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Chris Gore and Alan Ng review “Piece By Piece,” now playing on HBO Max.
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:03
all right Allan the film piece by piece
0:06
is a documentary about a claimed
0:11
musician pop artist uh really legend in
0:15
the movie industry or film indust music
0:18
industry forel Williams um you know so
0:23
many Tunes he's responsible for so many
0:26
beats uh probably most famous for uh
0:30
happy and also wearing a very large hat
0:34
um he is his career he's created so many
0:39
iconic songs the The Man Behind those
0:42
songs and he partnered with Morgan
0:45
Neville the director of the U Mr Rogers
0:50
documentary to make a documentary only
0:54
in Legos that's right this film tells it
0:58
it's an uh whole biopic about farel all
1:03
they're all done in Legos there's not
1:05
one frame of human in it interviews are
1:09
conducted there's supposedly footage or
1:12
reenactments of things that happen
1:15
telling forel's story as a Young Man
1:18
growing up in
1:20
Virginia who just had just fell in love
1:24
with music he describes seeing music in
1:27
colors and Morgan is actually even in
1:29
the movie as a Lego interviewing forel
1:33
and all the figures in the film The
1:35
Musical figures um are all rendered in
1:39
Legos it's a very weird way to do a
1:42
documentary when you listen to the audio
1:46
it
1:46
is as described a doc tells his whole
1:51
story but the visuals being done in
1:54
Legos there's an interesting interesting
1:57
device they use where they show like
2:02
um how he sees a beat as glowing
2:06
different colors they're like prizes
2:09
that he keeps and they they're like
2:12
these these gifts that he somehow
2:15
receives by you know connecting to the
2:18
universe of ideas there's a the opening
2:21
of the film discusses like is nothing
2:24
new you know everything in the universe
2:26
there are no new colors all the colors
2:28
we have you can't invent a new color the
2:32
spectrum of colors that's what we have
2:35
but can you invent sounds it's it's I
2:37
love that it gets into philosophies
2:40
about
2:41
creativity but I I've seen the movie
2:44
twice now and I I say I really love this
2:47
film uh I love the first of all I love
2:51
docks it's also the right length it's it
2:55
doesn't overstay it's welcome 90 minutes
2:58
it does get very per personal you would
3:01
think like this is dumb in Legos
3:06
but there's parts of the film there's a
3:08
there's a moment in the movie where they
3:12
he discusses like he has kind of a
3:14
downturn is in his career and he gets
3:17
into what inspired the song
3:20
happy when he gets into that it's this
3:23
touching moment about family and what
3:26
matters and his grandmother who believed
3:29
in him who passed away and I'm sitting
3:32
here getting choked up watching
3:35
Legos right I it's
3:38
ridiculous it's
3:40
ridiculous so uh I I give this a strong
3:45
recommend it's also because it's Legos
3:48
people will think it's for kids and that
3:52
kids can see it there's a funny thing
3:54
where um Snoop Dogg is in this movie
3:58
like they swear and when whenever
4:00
someone swears a poop emoji goes in
4:02
front of their mouth and then when Snoop
4:04
Dogg is in the film they they spray PG
4:08
spray but Snoop Dog is actually in the
4:11
movie smoking weed but they they you
4:13
also forget the uh the women on boats in
4:17
bikinis yeah they they redo a they redo
4:20
one music video in Legos but they're
4:23
it's supposed to be sexy it's so well
4:25
done so this kids could see this and
4:30
love you know all the songs I was
4:32
surprised how many songs I knew um but I
4:36
was impressed I didn't he is The Man
4:38
Behind so many people's careers so I
4:41
loved it strong recommend it's a weird
4:44
cell because it's a doc it's Legos it's
4:48
moving it's music it's a music
4:51
documentary and I really did not know
4:54
previous to seeing this a lot about
4:56
forel now I do and really loved it just
5:00
and Morgan Neville really is uh his Mr
5:04
Rogers Doc is amazing so um and that's
5:07
that's how farel got you know wanted to
5:10
work with him what did you think of PE
5:12
yeah not only wanted to work with him
5:13
because of Mr Rogers but I mean Legos I
5:15
think he always wanted to make a Lego
5:17
documentary like this um and I think
5:20
part of it also is because um uh because
5:23
I think people certain people didn't
5:25
want to appear on camera and they felt
5:26
much better about doing it by being
5:28
represented as a go figure um I I'll
5:32
also see I I really did enjoy this I
5:34
think the music is incredible in fact I
5:36
would suggest see this movie in a Dolby
5:38
Theater or uh or an iMac something
5:41
something where they uh you know where a
5:43
theater that's known for good sound uh
5:46
because this movie is kicking um yeah
5:50
I'm like you I first of all I'm
5:52
fascinated by the guy I have been but I
5:55
I I realized how little I knew of his
5:56
career yeah and I and I realized how
6:00
much of the music I've enjoyed over the
6:02
last 20 years 20 30 years uh Fel has
6:06
been a part of it and I didn't even know
6:07
it um no doubt Gwen Stefan is in this
6:10
one and uh you you she just goes into
6:13
how instrumental frell was in creating
6:16
no doubt or creating the the mega mega
6:19
hit band that
6:21
noou um and uh loved it um I I'm not
6:26
sure I'd ever want to see another
6:28
documentary uh through goes ever again
6:30
yeah same same it worked for this
6:32
because I did love this running thread
6:35
of how he comes up with a beat yeah
