Presented by hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, HBO's Peabody award-winning series spotlighting spoken poetry performances from a number of urban poets and a handful of celebrity slingers of verse is fueled by audience enthusiasm. In fact, the energy is always high, meaning that the poetry in each of the four half-hour programs collected on this disc generally sounds more like brash self-proclamations or recounting of ironic experiences, as opposed to personal introspection or contemplation. But that's okay in the long run, since this is really a party program, hosted by rapper Mos Def and graced with the likes of Cedric the Entertainer and Dave Chappelle, each of whom has a go at lyricism. Other highlights include real poet Sarah Jones' "Your Revolution Will Not Happen Between These Thighs" (with apologies to Gil Scott-Heron), and Poetri's funny opus about money. DVD extras include a bonus "making-of" featurette. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)
Def Poetry: Season 1
(2002) 120 min. DVD: $19.98. HBO Video (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. Closed captioned. ISBN: 0-7831-2075-3. Volume 19, Issue 6
Def Poetry: Season 1
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