trade on the short-lived Lambada craze (it was an especially sexy Latin dance in case you don't remember), Lambada stars J. Eddie Peck as Kevin Laird, a mathematics teacher at an exclusive Beverly Hills high school who by night puts away his slide rule and shuffles down to the barrio where, as Blade, he frequents a disco called No Man's Land and cuts loose, instructing the thermal-heated females on how to dance the lambada. After the bumping and grinding, he takes the ladies to a back room where he helps them get their GEDs. It appears that all is well with Kevin; he is appointed head of the mathematics department by principal Singleton (Keene Curtis) and his family never questions why he goes out at night dressed in leather and earrings. But then one of his students, Sandy (Melora Hardin), spots Kevin's gyrating pelvis when she heads to No Man's Land after an argument with her boyfriend Dean (Ricky Paull Goldin). Sandy begins to frequent the club and it is not long before Kevin's double-life is revealed. Dean comes to the club to take Sandy back and a disgruntled member of Kevin's barrio entourage, Ramone (Shabba-Doo), tells Dean the truth about Kevin. The result is a rumble between the posh high school kids and the barrio dropouts. Kevin is promptly fired, but a petition by Sandy reinstates him as the two opposing groups of kids square off in a math competition. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- J. Eddie Peck, Melora Hardin, (more)
Sylvester Stallone tries his luck with his first cop buddy movie in Tango and Cash, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. Stallone is Ray Tango, a Los Angeles narcotics cop who dresses in fancy suits, wears wire-rim glasses, and talks to his stockbroker more than he talks to his mother. Kurt Russell is Gabriel Cash, another Los Angeles narcotics cop who has long, disheveled blonde hair and dresses in worn-out sweatshirts. Together, Tango and Cash are the two best narcs in LA, which causes drug baron Yves Perret (Jack Palance) no end of distress. Since Yves controls a billion-dollar drug empire, Tango and Cash have to be taken out of the picture in some way. So Yves arranges for Tango and Cash to be framed for a crime. But the duo accepts a plea bargain that will give them 18 months in a minimum-security prison. Unfortunately, Yves arranges for their destination to be diverted to a maximum-security hell-hole where Yves's minions proceed to torture Tango and Cash --although they still have time to trade quips with each other. Ultimately, they escape from their torture chamber and seek out Yves and his gang. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, (more)
