Scratch (2001)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Doug Pray

Release Date:

7 November 2001 (France)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Plot:

A feature-length documentary film about hip-hop DJing, otherwise known as turntablism. From the South Bronx in the 1970s to San Francisco now...

Plot Keywords:

Hip Hop | D.J. | Rap | Turntable

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Marc 7	...	Himself - Jurassic 5
Afra	...	Himself
Carlos Aguilar	...	Himself (as DJ Quest)
Akil	...	Himself - Jurassic 5
The Allies	...	Themselves
Almighty K.G.	...	Himself
D.J. Babu	...	Himself - Dilated Peoples / Beat Junkies (as DJ Babu)
Afrika Bambaataa	...	Himself
The Beat Junkies	...	Themselves (as Beat Junkies)
Jon Bernson	...	Himself
John Carluccio	...	Himself - Director
DJ Craze	...	Himself
Frank Cuevas	...	Himself (as DJ Cue)
DJ Curse	...	Himself
Steve Dee	...	Himself
Eddie Def	...	Himself
Dilated Peoples	...	Themselves
D.O.A.	...	Himself
Dot-a-Rock	...	Himself - MC (as Dot a Rock)
Grand Mixer DXT	...	Himself
Emanon	...	Himself
Snayk Eyez	...	Himself
DJ Faust	...	Himself
DJ Flare	...	Himself
Grandmaster Flash	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Grand Master Flash)
Yoga Frog	...	Himself
Doze Green	...	Himself
Herbie Hancock	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mark Herlihy	...	Himself
Naut Humon	...	Himself - Asphodel Records
Billy Jam	...	Himself - Record Label Owner
DJ Jazzy Jay	...	Himself
Jurassic 5	...	Themselves
Kevie Kev	...	Himself - MC
Klever	...	Himself
DJ Krush	...	Himself
Lucas MacFadden	...	Himself - Jurassic 5 (as Cut Chemist)
DJ Marz	...	Himself
Melo-D	...	Himself - Beat Junkies
Mix Master Mike	...	Himself
Mysterio	...	Himself
DJ NuMark	...	Himself - Jurassic 5 (as Numark)
Christie Z. Pabon	...	Herself
Dave Paul	...	Himself - Record Label Owner
DJ Premier	...	Himself - Gang Starr
DJ Q-Bert	...	Himself
Roc Raida	...	Himself - X-ecutioners
Kool DJ Red Alert	...	Himself (as DJ Red Alert)
DJ Relm	...	Himself
Swift Rock	...	Himself
DJ Shadow	...	Himself
Shortcut	...	Himself (as Shortkut)
DJ Shortee	...	Herself
Mista Sinista	...	Himself - X-ecutioners
Jay Slim	...	Himself
Soup	...	Himself - Jurassic 5 (as Zaakir)
Gang Starr	...	Themselves
Steinski	...	Himself - Double Dee / Steinski
Charles Stewart	...	Himself - Jurassic 5 (as Chali 2NA)
DJ Streak	...	Himself
DJ Swamp	...	Himself
Rob Swift	...	Himself - X-ecutioners
The Guru	...	Himself - Gang Starr (as Guru)
Grand Wizard Theodore	...	Himself
Total Eclipse	...	Himself - X-ecutioners
X-ecutioners	...	Themselves
DJ Z-Trip	...	Himself (as Z-Trip)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

92 min | UK:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

National Orange Show Event Center, San Bernardino, California, USA

Company:

Firewalks Film

Trivia:

In the DVD commentary, director Doug Pray says that he was having a lot of difficult arranging interviews with many DJs, until DJ Qbert signed on. After Qbert's interview, DJs started calling Pray volunteering themselves.

Movie Connections:

Features Wild Style (1983)

Soundtrack:

Hip Hop (Instrumental)

"wicka wicka wicka"

-That's pretty much the whole soundtrack to this film. I just saw this baby at the Munich Film Festival and it rocked the house. Director Doug Pray is never seen in this documentary, nor I think he is even heard, but he has done a very intimate look into the lives and history of the "mixer." He has segmented his film into about eight chapters and then his motley group of enthusiastic interviews will be spiced throughout according to what they are talking about. I was never big into "scratching" but the film does a wonderful job of keeping elementary for those who know little, and infusing in-jokes for those who are experts themselves in this area. Mix Master Mike from the Beastie Boys is in this film, but it wasn't until after the film that I could name several heavy hitters in the industry (DJ Shadow, Q- Bert, etc). The extreme fascination for turntables by these talented and quirky DJs is evident in their explanations of what their music means to them. The film also sheds some gratifying light on these guys (and one woman) to be classified as musicians. Pray doesn't let his film idle and if there exists a slow scene it is soon re-energized by hardly ever ceasing music. If nothing else, this film will increase your slang vocabulary. I have to get back to "digging", so I'll end this review. See it, it will be of interest. Good stuff man. Good stuff.