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Features: DVD, Rated, Pan and Scan (TV Format), Aspect Ratio 1.33:1, Dolby Digital (5.1); Dolby Surround Sound, English, Spanish, French Subtitled
Celebrate with Dave Chappelle in the uncensored, unforgettable and unbelievably hilarious full-length movie about throwing the ultimate block party. Join Dave as he travels through the heartland and makes a special stop in his hometown to pass out invitations to attend the event of the decade. It s a front-row seat for outrageous laughs with music from today s hottest artists. Be a part of what Dave Chappelle calls the best single day of my career! System Requirements:Running Time: 103 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE
"...part comedy, part concert film, part avant-garde experiment, and all of it a joy." Jami Bernard, New York Daily News
"...its mood of exuberant democracy extends to every rap and soul performance in the film." Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
"It's a defiant act of optimistic patriotism." Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
Editor's Note
Between the sharp comedic mind of David Chappelle and the quirky brilliance of French director Michel Gondry (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND), there's not a single bad moment to be found in this captivating concert documentary chronicling a massive block party that Chappelle threw in 2004 down in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. With acts like the Roots, Kanye West, Jill Scott, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, and a reunion of the Fugees, this will be an automatic favorite for the hip-hop/neo-soul crowd. In its perceptive, celebratory way, the film opens the VIP gates on hip-hop culture and invites everyone in for a funky good time. Gondry's fly-on-the wall camera approach recalls D.A. Pennebaker docs like DON'T LOOK BACK (1967) but the attitude is more laid back and genial; the stars, the band, the locals, the marching band Chappelle buses in from his Ohio hometown, all come together with a rare sense of charmed spontaneity--watching it becomes akin to participation. Chappelle is hilarious, whether handing out golden tickets to old ladies or reciting improv poetry to a bongo beat, and the music is just as good, with highlights being Lauryn Hill's heartbreaking "Killing Me Softly," and Kayne Wests's galvanizing "Jesus Walks." This BLOCK PARTY re-writes a host of rules about what a concert film can be, and it does it with enough love to spill out of the theater and into the neighborhood.
| Features | Full Screen Presentation | | Audio: English Dolby Digital (5.1); Dolby Digital Surround | | Subtitles: English, Spanish,
French |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Universal |
| Release Date: 5/5/2009 |
| Running Time: 103 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2006 | | Catalog ID: 26548 | | UPC: 00025192654824 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Standard 1.33:1 [4:3] |
| Cast & Crew | Cory Smith - Original Music By | | Dave Chappelle - Writer | | Dave Chappelle - Hosted By | | Ellen Kuras - Cinematographer | | Erykah Badu - Featuring | | Jeff Buchanan - Editor | | Julie Fong - Producer | | Kanye West - Featuring | | Lauryn Hill - Featuring | | Michel Gondry - Director | | Mos Def - Featuring | | Sarah Flack - Editor | | Skot Bright - Executive Producer | | Wyclef Jean - Featuring |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"[A] tantalizing sketch-portrait of the artist amid an outpouring of hard beats and soul." 04/11/2006 p.E23USA Today
"Besides being filled with Chappelle's hilarious sense of humor, the movie features life-affirming messages and great music by serious rap artists with political, socio-cultural and spiritual themes." 03/03/2006 p.6E Rolling Stone
"A joyous, inclusive spirit defines director Michel Gondry and Dave Chappelle's road-trip/concert film..." 06/15/2006 p.102 Premiere
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "The greatest American hip-hop has to offer convene to produce something monumentally joyful and entertaining and relatively egoless." 07/01/2006 p.101 Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "Chappelle is the perfect host, effortlessly improvising before and between acts....You won't just wish you'd been there -- you'll feel like you really were." 06/01/2006 p.42 Sight and Sound
"[I]t is something of a love letter to all things hip hop and New York....[T]he sheer enthusiasm of the musicians, often collaborating with each other spontaneously, lends the film a winning nostalgia..." 07/01/2006 p.50 Entertainment Weekly
Included in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 10 Films Of The Year" -- "BLOCK PARTY weaves music, comedy, stars and audience members into a funky and delirious vaudeville." 12/29/2006 107 Mojo
"[A]miable, electrifying....[The film] showcases the brightest lights of the hip hop and neo soul scenes..." 02/01/2007 p.127 Variety.com 8 of 10
Even as he continues on the comeback trail from his self-imposed exile, comic Dave Chappelle remains teasingly elusive. Fans of his inspired stand-up and shockingly funny Comedy Central series may feel there isn't enough of the star -- or of his freestyle comic fireworks -- in "Dave Chappelle's Block Party." But the formidable line-up of hip-hop and R&B artists should attract hordes of appreciative ticketbuyers to this enjoyable performance doc helmed by Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"). And if Chappelle tends to be more of a genial host than star here, never mind: His full-tilt exuberance is richly amusing and highly contagious. - Joe Leydon
Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
Dave Chappelle's Block Party is a fairly disorganized film about a fairly disorganized concert, redeemed by the good feeling Chappelle sheds like a sunbeam on every scene. I came away from the movie with three observations: (1) I find a lot of rap nihilistic and negative, but the musicians featured here seemed accessible and positive; (2) Nevertheless I was pathetically grateful when Lauryn Hill and the Fugees sang "Killing Me Softly With His Song" and when many of the others sang what used to be called songs. Thank God for melody. (3) Dave Chappelle appears to be a nice man, in addition to being a funny one... - Roger Ebert
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