Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

robba As someone who's been interested in scratching for a longtime it's possible that I was expecting a little too much from this film.Scratch is actually quite boring in places, and as far as cinematic documentaries go it falls way short of the standard set by films like Dogtown and Z-Boys. Scratch didn't seem to capture a lot of what gets me excited about scratching and turntablism. It concentrates too much on dull cliched dialogue about the 'Four Elements of Hip Hop', and 'Keeping it Real'.To me it seemed quite poorly researched. A number of key figures in the development of this music were not interviewed or even mentioned. The most notable of these was DJ Ca$h Money, one of the all time great battle DJs and the inventor of many influential scratch techniques. Also absent were Jazzy Jeff and Jam Master Jay (who was still alive at the time of filming).Another gripe is that the only non US DJ featured was DJ Krush. The absence of artists like DJ Noise, Scratch Perverts, DJ Dexta, Kid Koala and many others showed some ignorance towards the huge global following that this movement has.That said there is some excellent footage notably of the Mix Master Mike, DJ Shadow record shopping and the superb performance of Rockit at the 1984 Grammies.As an introduction to the history of scratching this film might be useful, but it seems incomplete and somewhat lifeless. Instead you should check out the videos of DMC or ITF battles, or better still get to a battle yourself.

George Parker ...scratch it. Just as African's created rhythms with the jawbone of an ass and Virgin Islanders welded oil drums into ear pleasing steel bands, so did urban DJ's itch to scratch in the pursuit of new methods of creative expression. "Scratch" is a wholly unnarrated documentary which will take you to the heart of the hip-hop/rap movement and explore the genesis of turntablism, the art of scratching vinyl, and the ultimate DJ/MC contempo entertainment expression. The film reveals some surprisingly intelligent and articulate "Scratchers" with startlingly unique abilities in concert and competition where the beat meets the street. Good stuff for anyone interested in grass roots or ghetto gutter movements in sound art. (B)

Denarius What about DJ Cash Money??? This film fails in part by not covering the mid to late 80s. There was only a small mention of DJ Cheese in 86.Also, it's Grandmixer "DST", not "DXT"!!!!!

patsquiggs This movie was well put together. It showed many facets of DJing and the DJs themselves. It is not everyday that you see "Out Of Character" interviews with most of these legendary DJs. Instead of seeing "DJs" in interviews you see "people who like being DJs" in interviews (hopefully you followed that). IE. Instead of seeing an interview with Mix Master Mike you saw an interview with Maxwell Schwartz and he explained why he likes being a DJ and being Mix Master Mike and what and who inspired and inspires him. You also get to see what the families of these DJs had to deal with as they were starting out which is quite interesting. As far as interviews go the common issue most people could have is that DJ Jazzy Jeff and DJ Cash Money from Philadelphia were not in it. Regardless, seeing Afrika Bambaataa and Jazzy Jay (The Original Jazzy Jay) and other Hip Hop originators was worth the price of the movie. You don't see or hear from these people everyday. The only other issue is more of an industry issue where there was only one female DJ interviewed but that is just a sad reflection of the Hip Hop DJ industry. There should and could have been more interviews with more female DJs...they are out there. This is a movie where a parent who remembers the good ol' days of Hip Hop would appreciate it and they would bring their children to see it. It shows that Hip Hop and the art of DJing has evolved and is not just "As it is!" I'm a house DJ and scratching is not something that is done in House music but I love this movie. Don't get it twisted I've always been a fan of Hip Hop. Great Movie. Cheers.