Reviews

"Urgent and unrelenting in ways that no concert film has been since the Maysle brothers took on Altamont in Gimme Shelter..."
- Chris Cabin, FilmCritic.com

"An electrifying, occasionally terrifying documentary... this nerve-racking knockout of a film pays testament to the passion of the Tang."
- Nathan Lee, The Village Voice

"You don't have to know anything about hip-hop (and I basically don't) to enjoy this picture; anybody with an appetite for learning about how pop culture works at a granular level will get a kick out of Weisberg's increasingly unlikely tightrope act en route to fulfilling an impossible dream... you've got a level of high drama attained by few fiction films."
- Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

"This film does what any great concert film is supposed to do. When the credit rolls, it leaves you crying because you couldn’t be at the actual event. Regardless whether or not you are a follower of the hip hop genre (which I profess I’m not a big fan of), this documentary is still absurdly exciting, almost bursting at the seams with energy. The editing alone is far and away above the typical interview-cut-footage-cut-interview documentary editing style. Rock the Bells embodies the spirit of the subject matter by being fast-paced and frenetic."
- Arya Ponto, Just Press Play

"Documentaries are setting the pace at the movies this year. Maxed Out is the year's most chilling horror movie, and now Rock the Bells is the suspense champ. It's an edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger."
- Jay Carr, AM New York

"A fascinating glimpse of a dreamer and a music culture that has always depended on dreams."
- Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times

"...lively and amusing... A paean to indie ingenuity... Between the out-there acts and the never-ending comedy of errors in the wings, docu should rock in limited release, appealing to devotees and the uninitiated alike."
-Ronnie Scheib, Variety Magazine

“Wait-to-pee entertaining… I could not be described as a hip hop fan by any imagining, but Rock the Bells is just a good time -- in fact, it's for sure the most purely entertaining film I've seen all year… a love letter to fans and fandom that is so heartfelt, it bleeds through the boundaries of musical taste."
--Karina Longworth, Cinematical

"Outright exhilarating… the multi-camera procedural neatly ties together worthwhile subplots and all the major players' roles with hilarious, real-time candor… Rock the Bells doesn't just delve behind the scenes; it makes a showstopping guest-MC out of each crazy new obstacle."
--Aaron Hillis, Premiere Magazine

" In a festival where documentaries reigned supreme, Denis Henry Hennelly and Casey Suchan's amazing Rock the Bells (****) was the absolute pinnacle of Tribeca… Emotions run high and the soul of hip-hop buzzes along with every second of this riveting, mesmerizing film."
--Chris Cabin, FilmCritic.com

"And Rock the Bells, which follows a grassroots concert promoter trying to reunite the legendary rap group the Wu-Tang Clan. The filmmakers had extraordinary access to their subjects, and the
uncertainty of the Wu’s arrival leads to a Gimme Shelter–like conclusion that keeps you on the edge of your seat."
-- Jason Guerrasio, Filmmaker Magazine

“Fascinatingly layered, both intense… and hilarious… MC Supernatural's genius freestyle will be worth the price alone.
—Sara, Jane Magazine

"Rock The Bells is also a thriller, an action-adventure, a heist movie, a black comedy and, ultimately, a stirring tribute to pursuing the seemingly unobtainable."
-- Craig Mathieson, The Age

"Surprisingly moving… Were you really into penguins before watching March of the Penguins? Probably not. Yet you went to see that. Let me tell you this movie has many moments, its funny, heart warming, tense, it's a roller coaster ride... this might give this show Woodstock status in the hip hop world. "
--Frank Estrada, 411mania.com

"Perhaps THE best hip-hop documentary to date. I say this acknowledging that many of its predecessors were the premiere films of their time (Style Wars, Wild Style, Rhyme & Reason, The Show) and capture their eras brilliantly, but Rock the Bells is so well put together and such a great indicator of hip-hop in the here and now that it isn't just a matter of being better than its predecessors, but being the natural continuation of them. If Style Wars is Wilt Chamberlain and Rhyme & Reason is Kareem, then Rock the Bells is Shaq... While ODB steals the show in the way you'd least expect, the real star of this film is hip-hop."
-- Jay Notte, sceneless.com

"Now here's a fucking movie."
-- KS, The Ratio (One of our favorite summaries of the film... Read it! Give Halifax the love!)

