Scratch

D: Doug Pray; with Mixmaster Mike, Cut Chemist, Qbert, Jazzy Jay, Grand Wizard Theodore, DXT, Steinski. (16mm, 85 min.)

Pray, who scored beaucoup indie-cred points with Hype!, his 1996 doc on Seattle’s grunge dispersal machine, sites his steely gaze at the hip-hop community this time out and nails another perfect score. If Scratch isn’t the hip-hop doc to end all hip-hop docs, then it’s stultifyingly close, effortlessly capturing the essence of all those zigga-zigga-whoosh‘s that the DJs nightly spin for our edification. “What does it all mean?” is a sample familiar to any beathead, and here, finally, the eternal question is answered: DXT was the DJ who laid down those funky scratches in Herbie Hancock’s seminal “Rockit,” and from there, the mental shutters were swung wide for a thousand turntablists-to-be. Shot in gorgeous 16mm (to correspond to the DJs’ love of that other archaic format, vinyl) and featuring a walloping Dolby 5.0 sound mix that must be heard to be believed, Scratch is a remarkable triumph on virtually every level. Not for hip-hoppers only, this is the sort of film that leaves you feeling uplifted, funky, and ready for more.

(Paramount, 3/15, 7pm)

This article appears in March 16 • 2001.

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