FEAR OF A BLACK HAT (3 outta 5 stars)
Nice try at making a spoof documentary (a la Spinal Tap) but directed at the world of "gangsta rap". The film tells the story of N.W.H. (N*gg*s With Hats) and of their rise from obscurity to... even more obscurity. The movie is really fun to watch... the characters are well thought out and the music is great. The only trouble is... it isn't really all that funny. Sure, they are tons of jokes (mostly in-jokes about the rap world that are going to be pretty hard for future viewers to figure out)... but they tend to be more funny-clever than funny-hahaha, y'know? Of course, I laughed at "Jike Spingleton" but you almost need to be a hardcore movie buff to get the joke.
Plus, the thing about the song parodies is... most of the so-called "joke" lyrics aren't all that different from what rappers are singing *for real*. Ditto for the videos... if you showed the "funny" videos side by side with some actual rap videos... well, you'd have a hard time telling which was the joke. Still, you have to admire the energy and style that writer/director/star Rusty Cundieff put intro this movie. I like it a lot... I just don't think that it's quite up there with "Spinal Tap" or "The Rutles".
Nice try at making a spoof documentary (a la Spinal Tap) but directed at the world of "gangsta rap". The film tells the story of N.W.H. (N*gg*s With Hats) and of their rise from obscurity to... even more obscurity. The movie is really fun to watch... the characters are well thought out and the music is great. The only trouble is... it isn't really all that funny. Sure, they are tons of jokes (mostly in-jokes about the rap world that are going to be pretty hard for future viewers to figure out)... but they tend to be more funny-clever than funny-hahaha, y'know? Of course, I laughed at "Jike Spingleton" but you almost need to be a hardcore movie buff to get the joke.
Plus, the thing about the song parodies is... most of the so-called "joke" lyrics aren't all that different from what rappers are singing *for real*. Ditto for the videos... if you showed the "funny" videos side by side with some actual rap videos... well, you'd have a hard time telling which was the joke. Still, you have to admire the energy and style that writer/director/star Rusty Cundieff put intro this movie. I like it a lot... I just don't think that it's quite up there with "Spinal Tap" or "The Rutles".