dave chappelle Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Right off the bat, I want to make it clear that you don't have to be half-baked to enjoy Half Baked. But if you thought Pineapple Express was hilarious, and you haven't seen Half Baked, it's high time you rectify this problem. Sure, Pineapple Express had James Franco as a drug dealer slash nice Jewish boy overly concerned with his Bubbe, and it had Danny McBride wigging out in his normal (i.e. awesome) way, and yeah, it was almost the perfect stoner crime caper.

But Half Baked has all that and more! It has Dave Chappelle as both a janitor at a lab that just happens to produce pharmaceutical-grade marijuana and a hip-hop star named Sir Smoke-a-Lot who, when high, complains, cries, and complains that he needs a "backiotomy." It has Guillermo Diaz as Scarface, who wants you to know he's Cuban, B! And it has Jim Breuer in one of his least annoying incarnations (although personally I do enjoy Goat Boy -- I'm not sure what that says about me, really). And then there's Harland Williams who accidentally kills a police horse by feeding it their munchies.

Let's not forget about the amazing cameos, including Jon Stewart as the Enhancement Smoker ("You ever seen Scent of a Woman... on weed?"), Bob Saget as someone in a Narc-Anon meeting who offers up a memorable confession, Steven Wright as the random dude sleeping on their couch, Tommy Chong as an inmate named the Squirrel Master, and plenty of others.

I'm not exactly what you would call a sentimental kind of person, and I tend to get a little 'gaggy' when it comes to the so-called touchy-feely things in life. But if there is one thing that makes me feel like a big old softy, it would be Dave Chappelle's Block Party. Now this is what I call a call a 'feel good movie' with everyone from the lady behind the counter at a liquor store to a *high-school marching band packed with Chappelle's fans and admirers, he puts them at ease while bringing them out their comfort zone, and most importantly: he leaves him laughing.

The 2005 documentary was written and hosted by Chappelle with Michel Gondry behind the camera, and even if you aren't the biggest fan of soul and hip-hop music, you can't deny that you can practically feel the joy that seeps through every frame. The musical line-up included artists like Mos Def, The Roots, Common, Jill Scott, and Erykah Badu. Chappelle even pulled off the impossible by getting The Fugees to perform onstage together for the first time in seven years.

*Correction: the marching band Chappelle brings along is the celebrated College band, The Central State University Marching Band.

As quite possibly the whitest man alive, I feel compelled to tell you about a new documentary called Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy. The film will be produced and directed by stand-up comic Darryl Littleton and Robert Townsend (director of the brilliant satire on the black experience in Hollywood -- Hollywood Shuffle). The film is inspired by Littleton's book Black Comedians on Black Comedy: How African-Americans Taught Us to Laugh, which you can pick up at Amazon here. The film will contain "archival clips, reenactments depicting the evolution of black comedy, and interviews with comedians and social critics." Sounds like it could be both informative and very, very funny.

Variety reports that the filmmakers have already done interviews with comedians like D.L. Hughley (co-star of the thankfully canceled Studio 60), the Wayans brothers (stars of films like White Chicks and Little Man -- neither of which I'd imagine will be discussed in the documentary), Paul Mooney (comedy legend who did those hilarious "Ask A Black Dude" and "Negrodamus" bits on Chappelle's Show), Tommy Davidson (of In Living Color and the shamefully underrated Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls), character actor Reynaldo Ray, Marla Gibbs (from The Jeffersons and 227), Eddie Griffin (star of the very funny Undercover Brother), and stand-up comedian Katt Williams. Representing the social and political commentary side, there will be discussions with Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, Russell Simmons, and Stanley Crouch. I sure hope they can swing an interview with the great Spike Lee, I could listen to that guy discuss anything all day, and he seems an ideal speaker for the project. There are no release details yet for the film.

I don't know how this news slipped past us for so long, but there's a Rick James documentary in the works called, that's right, I'm Rick James. (Reading the article about it, I was stunned to see that James died in 2004. Where the hell have I been?) According to UrbanMecca.com, the movie is being made by HiddenDoor Documedia, and will feature tell-all interviews with celebs like Janice Dickinson, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg and Dave Chappelle, who was once planning to star in a James biopic. Based on the bits and pieces that HiddenDoor are leaking, there's a lot of dirt in some of those interviews, and "some celebrities may be warned to prepare their alibis now." ("Oh crap. Where was I during the entire 1980s? What did I tell my wife?") Included in the fairly hilarious list of those who allegedly partied with James -- at Studio 54 and elsewhere -- during his heyday are Tatum O'Neal, Linda Blair, Prince, Mick Jagger, Eddie Murphy and, of all people, Elisabeth Shue, who must have been about 17 at the time.

