Block Party (2005)

Director:

Michel Gondry

Writer:

Dave Chappelle (writer)

Release Date:

3 March 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy | Music

Tagline:

You're invited to the party of the decade!

Plot:

A mix of Dave Chappelle's sketch comedy and musical interludes, inspired in part by the 1973 documentary Wattstax.

Plot Keywords:

Marching Band | Block Party | Neighborhood | Kitchen Scene | Bedford Stuyvesant

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Dave Chappelle	...	Himself / Host
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Erykah Badu	...	Herself
Isaac ben Ayala	...	Isaac ben Ayala
Bilal	...	Himself (as Bilal Oliver)
Lil' Cease	...	Himself - Bed-Stuy
Cody ChesnuTT	...	Himself
Keyshia Cole	...	Herself
Common	...	Himself
Mos Def	...	Himself
Jerry 'Wonder' Duplessis	...	Himself - The Fugees (as Jerry 'Wonda' Duplessis)
The Fugees	...	Themselves
Alice Goguen	...	Herself - Ohio
James 'Kamal' Gray	...	Himself - The Roots
Fred Hampton Jr.	...	Himself (as Chairman Fred Hampton Jr.)
Lauryn Hill	...	Herself - The Fugees
Leonard 'Hub' Hubbard	...	Himself - The Roots
Darren Hymes	...	Himself - 'Mr. T.'
Wyclef Jean	...	Himself - The Fugees
Big Daddy Kane	...	Himself
Talib Kweli	...	Himself
John Legend	...	Himself
Martin Luther	...	Himself
Pharoahe Monch	...	Himself
Pras	...	Himself - The Fugees (as Prakazrel 'Pras' Michel)
Dead Prez	...	Themselves
Kool G. Rap	...	Himself
The Roots	...	Themselves
Jill Scott	...	Herself
Ahmir-Khalib Thompson	...	Himself (as Ahmir '?uestlove' Thompson)
Tariq Trotter	...	Himself - The Roots (as Tariq 'Black Thought' Trotter)
Kanye West	...	Himself
Arthur Wood	...	Himself
Cynthia Wood	...	Herself

Also Known As:

Dave Chappelle's Block Party (Canada: English title) (festival title) (International: English title) (USA) (complete title)
Untitled Dave Chappelle/Michel Gondry Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

103 min | Canada:100 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Canada:14A | Australia:M | Ireland:15A | Germany:o.Al. | USA:R (certificate #42383) | Argentina:13 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Bob Yari Productions

Trivia:

Concertgoers had to register on-line, then were told to meet at a secret location in the Chinatown section of Manhattan. From there, they were bussed to the concert location, which was also kept secret. The majority of the acts that would be appearing were also kept secret from the concertgoers. Admission to the concert was free.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Dave Chappelle's main reason for holding the block party in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn was because, he says, that hip-hop originated there. However, hip-hop really originated in the South Bronx and spread to the other sections of New York soon afterward.

Quotes:

Dave Chappelle: [playing bongos in front of a crowd] 5,000 black people chillin' in the rain. 19 white people peppered in the crowd. Trying to find a Mexican.

Movie Connections:

References "The A-Team" (1983)

Soundtrack:

The Way

An unexpectedly pleasant surprise!

For someone like me who didn't watch much of Dave Chappelle or who isn't big into the hip-hop music, I was actually pleased with this. Maybe it's with the help of Michel Gondry, who I read/seen on TV say that he wanted to humanize the whole experience, both of the artists and the audience. That he did as I was completely moved and knew if I had been there, I would've felt the spiritual connection with the audience that I'm sure those there felt.

I think it was definitely worth the near 10 bucks. A fair amount of good rap/hip-hop music (dude, I was even bobbing my head), a fair amount of interviews, a fair amount of comedy, and a fair amount of social commentary. This movie provides a face for the reason why hip-hop is relevant to our culture. And, I seriously give mad props to Dave for getting GOOD rap acts for his party.

Ultimately, I think it's actually better going in not knowing what to expect from it as well.