Dave Chappelle's Block Party

Seeing this picture after a Hard night of partying, I had few expectations. But the laughs I had at the beginning of the movie set the tone for the rest of the picture. I just recently became a Chappelle fan, having only heard his comedy on Satellite radio. But I thought this movie was a nice blend of street and situational comedy, and I couldn't take my eyes off the circa. 1972 afro that Quest was sporting. It was poetry in motion.

I was not very knowledgeable about a few of the groups in the movie but I thought the concert scenes were great, and was in awe of the sheer musical ability of the featured groups; so much so, that I stopped and picked up a Jill Scott CD for my ride home.

You will laugh at the comedy scenes but this movie is not really about making you laugh. It seems to be a cross-cultural primer using comedy, music and just general conversation, to give all of us a small look into each other's world.

This movie is One of a kind, it created a magic that most films will never achieve. It is filled with some incredible performances and the first appearance of the Fugees in almost ten years. If Lauren Hill's performance doesn't move you then you must be a robot because that women is a goddess. I think Block Party will be looked back upon and be remembered as one of the greatest moments for music in the new millennium. This will go down in the books as one of the greatest Music documentary's of all time right alongside Woodstock. It is also fun to watch Dave continue his racial commentary on today's society. I loved Block Party and will recommend this movie to everyone I know.

Some have said that Michel Gondry directed this documentary (this is not a movie) like their grandfather would have done with a mini-DV camera. Well, man, I'd like to meet your grandfather.

For those of you who don't know "When We Were Kings", it's time to watch it. Because both this documentaries are about the same thing. Of course I wouldn't say Block Party is as good, nor as powerful as when we were kings. But the purpose is the same: try to unite black people on one event, try to make them realise that even when you're black and coming from a poor neighbourhood, you can do something of your life without only blaming the white man for your condition.

Of course, at the time When We Were Kings was shot, Mobutu was Zaire's Dictator, and the movie was financed by Liberian producers, who mostly owned their money from selling diamonds coming from Sierra Leone, exchanged against AK-47's and other weapons. Therefore the omnipotent contradiction hidden behind the Black condition, and even mankind in general, but it has hurt black people much more: people trying to do good, and others getting money out of it with no rules or respect for anything or anyone.

So, for once, here in Block Party, it's something done for fun, not for money, but also for ideas, with representatives of this movement we don't see enough: Not only people AGAINST something or someone, but FOR a change, using the power that is present in this population. And Michel Gondry, who is a GREAT director, filmed this in the same way When We Were Kings was shot. Camera in hand, close-ups, rough cuts, interviews over the music, same kind of music, same kind of people. Showing the poverty, and showing there's hope. It's not a masterpiece to me, but a good documentary. And of course, if you don't like hip-hop it's hard to like it. I'm a huge fan of ALL the artist on this movie, I would have made exactly the same programmation if I had been in control!

I take very seriously the whole process of consuming or taking part in artistic expression. Consequently, I also take very seriously the act of reviewing a movie feature, either with a rating on a website or with a written essay about it.

If one cares to check my rating history, it's easy to realize I'm not one to give away 10 stars ratings that easily. Great movies which are universally praised haven't got it. To get a 10, a movie has to hit all the right notes with me.

"David Chappelle's Block Party" did it - but I'm not surprised. Only one director managed to get 4 of his movies rated 10 on my list. This means I'm putting Michel Gondry as the best director of all times, over the greats such as Tarantino, Gilliam, Kubrick, Hitchcock, Robert Wise, the Coen brothers and so many more, including Godard, Renoir or Scola.

Those who know me are aware that I hate what I call "fanboyism" (i.e. the culture of idolatry) more than anything in life. I truly believe it's one of the most serious maladies of our times. But this guy knows how to shoot movies better than any other human being, so what can I say? The fact that he seems to avoid the temptation of becoming arrogant about his own success, and that this humility clearly shows on the way he writes his film-making history, it's evidence enough for me that what he has done should be an example for all others venturing in the crazy world of cinema.

I also believe cinema and art as a whole should always be a tool to raise social awareness, so those who think "cinema is entertainment" should not even have started reading my review. For this very same reason I tend to give higher ratings to documentaries in general, as opposed to fictional feature movies - although biopics and history movies also take advantage of my bias, to the extent that they provide an accurate portrait of reality.

The other three Gondry movies I've given a 10-star rating: "Eternal Sunshine...", "La science des rêves" and "Be Kind Rewind" - they all share this same verisimilitude quality, even though they are all science-fiction. I suppose it doesn't have to be real, to feel real.