While producer Perry Santos claims that the movie will be a portrait of an era, the reality of the situation is that the studio is doing its damnedest to sell it as a good, old-fashion sex, drugs and "funk'n'roll" (as James himself once put it) story. Which, honestly, is probably the best way to put butts in the seats -- if the movie ever gets distribution, that is.

It's cold and rainy here in blustery Seattle, so why not go catch a movie? Here's a roundup of some of the film offerings around the Emerald City:

FREE MOVIES IN SEATTLE! 

Sure, you can listen to your fave radio station to find out about those nifty free preview screenings.  But if you're really a movie buff, you might want to check out Janet's Film Club at Janet Wainwright PR. They'll send you passes to get in free to lots of preview screenings! The only catch? Use 'em or lose 'em.

UW Film Club 

Japenese Film Series - Supermarket Woman (1996, Itami Juzo). Japanese comedy about a woman (Miyamoto Nobuko) hired to remake a small grocery store to compete against a large chain. Thursday, March 9 @ 7:30PM, UW Savery 239

A Moveable Feast  - Check out a rough cut of this film, by a former UW student. And it's free! At the Ethnic Cultural Center, 3940 Brooklyn Ave NE.

Seattle Jewish Film Festival March 5-19 - This year marks the 11th year of the Seattle Jewish Film Festival, and they have a fantastic lineup. This year's fest runs at three venues: Seattle's Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), AMC Pacific Place, and Majestic Bay Theaters in Ballard. The festival really kicks into high gear this week, with an interesting lineup of films:

March 11 - The opening night film is Live and Become, which you can have with dessert at the 7PM showing (for passholders special ticket holders only), or without at 9:50PM. The film, which won the audience award at the 2005 Berlinale, tells the story of a young Ethiopian boy in the 1980s whose mother places him with a group of Ethiopian Jewish refugees to save him from the famine. As he grows from a boy into a man under his assumed identity, the lie under which he has lived begins to take its toll.

Check out the full lineup to see when other films are playing.

 

Four movies open wide this weekend and, shock of shocks, one of them wasn't screened for critics. Surprisingly, it wasn't the one about the teenage mermaid - instead, they were denied Ultraviolet, the futuristic, shiny, violence-fest. Columbia probably isn't too worried about it, though, because Milla Jovovich is hot enough to rule the box office on the strength of posters alone (Seriously, have you seen those posters?). Critics did have their say, however, on 16 Blocks (derivative, but alright), Block Party (awesome), and Aquamarine (so totally cute, OMG!). The details are below.

• Block Party: The critics have spoken, friends, and they freaking love Dave Chappelle and his partay. Even the few hardened souls who mustered the strength to resist the movie's considerable charms nevertheless found themselves drawn to Chapelle and his easy-going persona. (Also, every single damn review mentioned his appearance on Oprah. We've heard enough about that by now, thanks.)

• 16 Blocks: No, the Fugees aren't in this one, sadly enough. It does, however, feature Bruce Willis and Mos Def, both of whom earn praise from most critics, though said critics don't all feel as positively about the film. Those who do like it freely acknowledge the debt the film owes to the zillions of cop/perp/action flicks that came before, but at least it's fairly accomplished in its derivative-ness. Which means, essentially, that our standards have fallen pathetically low.

• Aquamarine: Basically, if you've got a pre-teen or barely teenage daughter (or, even better, are one), Aquamarine is for you. It's actually pretty good - again, if you're twelve. If you're not, however, go see something else. And parents, keep in mind this bit from the most entertaining review of the whole weekend, written in the voice of the movie's target audience: "When the mermaid and her human friends gawked at the lifeguard...and [he] shook water off his abs and the movie went all slow motion, dad leaned over and said: 'Brokeback Mountain didn't make me this uncomfortable.'"
  

"If (fun on the set) meant anything, then Cannonball Run would be a great movie, because I'm sure it was fun to make." – Steven Soderbergh, Indiewire

Dave Chappelle's Block Party should be a nightmare – a self-indulgent vanity project without real rhyme or reason, a concert film with no organizing principle behind it other than that might be fun. ... But Dave Chappelle's Block Party is a lot of fun, and it never feels like you're peeking through the keyhole of a locked door at all the excitment the cool kids are having without you. What's even better is the fact that Chappelle's event and the subsequent film don't just offer the sights and sounds of a multi-millionaire comedian and his musician pals relaxing and having a good time; there's some serious stuff going on in this film behind the backbeats and smiles.

But there are backbeats and smiles, and plenty of them. Dave Chappelle organized a free concert for September 18th, 2004, to be held in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Not only were the bands performing kept secret, so was the actual location of the event; New Yorkers were invited, and at the same time the film opens with Chappelle roving the small town in Ohio nearest to where he makes his home and dispensing 'Golden Tickets" – good for a ride on a chartered bus, a hotel room and admission to the show – to the people in his community.

And Chappelle – mocking, mischievous and sharply aware of everything he's getting away with – is having a blast.