6:39
so yeah it's a beat and it it's
6:41
represented by two by two or three odd
6:44
pieces of Legos put together but they
6:46
lights up and pulsates and then he puts
6:48
it away in a box to be able to pull it
6:50
out again when when the time is right
6:53
and so he just collects these beats that
6:55
he can use now or use later um the other
6:58
thing what's interesting is you know his
7:01
life in the sense of you know here's a
7:04
guy
7:05
who uh for the better part uh is a part
7:08
of hip-hop but not a part of hip-hop and
7:10
and if anything he's the guy who brought
7:13
hip hop to the masses uh he he
7:16
transformed it in a way that a kept to
7:18
its roots so he was able to build a
7:20
large hip-hop following but at the same
7:22
time be able to um to bring it to
7:25
everyone else which which I found
7:28
amazing um you know like he he's got a
7:31
song in every single despicable m movie
7:33
um so he his his appeal is so Broad and
7:37
you and you it's just interesting to see
7:39
how he has his foot in both worlds there
7:41
was a a point in which um the uh a lot
7:45
of the artists who they interviewed you
7:47
know he comes from a skateboarder World
7:50
which I guess according to them black
7:52
people don't do skateboards um but uh
7:55
they they talk about how he wasn't
7:57
necessarily one of them he was uh and
8:02
this this guy is just kind of this
8:03
Enigma that that I just found
8:05
fascinating in terms of uh you know this
8:08
you know not to get politics into it
8:10
again but you know for identity politics
8:12
politics to have someone who succeeded
8:15
purely on Talent uh who was black who
8:18
was uh you know who didn't seem to have
8:22
any any real obstacles or barriers in
8:24
the way other than himself and the
8:27
business and uh yeah it's it's very
8:29
inspiring and and I would definitely
8:31
recommend this movie yeah I mean as a
8:33
bio as as a documentary biopic film
8:38
about an artist what I love about it is
8:40
you get a perfect mix of the the reason
8:44
he is at the level that he is you get
8:47
insight into his personal life his
8:50
relationship with his parents his
8:52
grandmother in particular his friends
8:54
that he made growing up as a kid how he
8:58
struggled in school
9:00
um and his love of Music his love of
9:04
music just they they show a scene where
9:06
he's um just using like kitchen utensils
9:09
to pound on uh pillows to to make sounds
9:14
and the insight into the process he
9:16
would come up with a beat and then not
9:18
have a song You' go like I don't even
9:21
like here's the beat the Riff of the
9:23
song I want to match that with an artist
9:26
they come up with lyrics I've Got the
9:28
Beat like that's underneath it his other
9:32
his friends like Chad uh would add to it
9:35
and it became this whole process so I
9:38
love the insight into the creative
9:41
process whenever we talk to filmmakers
9:43
on the show I always want to get like
9:46
you know the whether it's writing or or
9:48
the film making side you want to know
9:50
like how it's done and and the movie
9:53
gets into that and the way it's like you
9:55
said like these glowing things he comes
9:57
up with a beat doesn't know what to do
9:59
with it I'll put it away and he he even
10:02
he even discusses he had a beat that he
10:05
did for Prince and Prince never used
10:09
it which was which was cool so um uh I I
10:14
really cannot recommend this film enough
10:17
I don't know if it'll be nominated for
10:19
best doc but
10:22
yeah apparently they spent five and a
10:25
half years on this
10:27
movie and it is legitimate made like a
10:30
doc personal interviews to camera
10:33
Morgan's in it um you know like so you
10:38
know footage or reenactments the songs
10:41
themselves like like you said music
10:44
videos being reenacted in Legos was like
10:47
crazy because that I remember that that
10:49
music video it's like it sexy hot and
10:53
like by the pool and women wearing
10:56
barely anything and they did that in
10:58
Legos you know so so it actually makes
11:01
it very
11:01
innocent so I loved it yeah to your
11:04
Oscar comment I mean there have been
11:06
animated documentaries that have been
11:08
nominated for Oscars so I don't see why
11:10
this one isn't the the only thing I
11:12
think people will will say is not uh
11:15
worthy of oscars is the fact that it's
11:16
very scripted in the sense of you you
11:18
have to have a script in order to to
11:20
animate this stuff so um you know I yeah
11:24
and and also a lot of the the reason
11:28
it's done in Lego is you know I don't
11:30
think there's video or film footage of
11:32
frell's personal life uh the way he came
11:35
up in the business and things like that
11:36
and so it's all reenacted in
11:38
Legos well I'm sure that what they did
11:41
was they made a
11:43
movie like that was not Legos whether it
11:46
was Audio Only or something they created
11:49
an audio version of this doc first to
11:52
then animate too yeah so because it's
11:55
it's done like a traditional Doc and
11:57
having made docs myself that is is part
11:59
of the process you get like your um
12:02
vomit cut you know which is the movie in
12:05
audio form then you marry the visuals to
12:08
it so I can imagine he did a process
12:10
like that we did I did go to a special
12:13
screening and there was a Q&A and intro
12:16
and that's for our members only so check
12:18
out those um he he gets into it it's
12:23
very good so uh strong recommend from me
12:26
what about you Alan yeah definitely
12:28
definit stronger man
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