Fear of a Black Hat

Well I don't personally like rap, but I still found Fear of a Black Hat hilarious. I'm sure I didn't get some inside jokes, but some I knew, and it was funny enough to make me laugh just after I'd stopped laughing. I'm a big fan of Spinal tap, so naturally I had to check this out. It was deriviative from This Is Spinal Tap, sometimes blatantly, but this film still stood on it's own as an original, intelligent, and funny satire. My personal favorite: "Back in the time of slaves, they didn't have hats to protect them from the sun, so at the end of the day they were too tired to revolt. Now we have hats."

I'm too old to know (or care) exactly what the difference between rap and hip-hop is. And, being Canadian, it's likely that I've never actually seen MTV, but I'm not certain.

But I thought this film was very funny when I saw it, a bright little satire. Hip-hop culture is so pervasive these days that it's difficult not to keep hearing about it over and over. (If only we could say the same about bagpipe music.) I got most of the jokes (at least I think I did). Sure, it's derived from Spinal Tap, but there are lots of targets that could stand a Tap treatment. Just not the Carpenters, they're sacred.

Although it rips off SPINAL TAP scene-by-scene in some instances, FEAR OF A BLACK HAT offers up enough belly laughs -- some of them very large -- to make it worth a look. Rusty Cundieff, who did some hysterically funny segments for Michael Moore's TV Nation program, proves himself to be a solid director with an eye for biting satire. Unfortunately, some of the jokes are a little weak. That said, there are moments when this movie nails some of the hypocrisies of pop music (not just hip-hop). Pretty good performances all around, too.

This is a really funny film, especially the second, third and fourth time you watch it. It's a pretty short film, and i definitely recommend watching it more than once, you will 'get it' more the second time.

It's like spinal tap but the rap version. It has a lot of attitude in it which can be a negative thing in rap influenced films, but it's just a total p**s take and isn't a problem because of the irony it creates.

Plenty of stand-out bits, one of those types of films which you will find yourself quoting lines with your mates, and it WILL raise laughter.

My personal favourite part is the 'guerrillas in the midst' section. Great video, superb!

Filmmaker Nina Blackburn is doing this documentary as a thesis for her doctorate in sociology. She chooses the rap group N. W. H. ("Niggaz With Hats") for her subject.

Sure, this is Spinal Tap... for rap. It may not be completely original, but it is opening a different avenue for satire. It has some low key fun and a few big laughs. The three characters do need to be dumber and it would help for them to be played by better comedians. Larry B. Scott is probably the best and I wouldn't mind keeping him. I remember him from Revenge of the Nerds. This is a good concept with mostly fine indie execution.