"It’s like Dave Chapelle’s Block Party grew testes. The freshest thing at this year’s Film Festival. Call it hype if you like. But the Bells is incredible. If you watch this flick prepared to be bored, you’d best prepare to be split with the tip of a Shaolin sword."
-- Jane Watkins, A New Leaf Media

"I will go out on a limb and say this is one of the best Hip Hop films I have ever seen. It's right up there with Style Wars, Beat Street, and Wildstyle and a must see for any true Hip Hop fan. Exposing the trials and tribulations of bringing a dream to life it speaks to the heart of each and every one of us. If you never see another film this year, make this your swan song."
-- Daddy Dark, Blacktronica

"Rock The Bells, a documentary exploring Weisberg's white-knuckle-ride approach to putting on this ambitious show. If anyone ever wanted to know what it's like to be a promoter staging a gig for more than 10,000 hard core Hip Hop fans, working at the limit of financial, legal and staffing constraints, this is it... Filmmakers Denis Henry Hennelly and Casey Suchan do an excellent job of keeping the various vignettes of the gig build-up compact yet meaningful and without losing sight of the overall story. Much of this is due to effective editing."
-- Paul Jackson, Daily Yomiuri (Japan)

TRIBECA '06: The Doc Is In: "Toots" and "Rock The Bells"
by Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE (05/05/06)



Filmmakers Denis Henry Hennelly and Casey Suchan have accomplished something quite remarkable with Rock the Bells, their documentary on the preparation and realization of the original Wu-Tang Clan's final live performance. By skillfully editing together countless hours of footage from more than 20 cameras, Hennelly and Suchan have turned what could have been a ragged, by-the-numbers effort into a coherent, thrilling narrative. The film focuses on hip-hop concert promoter Chang Weisberg, whose Guerrilla Union production company showcases live hip-hop of a noncommercial bent. Weisberg comes across as a mixture of fanboy and snake-oil salesman, but it is his attention to detail that allows him to undertake what no other promoter has ever managed to accomplish in a long time: the presentation of the complete original lineup of the Wu-Tang Clan in live performance. Using a small, cohesive team of immensely likeable, pleasant people, Weisberg navigates all the pitfalls of his endeavor with amazing composure, even when the concert is in full-throttle. Hours before the concert is supposed to begin, the Guerrilla Union crew is forced to contend with an incompetent security team, an overanxious crowd on the verge of rioting, and the singular mania of the now deceased Ol' Dirty Bastard, in what amounts to a partial tribute film. But the pay off for all the late nights and hustle is a platinum performance, and the audience, in turn, is left with the feeling that they've played a crucial part in making this unique occurrence possible.

- Matthew Lehrer, Tribeca Film Festival

Reviews

"Urgent and unrelenting in ways that no concert film has been since the Maysle brothers took on Altamont in Gimme Shelter..."
- Chris Cabin, FilmCritic.com

"An electrifying, occasionally terrifying documentary... this nerve-racking knockout of a film pays testament to the passion of the Tang."
- Nathan Lee, The Village Voice

"You don't have to know anything about hip-hop (and I basically don't) to enjoy this picture; anybody with an appetite for learning about how pop culture works at a granular level will get a kick out of Weisberg's increasingly unlikely tightrope act en route to fulfilling an impossible dream... you've got a level of high drama attained by few fiction films."
- Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

"This film does what any great concert film is supposed to do. When the credit rolls, it leaves you crying because you couldn’t be at the actual event. Regardless whether or not you are a follower of the hip hop genre (which I profess I’m not a big fan of), this documentary is still absurdly exciting, almost bursting at the seams with energy. The editing alone is far and away above the typical interview-cut-footage-cut-interview documentary editing style. Rock the Bells embodies the spirit of the subject matter by being fast-paced and frenetic."
- Arya Ponto, Just Press Play

"Documentaries are setting the pace at the movies this year. Maxed Out is the year's most chilling horror movie, and now Rock the Bells is the suspense champ. It's an edge-of-your-seat cliffhanger."
- Jay Carr, AM New York

"A fascinating glimpse of a dreamer and a music culture that has always depended on dreams."
- Jeannette Catsoulis, The New York Times

"...lively and amusing... A paean to indie ingenuity... Between the out-there acts and the never-ending comedy of errors in the wings, docu should rock in limited release, appealing to devotees and the uninitiated alike."
-Ronnie Scheib, Variety Magazine

“Wait-to-pee entertaining… I could not be described as a hip hop fan by any imagining, but Rock the Bells is just a good time -- in fact, it's for sure the most purely entertaining film I've seen all year… a love letter to fans and fandom that is so heartfelt, it bleeds through the boundaries of musical taste."
--Karina Longworth, Cinematical

"Outright exhilarating… the multi-camera procedural neatly ties together worthwhile subplots and all the major players' roles with hilarious, real-time candor… Rock the Bells doesn't just delve behind the scenes; it makes a showstopping guest-MC out of each crazy new obstacle."
--Aaron Hillis, Premiere Magazine

