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Dave Chappelle's Block Party


THMILIN'S RATING: A- (content) / B+ (film quality)

THE SETUP
(from movies.yahoo)



'Dave Chappelle's Block Party' spotlights comedy superstar Dave Chappelle in all-new freestyle standup material, and also one-time-only performances by Kanye West, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Dead Prez, Jill Scott, and The Roots, among others. The combination of comedy and music was shot on location, as Chappelle threw a party in downtown Brooklyn, inviting local residents and cameras. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michel Gondry and cinematographer Ellen Kuras captured the performances.

My note: He returns to one of his childhood stomping grounds, Yellow Springs, Ohio, to ask elderly white folk who don't even listen to rap to come on out. He asks the lady who runs the dimestore, where he occasionally bought cigarettes. He asks a parole officer who keeps an eye on the bad kids in town. Etc. It's very cute, sweet, and he's very genuine. He also asks a college marching band that swings on by by chance.

THE REVIEW

Oh, Dave. I saw him on Bravo's Actor's Studio earlier this year, a 2 hour special on him. It was supergood. He was far funnier in that, actually, than he was in Block Party. However, it turns out that this concert movie was meant to be more about a comedian's love of music, than it was meant to be about the comedian who orchestrated it.

Which is beautiful. Thus, the movie will stand the test of time far longer than Half-Baked. I'm not saying the film is genius, I'm simply saying it is a love letter to black culture, black history, black politics, black music, black people. By a black comedian, and the black musical artists he admires and feels a kinship with. He discusses how comedians and musicians have a long, intertwined history together. It's a lovingly presented film that didn't have the biggest budget (Chappelle says so himself) so it lacks in some things (some portions are really really grainy and don't have the best lighting). But in a way, this ads to the story Chappelle is trying to tell.



Chappelle covers the relationship between musicians and comedians while tinkling out his favorite jazz piano song on an un-tuned piano in a Salvation Army that's lending his crew some furniture to use on their roof to overlook the block party as it goes on below. I'm paraphrasing from memory:

Originally Posted by DaveChappelle
All comedians are sticklers for timing ... and can usually play a little something ... and all musicians think they're funny. So, MosDef, he's a musician, but he's also a really really funny guy. ... and I'm mediocre at both ... but I managed to talk my way into MILLIONS!
He's the MC for the show, and the movie. He intersperses reality comedy (ie, an unassuming guy roaming around who, by simply being himself in every day situations, ends up being amusing) with scenes of setting up/rehearsing for the concert, which was actually held in Sept. 2004. Then we get scenes from the concert itself, and the crowd and their reaction.

Chappelle is understated and friendly in this film, even allowing a guy he calls "Mr. T" to come up and free-style on the stage with him and rumple up Chappelle's jacket with some friendly mussing. He rolls through the neighborhood, asks questions, chitchats, cracks a few jokes just naturally through the convo. Then you see him coaching the performers on how he wants the show to play, and musing them all.

There are some really magical backstage/pre-show moments - artists admiring other artists. Jill Scott talks about Erykah Badu, who is dressed crazy. A surprise performer shows up at the end ... it's all magic. It's not all polished like the Grammies or a tour show - it's real, and honest, and genuine. Chappelle wanted to bring poor, every day people into contact with average income people to come enjoy famous people who mingle with them before and after the show - showing they're just as real as the crazy person on the street preaching about the new world order.

You get glimpses of hip hop history, and you engage with hip hop icons, who don't get their music played on the radio because they sing things like, "I'm ready to run up into City Hall and set the crackers on fire." It's figurative, and reflective of the struggle and the lack of a voice, being muffled and hidden, unplayed on the radio because those in power don't want you heard.

It's so sweet, and so real, and so magical. Erykah Badu rocks a shirt that says "CORONER" - MosDef plays straight man on the drums to Chappelle's crazy man - there is a camaraderie here, and a history here. You discover how artists hung out in the same hood, grew up in the same area - Jay Z next to Common, etc. John Legend rolls through, Dead Prez rolls through ...

Kanye West Walks With Jesus


It's honest poetry and musical virtuosity mixing together, caucasians blending with blacks, comedians and musicians loving the music but loving the music more than for the tribal connection (tribal reaching beyond africa to the core tribes we are ALL descended from, white and black). It's a love for the music beyond the packaging and the money - it's music that got you out of the projects, music that got you a scholarship, music that let you cry out when you were demoralized by your country at war or in courtrooms, music that let you point out the crimes against you and those you love.

The son of a murdered Black Panther rolls through, teaches the crowd to raise their fist and say "Power to the People." He gives an offstage speech about the murder of his father by police, brief, and demands that it not be censored.

There's a beautiful scene with Wyclef from the Fugees - he's known for messing around on a piano and having a conversation with others to teach while he's playing. He's done it on The Score album, asking school children about their ideas on love. In this one, he asks the college marching band - what would you do if you were president? Answers include ending the war, getting more jobs for people, getting more scholarships so students can go to school. And then Wyclef makes a song out of it - and ends it with a prompt.

Paraphrasing again -
Originally Posted by WyclefJean
Don't blame whitey for anything. White people aren't responsible for sh|t. YOU are - you do what you gotta do. I'm so happy to see black people in college. I started in this country not speaking any English - it's my THIRD language. And you see that I made something of myself. You can do it - make something of yourself.
So perfect. And as he leaves, the students are cheering. They've just gotten a moment they'll get to treasure forever. They've also gotten some inspiration to keep pursuing personal growth and knowledge - they can BELIEVE success is possible. And it's so wonderful to be there with The Fugees, a core group in hiphop/rap, who disbanded ages ago. And now they're coming back together because of this concert, mingling with everyone and doing what they do best.

Talib Kweli Rocks the Mic


It turns musicians into people, comedians into people. Real people who just want to create what they were born to create, and to share it with people who feel the power of the same vision. There are jam session scenes, and the moments are pure and unpolished and unslick, but they are real, and honest, and powerful.

You get a comment from Lauryn Hill - "Where have *I* been? There -- that's where I've been." And she points to her kid at the back of the stage - she's been off being a mother.

The mix of people and colors is captured by Chappelle - they've used this quote in the screen and radio trailers:

Originally Posted by DaveChappelle
10000 black peeeeeple ... 19 white people peppered into the crowd ... trying to find a ... mexican ....
Dave Chappelle Serves Some Beat With His Comedy


I think it's definitely worth seeing. There is some cussing, but these are such talented artists. The cussing is just a byproduct, the point isn't foul language. The point is artistry, and as Chappelle himself says while sitting next to the director of the nearby day care center where I believe they said Jay-Z went as a kid -

Originally Posted by DaveChappelle
This is the greatest thing of my career. I am so proud of this ...
He says it haphazardly in the midst of chitchatting with her ... more quiet than his usual loudness, before he wanders off into a more inyourface joke. These little moments show the man Chappelle is, the heart behind his creating a block party of this caliber to share with people who will get to treasure this and know they might never see anything like it again.

Definitely worth seeing.