Saturday, May 18, 2013
CineFiles
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Dave Chappelle's Block Party (NR)
Directed by Michel Gondry
Rogue Pictures
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I'm sure most of the mainstream public was looking forward to a filmed anthology of different skits featuring Dave Chappelle's cadre of characters from his much-missed Comedy Central show. You get none of that here. Instead, director Michel Gondry (The Science of Sleep) documents Chappelle's unwavering attempt to stage a massive block party in New York City. Beginning with his gathering of locals in his Ohio hometown and securing the area and the incredible line-up of musicians (Kanye West, The Roots and The Fugees), this film proves that Chappelle doesn't need characters to be funny. His observations of the culture and people that surround him are funny enough. Louis Fowler
Lifespan (NR)
Directed by Alexander Whitelaw
Mondo Macabro
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At it's core, Lifespan wants to be a successful cult sci-fi film. But it's so bizarre and so temporally displaced in its settings that it's far too atmospheric to be a typical sci-fi popcorn flick. And yet, it's not quite an art film either. Lifespan is much like a peek into an alchemist's workshop: Klaus Kinski is a mysterious industrialist that hires a young American scientist to develop the "elixir of life," a formula that will bring immortality to humans. And while that would make for an intriguing plotline itself, Lifespan instead veers off into a hundred different directions none of them expected. Is the film successful? Not completely, but it's such a conflicted oddity that its fevered dream state will entertain all the while begging more questions. Louis Fowler
How's Your News? (NR)
Directed by Arthur Bradford
Shout! Factory
Executive produced by "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, How's Your News? is one of the best DVD investments I've made in a long time. This documentary follows a group of newscasters, all of whom have mental and physical disabilities, as they travel across America and interview bewildered passersby in the man-on-the-street format. Much like Sacha Baron Cohen's character, the laughs mainly come from the true-to-life, don't-know-any-better reactions of the interviewees. The cast of reporters is fully aware it's part of the joke in a way that is genuine and inoffensive, and, thankfully, never fraudulently "inspirational." This is an honest, revealingly hilarious slice of life. Louis Fowler