" In a festival where documentaries reigned supreme, Denis Henry Hennelly and Casey Suchan's amazing Rock the Bells (****) was the absolute pinnacle of Tribeca… Emotions run high and the soul of hip-hop buzzes along with every second of this riveting, mesmerizing film."
--Chris Cabin, FilmCritic.com

"And Rock the Bells, which follows a grassroots concert promoter trying to reunite the legendary rap group the Wu-Tang Clan. The filmmakers had extraordinary access to their subjects, and the
uncertainty of the Wu’s arrival leads to a Gimme Shelter–like conclusion that keeps you on the edge of your seat."
-- Jason Guerrasio, Filmmaker Magazine

“Fascinatingly layered, both intense… and hilarious… MC Supernatural's genius freestyle will be worth the price alone.
—Sara, Jane Magazine

"Rock The Bells is also a thriller, an action-adventure, a heist movie, a black comedy and, ultimately, a stirring tribute to pursuing the seemingly unobtainable."
-- Craig Mathieson, The Age

"Surprisingly moving… Were you really into penguins before watching March of the Penguins? Probably not. Yet you went to see that. Let me tell you this movie has many moments, its funny, heart warming, tense, it's a roller coaster ride... this might give this show Woodstock status in the hip hop world. "
--Frank Estrada, 411mania.com

"Perhaps THE best hip-hop documentary to date. I say this acknowledging that many of its predecessors were the premiere films of their time (Style Wars, Wild Style, Rhyme & Reason, The Show) and capture their eras brilliantly, but Rock the Bells is so well put together and such a great indicator of hip-hop in the here and now that it isn't just a matter of being better than its predecessors, but being the natural continuation of them. If Style Wars is Wilt Chamberlain and Rhyme & Reason is Kareem, then Rock the Bells is Shaq... While ODB steals the show in the way you'd least expect, the real star of this film is hip-hop."
-- Jay Notte, sceneless.com

"Now here's a fucking movie."
-- KS, The Ratio (One of our favorite summaries of the film... Read it! Give Halifax the love!)

"It’s like Dave Chapelle’s Block Party grew testes. The freshest thing at this year’s Film Festival. Call it hype if you like. But the Bells is incredible. If you watch this flick prepared to be bored, you’d best prepare to be split with the tip of a Shaolin sword."
-- Jane Watkins, A New Leaf Media

"I will go out on a limb and say this is one of the best Hip Hop films I have ever seen. It's right up there with Style Wars, Beat Street, and Wildstyle and a must see for any true Hip Hop fan. Exposing the trials and tribulations of bringing a dream to life it speaks to the heart of each and every one of us. If you never see another film this year, make this your swan song."
-- Daddy Dark, Blacktronica

"Rock The Bells, a documentary exploring Weisberg's white-knuckle-ride approach to putting on this ambitious show. If anyone ever wanted to know what it's like to be a promoter staging a gig for more than 10,000 hard core Hip Hop fans, working at the limit of financial, legal and staffing constraints, this is it... Filmmakers Denis Henry Hennelly and Casey Suchan do an excellent job of keeping the various vignettes of the gig build-up compact yet meaningful and without losing sight of the overall story. Much of this is due to effective editing."
-- Paul Jackson, Daily Yomiuri (Japan)

TRIBECA '06: The Doc Is In: "Toots" and "Rock The Bells"
by Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE (05/05/06)



Filmmakers Denis Henry Hennelly and Casey Suchan have accomplished something quite remarkable with Rock the Bells, their documentary on the preparation and realization of the original Wu-Tang Clan's final live performance. By skillfully editing together countless hours of footage from more than 20 cameras, Hennelly and Suchan have turned what could have been a ragged, by-the-numbers effort into a coherent, thrilling narrative. The film focuses on hip-hop concert promoter Chang Weisberg, whose Guerrilla Union production company showcases live hip-hop of a noncommercial bent. Weisberg comes across as a mixture of fanboy and snake-oil salesman, but it is his attention to detail that allows him to undertake what no other promoter has ever managed to accomplish in a long time: the presentation of the complete original lineup of the Wu-Tang Clan in live performance. Using a small, cohesive team of immensely likeable, pleasant people, Weisberg navigates all the pitfalls of his endeavor with amazing composure, even when the concert is in full-throttle. Hours before the concert is supposed to begin, the Guerrilla Union crew is forced to contend with an incompetent security team, an overanxious crowd on the verge of rioting, and the singular mania of the now deceased Ol' Dirty Bastard, in what amounts to a partial tribute film. But the pay off for all the late nights and hustle is a platinum performance, and the audience, in turn, is left with the feeling that they've played a crucial part in making this unique occurrence possible.

- Matthew Lehrer, Tribeca Film Festival