Dave Chappelle is throwing a block party in Brooklyn. He's handing out tickets in his Ohio home town to the locals. He invites the Central State University marching band to play. Performers in the party includes Kanye West, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Dead Prez, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, the Roots, Cody ChesnuTT, Big Daddy Kane, and the Fugees.The big takeaway from this film is Chappelle as a charming nice regular guy. His interactions with the regular people are natural and not mean-spirited. I would have liked more behind-the-scene moments with some of the performers. He tends to concentrate more on the regular folks. This is a nice down to earth and fun concert movie.

I was thrilled to learn that Gondry put out a book with Picturebox Inc., called, "You'll Like This Film Because You're In It: The Be Kind Rewind Protocol." The book talks about the experience of filming Block Party, how weird it was for him as a French man from Versailles filming some for Dave Chappelle and his friends. Gondry then goes onto to describe his project to create a film Utopia: different communities film themselves and then play it in theaters.Amidst his French jokes, "my ego was eaten up with every sauce", Gondry's goal is to "prove that people can enjoy their time without being part of the commercial system and serving it...Ultimately I am hoping to create a network of creativity and communication that is guaranteed to be free and independent from any commercial institution." This book is intended for admirers and independent filmmakers and can even be used as an educational tool.It's great, Gondry's anecdotes are great he is a special weird man. Highly recommended.

Shortly before(or maybe shortly after)Dave Chappelle went AWOL on his bosses and producers of his phenomenally popular "Chappelle Show",this movie was released that was capitalizing on his success from it. However,make no mistake:this movie is far less an extension of Dave's show or the characters from his show and far more of a concert movie,with Dave as your architect,quasi-narrator,host and guide.Much more of a documentary than a movie,the film blends interviews with everyone from the various music stars(Erykah Badu,Jill Scott,Mos Def,Common,Big Daddy Kane,Wyclef Jean,Talib Kweli and Lauryn Hill among them)to the various members of the Central States University marching band/drum-line and even various ordinary folk from Dave's home abode in rural Ohio and some of the locals along the Brooklyn block where the concert is held with concert footage. The mood is loose,light and fun,never going below a certain level of relaxed ease even in its more reflective or tense moments(the examples that come to mind are Dave's musings on the relationship of comedians and musicians and the worries of weather--Hurrican Ivan,if I recall correctly,was bearing down on the East coast around and about when this was filmed in September,2004--putting a damper or even canceling the festivities). While Michel Gondry(director of trippy,sensational stuff like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep)would not've been my first pick to film this,he wisely lets this movie walk and talk on its own,focusing on the synthesizing of sounds and sights taking place.You don't have to be a fan of Hip Hop,R&B or Soul(though it would certainly increase your enjoyment of the film)to get a good buzz out of this movie. I don't really consider myself a fan of those genres per se,and yet the energy and rhythms of the performances are infectious. You just need to be willing to spend a little over ninety minutes grooving to the comedy and energy of the inner city party that Mr.Chappelle is giving you. This film is sending you an invite to a party,basically. All you have to do,as in many parties,is bring yourself.

Dave Chappelle's film 'Block Party' felt like one of the longest films in the world - basically because I found it sublime and terribly boring.But - the redeeming value for those who are interested in seeing the film: those who like watching a perpetually stoned semi-funny comedian going back to Brooklyn, New York (or there abouts) to stage a "block party" for the neighborhood and those that like the line up of acts chosen. Since I was not interested or made interested by either, this film didn't connect for me.As a comedian, I find that Dave Chappelle is a "hit or miss". Some things he sketches out and performs are as funny as heck, some things he does are rather mean spirited, blatantly racist (and let me clarify that by saying - just because he's an African American, it does not give him license to be racist against African Americans while others are condemned for doing so) and just plain unthoughtful.Here, his comedic style/social commentary really doesn't matter for nothing he did even cracked a smile on my face, or left me with an afterthought.The alleged philanthropy angle of the film was what most disgusted me - there really wasn't one of merit. I was not impressed, nor did I find it funny. I found it pandering and self-serving and that is not the intention behind philanthropy although that is what it may have turned into. While it's a nice idea to stage an outdoor concert (in this day and time all I have to do is turn on the New York bases morning shows "Today" or "Good Morning America", et al to see one so this was not unique) there wasn't anyone cast I would remotely be interested in watching n film - but for those who do like these folks, this film may be an enjoyable venture depending on who got more film time than others and why.And rather than walking Dave Chappelle through the neighborhood giving out "golden tickets" to the show, (yes, it was more of a "show" than a "block party") why not walk him through the Brooklyn neighborhood giving out real "golden tickets": Educational College Grants/scholarships under his name. But that would not make an interesting film - in the same way this doesn't make an interesting film. For how much this cost to do, that would have been a better idea and would have yielded better, long term rewards for that area. Let me just add here that one of the reasons why this act left me sour is that I am tired of seeing African Americans who have some kind of recognition do nothing more but stage "concerts" and think they're improving neighborhoods and the poor within them by doing so. This is just one more example of missing an opportunity to do something long lasting really worth a darn. This film was a waste of celluloid and the showcasing of musical talent for me, but hey, Chappelle and his production folks made money to keep him "comfortably numb" for a few more years and the 'hip hop' (or whatever you may call them now) "musicians of the minute" chosen to appear got an opportunity to be seen and heard to the fans that support them.