Dave Chappelle's Block Party [WS] [Unrated]

Michel Gondry

Overview

In September 2004, comedian Dave Chappelle took a break from his immensely successful Comedy Central show to stage a free, unpublicized, all-star hip-hop concert in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. Inviting fans over the Internet, on the street, and even in his family's hometown of Yellow Springs, OH, Chappelle asked filmmaker Michel Gondry to document the event from its inception on through to the performances themselves. The result is Dave Chappelle's Block Party, a concert film that provides not only a sampling of the music on display that September, but also an intimate look at the comedian himself. Gondry's cameras tag along with Chappelle as he visits Ohio, recruits a university marching band to play at the show, and surveys the opinions of Clinton Hill on the show that's about to take place. Along the way, we're introduced to some the comedian's favorite acts, in rehearsals and on-stage: Dead Prez, Jill Scott, Mos Def, the Roots, Erykah Badu, Kanye West, and the surprise reuniting of the Fugees.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/13/2006
UPC:	0025193031327
Original Release:	2005
Rating:	NR
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:50:00

Special Features

Closed Caption;Extended music acts; Ohio Players: The Bus Ride; September Night in Brooklyn: The Making of Block Party

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Dave Chappelle	Performer
Kanye West	Performer,Musician
Yasiin Bey	Performer
Talib Kweli	Performer
Common	Performer
Dead Prez	Performer
The Fugees	Performer
Erykah Badu	Performer
Jill Scott	Performer
The Roots	Performer
Cody Chesnutt	Performer
Keyshia Cole	Performer
Chairman Fred	Performer
Fred Hampton, Jr.	Performer
Big Daddy Kane	Performer
John Legend	Performer
Martin Luther	Performer
Pharoahe Monch	Performer
Bilal	Performer
Kool G Rap	Performer
Andre 4000	Performer
Eugenia "China" Black	Back-up Vocals
Keisha Williams	Back-up Vocals
R.C. Williams	Keys
Braylon Lacy	Bass
Raphael Iglehart	Drums
Eric Greene	Drums
Burton Smith	Percussion
DJ Dummy	DJ
Stick Man	Dead Prez
M1	Dead Prez
Miamouna Youssef	Back-up Vocals
Lauryn Hill	The Fugees
Wyclef Jean	The Fugees,Musician
Jerry Duplessis	The Fugees
Donald Guillame	Drums
Leon Higgins	DJ
Greg "DJ Chaps" Dendy	DJ
Tiffany Phinazee	Back-up Vocals
Carla Duren	Back-up Vocals
Tariq 'Black Thought' Trotter	The Roots
Leonard Hubbard	The Roots
James Gray	The Roots
Kirk Douglas	The Roots
Frank Walker	The Roots
Peter Kuzma	Keys
Dave Manly	Guitar
Valvin Roane	Back-up Vocals
Caroline Johnson	Back-up Vocals
Leonard Harris	Back-up Vocals
Dexter Mills	Back-up Vocals
DJ A Trak	DJ
Adam Blackstone	Bass
Omar Edwards	Keys
Kevin Hanson	Guitar
Norman Jeff Bradshaw	Trombone
Matt Cappy	Trumpet
Chris Farr	Saxophone
James Poyser	Keys
Don Moore	Bass
Rudolph Walker	Drums
Isaac Ben Ayala	Piano
Craig Bailey	Saxophone
Tyren De'Armond	Performer
Jonathan Evans	Performer
Nicole Marie Evans	Performer
Alice Goguen	Actor
Robin Grundy	Performer
Mary Hall	Performer
Lisa Harbison	Performer
Anthony Jackson, II	Performer
Leann Javins	Performer
Jeffrey A. Johnson	Performer
Jamon Lewis	Performer
Jonathan L. Lofton	Performer
Montez Morton	Performer
Craig Peterson	Performer
Bobby Robbins	Performer
David C. Roberts	Performer
Elinor Rossi	Performer
Jeffrey Tollette	Performer
Doris Totty	Performer
Jamila C. Totty	Performer
Aaron Wallingford	Performer
D.J. Wallingford	Performer
Alphonso Washington	Performer
Brian Milsapp	Performer
Central State University Marching Band	Performer
The Brooklyn Steppers	Bed-Stuy
Luz Grice	Bed-Stuy
Darren "Mr T." Hymes	Bed-Stuy
Lil' Cease	Bed-Stuy
Andrea Smith	Bed-Stuy
Arthur Wood	Performer
Cynthia Wood	Performer
Freeway	Performer
Dave Chapelle	Performer

Technical Credits

Michel Gondry	Director
Dave Chappelle	Producer
Skot Bright	Executive Producer
Mustafa Abuelhija	Producer
Doug Levine	Executive Producer
Greg Manocherian	Executive Producer
Bob Yari	Producer
Julie Fong	Producer
Mark Roy	Sound Mixer
Karl Wasserman	Sound Mixer
Brian Miksis	Sound Mixer
Paul Bang	Sound Mixer
Chris Kellett	Sound Mixer
Wim Tzouris	Sound/Sound Designer
Gary Silver	Sound Mixer
Jeffrey Livesey	Sound Mixer
Nick Hammond	Sound Mixer

Editorial Reviews

This modest but intensely likeable celebration of hip-hop is smartly built around the warm, relaxed accessibility of Dave Chappelle's onscreen persona. Rather than simply build to and then show the concert performances in full, it cuts back and forth between Chappelle's preparations, backstage patter, and comic stream-of-conscious camera monologues. Some of the most amusing sequences take place in Ohio when Dave hands out tickets and interacts with local shopkeepers and pre-concert footage in which Chappelle acts is a go-between as both enthused fan and celebrity. Director Michel Gondry seemingly shares a whimsical propensity with Chappelle, but, besides the balloon letters springing onscreen during the opening credits sequence, his visual eccentricities are discarded for a straightforward cinéma vérité approach. The shooting of many of the musical performances feels like an afterthought and they aren't always shown in full, but highlights include a diva face-off between Jill Scott and Erykah Badu over the vocal hook in the Roots' "You Got Me," Dead Prez storming the stage to "Turn off the Radio" and "Hip Hop," and Kanye West's marching band-led entrance to "Jesus Walks." The only disappointment is the Fugees' slightly flat reunion, an anticlimax to a film that captures the sunny spontaneity (despite the rain) of a block party at its life-affirming best.