"All the Streets Are Silent" Early Movie Review

 

All the Streets Are Silent chronicles the convergence of two New York City subcultures in the late 1980s: hip-hop and skateboarding. Narrator Eli Gesner, a fixture of the then still-underground New York skateboarding scene, diligently captured the places and faces of the movement with his ever-present video-camera as a teen. Gesner details how hip-hop and skateboarding dovetailed, beginning with the union of the two at now-defunct multi-level Manhattan club Mars. 

Located in what used to be the Meatpacking District, Mars opened in 1987 and quickly became a haven for skaters like Gesner and his friends. The venue's founder, Uki Watanabe quickly realized that he was missing out another huge audience -- and source of revenue -- who frequented the city's handful of hip hop spots. Naturally, Watanabe hired popular DJ Almighty Kay Gee of pioneering rap group, the Cold Crush Brothers, who, in turn, drew a brand new crowd to the club. After realizing how well the two groups meshed together, Watanabe soon recruited the likes of soon-to-be legendary hip-hop deejays Kid Capri, Clark Kent, Funkmaster Flex and Stretch Armstrong to do sets. Even electronic music star Moby spent time behind the wheels at Mars as an up-and-comer. And future movie star Vin Diesel worked at the club as a bouncer. The list of performers includes Big Daddy Kane, Jaz-O and Jay-Z -- all captured on video by Gesner.

In 1992, the same year that Watanabe shuttered his famous dance spot, Gesner, among others, was tapped by Def Jam Records founder Russell Simmons to help launch his Phat Farm apparel brand (according to Gesner). Two years later, he helped open the Supreme skate shop in Lower Manhattan. Gesner also befriended several cast-members of the 1995 film Kids, including Rosario Dawson; Justin Pierce, a skater who died by suicide at the age of 25; professional skater Jefferson Pang; and African-American pro-skater Harold Hunter, who died of a heart attack at 31. 

All of these exploits were documented by Gesner, who also shot early footage of Method Man and Busta Rhymes on the Stretch and Bobbito radio show. All the Streets Are Silent includes interviews with hip-hop luminaries Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC, Fab 5 Freddy, DJ Clark Kent, Kid Capri, Kool Keith, Tek (of Smif-n-Wessun), Dres (of Black Sheep), Lil' Dap (of Group Home), Bobbito Garcia, Adrian "Stretch Armstrong" Bartos and ASAP Ferg. Along with movie star Rosario Dawson, the documentary also features interviews with skating stars Mike Hernandez, Tyshawn Jones, Peter Bici, Jefferson Pang, Scott Johnston, Ricky Oyola, Mike Carroll, Vinny Ponte and Josh Kalis. As an added bonus, super-producer Paul "Large Professor" Mitchell acted as the music supervisor for the movie.

All the Streets Are Silent will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on July 23.