The Worst Film Ever

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday MorningAcclaimed director and massive ATCQ fan Michael Rapaport delves into the origins and history of A Tribe Called Quest, one of the most pioneering, influential hip hop groups to emerge since rap burst onto the mainstream with Rapper's Delight in the late 70s/early 80s. Rapaport charts how the groups evolvement started when they met up as friends, to mix beats in their spare time, and how they tried to just be simple entertainment, in contrast to some of the more inflamatory, anti-authoritarian hip hop groups that went before them (as well as explaining the origins of their odd name) before catching up with them on their 2008 reunion tour, where member Phife Dawg has made a comeback after treatment for diabetes.There doesn't seem to be an awful lot of variety in music these days, with everything pretty interchangeable from everything else, and a lot of new stuff not having the confidence to break away from what went before it and trying to branch out on it's own. So it's a shame that a lot of this samey music does contain a strong hip hop flavour to it, since we have a film here that tries to tell the story of a group from a time when rap was coming into it's own as an art form and spreading it's wings and flying in the charts. There was a genuine, truthful message either way to it, whether they be ardent political statements or just spreading a message of chilling out and getting down.It's clear Rapaport's a fan, and there is a genuine air of passion and depth about his subjects. But, as is clear in any group of friends, they were obviously some conflicting personalities and, while they managed to work together as a group, tensions could and did inevitably combust back stage. While neither Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammed or Jarobi White exactly gave off a Tupac Shakur vibe about them, it's clear their 'street attitude' was still there and they weren't afraid to throw the f word around liberally. Still, ATCQ were hardly a group that especially glamourized the nastier things in life, while not exactly spreading a message of peace, just distracting the youth from getting into trouble with their funky, jammy beats.As a suburban white kid (but quite a big fan) there are some aspects of the culture groups like ATCQ represented that will probably always be anathema to me, but that's not to say it's hard to see why groups like them became as successful as they did or grew the fan base they did. ****

I've always been a hip hop fan and was always interested in A Tribe Called Quest. Before watching it, I knew a couple of their songs, but not enough. I was hoping to leave the movie theater ending up a huge Quest fan. Unfortunately, this didn't happen immediately, because the documentary didn't focus on the music as much as I would have liked it to. This movie did inspire me to do some research and about 3 weeks later, I have learned pretty much everything about A Tribe Called Quest. I was surprised about how much drama and how many problems behind the scenes they had. Phife Dawg (the 2nd MC of A Tribe Called Quest) suffers from diabetes and Q-Tip (the leader of A Tribe Called Quest) "took the gym teacher approach with Phife" and that eventually broke the group up. Q-Tip would push Phife into working-out and eating right, but Phife couldn't get over his food/sugar addictions and he resented Q-Tip for this. This resentment eventually escalates to the point where they could not and should not stay as a group. If their no love, they should split up. Unfortunately, Ali (a 3rd member of Quest) was stuck in the middle of these arguments and just watch friendships end. The story has an upsetting ending, but I now understand why the group has broken up. A Tribe Called Quest was really a revolutionary group for hip hop and they made incredible music. Their are also a lot of interviews from producers and other hip hop artists/groups like: Common, De La Soul, Mos Def, and more. The documentary also has a cool part where Q-Tip uses vinyl 2 turntables to create the beat for Can I Kick It? (their most popular song). I was very impressed with Q-Tip's creativity and intelligence.

I enjoyed this film tremendously.Beats, Rhymes and Life tells the story of a tremendous pioneer in the art form of Hip Hop and young men that grew up together as a creative entity. The ultimate success and longevity of any group is driven by the interpersonal relationship. Micheal Rapaport shows the complexity of the personal relationships as the group matured and it's impact on the business.I was a casual fan of "A Tribe Called Quest" going in ... I feel much more connected to the music and the group upon leaving the theater.I highly recommend this film for anyone, casual or committed fan or if you've never heard of this group.

A Tribe Called Quest is one the most enduring groups of hip hop's Golden Age. Combining jazzy loops with hard-hitting snares and fronted by two unique MCs/ personalities in Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, they banged out three classic albums in the early 90s. They were intelligent, innovative and had great chemistry. I can still vividly remember the news that they broke up: it confirmed the end of rap's heyday, not unlike The Beatles' break-up effectively ended the feel good 60s.So yes, they deserved a 90-minute documentary. And "Beats, Rhymes and Life" delivers at this most basic level, telling us about the Tribe's travels in a very straightforward manner, which is good for (casual) fans. Michael Rapaport hits the right notes here: he cuts between classic songs, classic clips and solid - sometimes funny - anecdotes by the Jungle Brothers, Black Thought, Prince Paul, Jarobi, Dres, Common, De La Soul, Red Alert and Chris Lighty, to name a few. Q-Tip gets the most airtime, and the man has charisma to spare.However, the story arc also aims to please non-fans and revolves around the break-up. It focuses heavily on the tensions within the group - especially between erstwhile best friends Q-Tip and Phife - and the drama that surrounds it until today. This setup helps avoid the dreaded "old men reminiscing about the good old days" effect found in many documentaries, but it still left me wondering: is this really the essence of the Tribe? We all know the group process can drive people crazy - we've seen it in a million rockumentaries. Meanwhile, the protagonists barely get to talk about the things that made them special: their creative vision, the development of their monumental sound, the risks they took.Still, recommended for everybody, especially fans of Seaman's furniture. The music will win you over - Madlib's original soundtrack also rocks!