Besides these qualities aforementioned, a 10-star movie should also be beautifully shot, carry a compelling story, have beautiful music and likable characters. More than anything, they have to make me cry. And they have to make me laugh, and laugh hard. They need to be able to make me realize how beautiful the world we live in is. But they also cannot ever try to make me forget all the terrible things that we do to each other.

They need to remind me how fragile is peace and harmony in the world, they should bring about a sober recognition of the challenges we face, and the defeats we've suffered in the past. But they should not be apocalyptic or defeatist (looking at you, Ridley Scott). We're still alive, and that's the good news, always. Aliens don't always have to invade Earth, conflict for conflict's sake does not a good movie make.

It might sound crazy that a movie about a block party in Brooklyn could elicit so many feelings in one person sitting on the other side of the planet... I've watched it twice, separated by a good number of years, to make sure that it does. And it does, and I still love every minute of it, down to the very last second of soundtrack on the credits. Bare in mind that I'm not even a huge hip-hop fan, but this isn't about a music genre - it's about people like me, like all of us.

Nobody in the world could have done it so beautifully, so gently, so unpretentiously. Nobody but Dave Chappelle could make me lose my breath laughing, and keep a smile on my face for almost two hours. Nobody in the world would have been able to capture the beauty of this reality, without putting his own ego on the way, but Michel Gondry - not unlike what he did on the very good "The We and the I", though here on "Block Party" once again he has achieved perfection. And he did so once again by not getting in the way of a beautiful story waiting to be told. His eyes are our eyes, the eyes of curious people not looking for a lecture, but eager to be allowed in different worlds, and to be accepted therein.

Watch this, then join me on waiting for whatever the folks involved on this movie come up with next. They're talented and they appreciate the beauty that exists in this world, and we badly need it now that the dark times are back.

...However as a rap-concert movie, it's one of the better ones I've seen in quite a while. It works for a few reasons, though for some it may not work as well as for others. Basically, if you're coming into this expecting Chappelle doing more of his stand-up &/or sketches, you'll wonder how you could've been misled (not that his moments on screen don't elicit enough laughs for satisfaction, at least for a Chappelle admirer like myself)- in fact many white audience members going into the film walked out of screenings. If this is due to the film-making style or something wrong on the end of director Michel Gondry, or just not caring for the rap and hip-hop, is up for debate. But considering the kind of mix of better-than-usual rap music, solid cinema verier style camera-work by Gondry and his small crew, and the fine bits of interview footage, it's actually not a bad film if you go into it knowing what you'll get. For some it may be one of the film events of the season &/or year.

One reason it worked is that- and this is of course a subjective part of seeing Block Party- the musical acts are better than most of the rap and hip-hop currently heard on radio and seen on the music channels. Led by an actual band playing music as opposed to all beat machines, the groups (of which are Chappelle's own favorites, and some of which already appeared on the hit or miss musical segments of his show) bring out solid beats, and the rappers or singers are not off-putting or ridiculous. The highlights for me were with Kanye West (with a cool, powerful mix of himself and a school band for 'Jesus Walks'), The Roots, and the Fugee's 'Killing Me Softly'. There are also some cool, loose moments with Chappelle and some people backstage where he jams and riffs and jokes (funny jokes too, albeit for the musician's expense more than for the audience). For someone like myself losing interest in more of the ultra-violent, idiotic and over-indulgent rap music of the day, it was not unpleasant at all to get dropped back into it with acts that were fresh and interesting (not that there aren't some mis-steps, Dead Prez and Common not being some of the highlights for me).

The other thing that made the film work though is Gondry's natural eye with his lens, as he just stands by getting down the attitudes, the emotions and little bits of life in the midst of this huge spectacle. There isn't anything outstanding in his style like with the Maysles brothers or DA Pennebaker in terms of capturing the music in action, and sometimes his focus strays to people on camera who take up a little too much time. But for the most part (with some exceptions of little moments that just don't work) his attention to the rhythm of a film, and the rhythm of film led by music- he is one of the most artistically dominant forces in music videos of the past ten or so years- is focused just right. This style also compliments Chappelle, who has a laid back kind of way of talking to people, but with a sense of humor that cuts the chase. Some of the best parts though of his moments on screen aren't expected, improvised, like the James Brown bit on stage, or his obscure ability to play two specific jazz songs on piano, or even his more juvenile jokes in jamming.

In short, it's a side of Chappelle you might not usually see at times, or with Gondry, and it all gels together for the sake of the audience that showed up for the show. Nothing too pretentious, and entertaining enough to keep those interested in their seats.