Paradise Now and David Chappelle's Block Party

I've never really been into hip-hop music but David Chappelle's Block Party provided me with a multi-dimensional look at a number of talented acts from whom I hope to purchase recordings in the future. Block Party is filmed by Michel Gondry of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind fame and chronicles a giant party thrown in Brooklyn by Chappelle in 2004. In order to promote his party, Chappelle travels around New York making announcements through a megaphone while also traveling to Dayton Ohio to recruit some surprise guests. In Dayton, he hands out special tickets to a bunch of lucky people who receive a free bus trip to New York to view the concert. Chappelle also charters two bonus busses for the Central State University Band who travels to the show as well and plays along. Additionally, no one was told who would be playing, admission was free for everyone, and a number of concert-goers registered on line, meeting the others in Manhatten’s Chinatown from where they were bussed en masse to Brooklyn. Chappelle paid for the entire show. He's a total class act throughout, displaying the sardonic and incisive cultural commentary that has thus far sustained his controversial caricature. The Musical guests include Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Jill Scott, The Roots, and the first performance by The Fugees since 1997. If you approach Block Party with the "I can't wait to see some Chappelle comedy" mindset you may find yourself disappointed, because the focus is upon celebrating African American Culture through music and self-expression. There are definitely some hilarious bits nonetheless, but this is a musical doc and it's important to focus on the communal spirit of the event. Favourite background moment: Dave's trip to Ha Ha Pizza in Dayton, which, in 1971 when it opened, served special mushrooms on its Za.

Paradise Now is a brilliant film dealing courageously and intelligently with extremely controversial subject matter. Directed by Hany Abu-Assan, Paradise follows the lives of two young Palestinian men as they deal with the economic realities of their existence. Almost immediately, Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman) are recruited by militants who support suicide bombing in Israel in the hopes of curtailing Israel's occupation of Palestine. Both of these men accept their suicide assignments instantaneously, a decision easily reached due to years of cultural conditioning, even though Said has just discovered that a beautiful young intelligent Palestinian woman may be in love with him. The rest of the film deals with their initial failed attempts to carry out their orders and the consequences derived therefrom. Abu-Assan's message throughout supports the idea that both sides within this conflict should avoid making definite conclusions regarding the extraordinarily complex nature of their predicament, while also pointing out that actually behaving in such a peaceful manner is ironically extremely difficult. Correspondingly,"Paradise Now's” ambiguous ending confronts us with the devastating historical, communal and personal consequences that making such conclusions can have upon the development of young Palestinian men while also pointing out the ways in which these dimensions haunt their daily lives as well, regardless of whether they choose to engage in a militant act.