I apologise, we feel bad, but there's no trailer available. ~Ed.
While not providing the laughs of 'The Dave Chappelle Show' (hasn't screened here, but I seen the DVD - it's good), the free wheelin', reflective 'Block Party' bursts with positivity and goodwill. Watching it, with a packed crowd that also embraced the film, was one of the best movie experiences I've had.
Michel Gondry's hand is felt only lightly as he wisely lets Chappelle steal the show. Watching Chappelle is like watching your funny friend. He's smart-assed and loud, but does it without e and, charmingly, always looks a little nervous on camera.
The party is a free concert, held on a street in Brooklyn New York. Organised by Chappelle, he enlists performances from the hugely talented Mos Def, Kanye West, Dead Prez (a stand-out), Jill Scott (also a stand-out), The Roots and The Fugees (who re-united for this).
The performances are low-fi and personal, the performers in tune with their crowd and totally engaging. I couldn't look away. The music captures perfectly the mood of the film's characters.
Intercut with the concert are scenes of Chappelle handing out 'Golden tickets' in his hometown in Ohio; musings from the comedian and his musician buddies; meeting the locals and letting them know what's ing on; and a particularly cute, impromptu invitation to a high-school marching band (to perform at the concert).
With anti-American feeling ripe at present, the film feels like an insight into another face of the States. These massively rich entertainers are surprisingly down to earth and appear to think, as much as many outsiders do, that their country is fucked up.
And with a simple suggestion from Chappelle, they flock together for a free concert in the afternoon, in Brooklyn, in the rain. A very strong sentiment of generosity and optimism permeates by the film's end.
By Paul Scantlebury, Flicks.co.nz
Loved this movie - Gondry captures the best of the preperation, the concert and the humour of the funniest man of the moment - Dave Chappelle... definitely one of the top 3 hip hop films of all time...
OK, but best for fans of the music. Obviously.
This is fantastic. Chappelle is funny and the performers are ego-less. The live music is great. It has a free flowing feel and leaves you inspired.
The word "community" has become a cliche, but this party illustrates a specific sense of cultural community and the singular bliss of standing on a street in summer rain for a once-in-a-lifetime...
Once in a great while there's a movie that's so funny, infectious and welcoming - a movie that makes you feel so od about America and the people in it - you just want to climb inside the screen and live there. That's the case with "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" - part comedy, part concert film, part avant-garde experiment, and all of it a joy...
Mr. Chappelle looks and sounds alternately ebullient and weary. It was directed by madcap genius Michel ndry, but in its tone and vibe feels like Mr. Chappelle's all the way...
There's ample coverage to send audiences into a cheering, head-bobbing, finger-wagging frenzy, and Gondry's loose editing and camerawork complement the improvisational feel of Chappelle's comic banter...
Chappelle's comedy comes from dissection of race, but as an actual comic he is naturally funny: laidback but paradoxically almost always 'on', he enjoys himself the entire way through...
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 3rd Aug 2006.
Release date: August 3rd 2006.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
