Dave Chappelle's Block Party (DVD, 2006, Unrated; Widescreen)

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., IN THEATERS MARCH 3, 2006Dave Chappelle throws himself a big party in Brooklyn, and Michel Gondry (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND) captures it on film.