I'm a chump for an urban style dance movie. A complete chump. I watch and smile and bob my head and groove and move and tap my feet and glide and slide while in my seat. Hey, that all rhymed! Seriously, I'm on the edge of said seat during these movies and want to hop up and bust my own moves. Or bust my own head, if it's a break-dancing movie. But what officially makes me a chump is that I pay to watch these usually predictable, limited-story-line, clichéd movies. And even worse, I have the nerve to like them with no sincere apologies.

Well, I'm pleased to share my happiness with the other suckers out there in AfterEllen.com land who enjoy these movies. A new release, How She Move, opens Friday, and it looks like it has the music, the moves, the predictability and the clichés that I find hard to resist!

Ever since Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation video back in the day, I am drawn to choreographed dance sequences. I tolerate the story lines of movies just to get to the dance sequences. I tolerate marginal acting just to get to the dance sequences. I tolerate the clichés just to get to the dance sequences. See, a real chump.

How She Move follows a high school student who, upon her sister's death, is forced "to leave her private school to return to her old, crime-filled neighborhood where she re-kindles an unlikely passion for step dancing." The film is the screen debut of relative newcomer Rutina Wesley as the protagonist, Raya. Yep, it's a movie told from a young woman's point of view — so already it's different than many of its predecessors.

Here's the trailer: … continue reading

I'm an occasional viewer of So You Think You Can Dance — only occasional because host Cat Deeley bugs me and because sometimes the show is just too much work (must it really be two hours long?). But generally I like it because it focuses on a talent you can't really fake — there are no Sanjaya equivalents who get votes based on hair or image rather than skill. … continue reading