Critic Reviews
Scratch (2001) Rank 5 Reviews
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based on (52) reviews
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DVD Confidential
DVD Talk (Gil Jawetz)
Scratch is an excellent documentary on a fascinating topic and this DVD is virtually the best presentation imaginable. By giving it DVDTalk's highest possible rating I'm not suggesting that every man, woman and child run out and buy it, sight unseen. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at DVD Talk (Gil Jawetz)
Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
Among the film's highlights are an interview with Grand Wizard Theodore, who is generally uncontested in his claim to have invented the idea of scratching vinyl. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)
Highly entertaining and encouraging documentary. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kevin Thomas)
LA Weekly (Ernest Hardy)
Simultaneously hilarious and deeply informative thanks to the vibrant personalities at its center. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at LA Weekly (Ernest Hardy)
New Times (L.A.) (Gregory Weinkauf)
The miracle here is not so much that Pray captures the DJs in peak form, but that he comprehensively captures SO MANY of them. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at New Times (L.A.) (Gregory Weinkauf)
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
So upbeat it might as well arrive on a sunbeam. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Reel.com
However, hip-hop isn't for everybody, as Pray hilariously proves in a sequence at a Los Angeles music trade show. In a flurry of interviews, he elicits the reactions of everyone from an aging hippie guitar-merchant, a baffled German accordion-vendor, ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Reel.com
filmcritic.com (Warren Curry)
At the core of the documentary Scratch is an infectious love of the art form and world of the hip-hop DJ. While in the wrong hands this characteristic could spell certain doom and a pandering, hero-worship approach, director Doug Pray digs so deep into ...read the complete Scratch movie review at filmcritic.com (Warren Curry)
Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
So even if you don’t think you’ll enjoy a movie about scratching, even if you find yourself agreeing with the accordion salesman who calls scratching “unpleasant to the ears,” give Scratch a chance. If you remain unconvinced that ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Some interesting insights are given, though. DJ Qbert, regraded as one of the best in the world, is described by someone else as being one of the few role models that Filipino-Americans have. There aren't any Filipino actors or athletes; "we have our ...read the complete Scratch movie review at The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Doug Pray's previous music doc -- 1996's Hype! -- chronicled the rise and fall of the Seattle grunge scene; by film's end you realized for all the crazy beauty in front of you, what you were really witnessing was a death knell. Not so with Scratch, ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
TV Guide Entertainment Network, Movie Guide
As mainstream hip-hop succumbed to the worst excesses of both gangsta rap and music-biz hype, something interesting was happening in the late '80s/early '90s underground: Groups like the Bay Area's Invisibl Skratch Piklz and New York City's X-ecutioners ...read the complete Scratch movie review at TV Guide Entertainment Network, Movie Guide
Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
Scratch is a great documentary about the birth of a new musical instrument. On that level, the DVD is worth renting — heck, rent the VHS if you don’t have a disc player. But beyond the movie, the DVD is packed not just with extra features, ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
DVD Verdict
Scratch is a surprisingly entertaining and informative documentary that highlights the world of the DJ. Now this isn't the "typical" DJ you might be imagining. We're not talking about the guy you hire for a wedding, sets up his little table in the ...read the complete Scratch movie review at DVD Verdict
Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
While others attending Sundance tend to flock to the Premieres and Dramatic Competition, I always make sure to see the Documentaries. Sometimes these films rarely see life outside of the festival circuit. I make it a point to catch every documentary, ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
San Francisco Chronicle (Neva Chonin)
Filmmaker Doug Pray's new DJ documentary, "Scratch," resembles "Hype!," his 1996 film on Seattle's grunge scene, in its meticulous chronicling of the rise of a culture-shaping genre. The difference comes with its conclusion: Where "Hype!" traced a ...read the complete Scratch movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Neva Chonin)
CinemaSpeak.com (Ryan Kugler)
Doug Pray's Scratch does what a good documentary should. It informs, enlightens, and entertains. The film is finally seeing the light of day after receiving raves at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, and people that decide to seek it out won't be ...read the complete Scratch movie review at CinemaSpeak.com (Ryan Kugler)
The Movie Chicks
This documentary is about the birth of hip-hop, which is not the same thing as rap - this showcases the DJs that create the beat behind rappers and other artists. A form of music that started as "scratching" on party tracks, but now has ...read the complete Scratch movie review at The Movie Chicks
Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)
Engrossing and infectiously enthusiastic documentary. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)
The Onion (A.V. Club) (Noel Murray)
It's a doozy of a story, too, about a group of musicians who use the technology of the present and the mindset of the future to make a delicious hash out of the best parts of the past. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at The Onion (A.V. Club) (Noel Murray)
Film Threat (Chris Gore)
See Scratch for the history, see Scratch for the music, see Scratch for a lesson in scratching, but, most of all, see it for the passion. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Film Threat (Chris Gore)
TV Guide (Ken Fox)
Throughout, the notion that hip-hop is much more than rapping is a persistent theme, and anyone seeking a solid introduction -- or re-introduction -- to that ever vibrant culture shouldn't miss it. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at TV Guide (Ken Fox)
Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)
Washington Post (Curt Fields)
Focusing on the evolution of the hip-hop DJ, or "turntablist," it mixes history with a look at the current scene. Even if the names Mixmaster Mike, GrandMixer DXT (formerly GrandMixer D.ST), Qbert or X-Ecutioners mean nothing to you, their creative ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Washington Post (Curt Fields)
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Ray Conlogue)
This engaging documentary is an excursion into the immense "art" form of hip-hop. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Ray Conlogue)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Sean Axmaker)
Scratch could use some of the wit and jagged energy that defined ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Sean Axmaker)
Reel Movie Critic (Brenda Sexton)
An unforgettable early zealot of this innovation, Afrika Bambaataa, founder of the Universal Zulu Nation in the Bronx, used this music and DJing as a way to keep kids off the streets and out of gangs. Once the music drifted farther uptown into some of ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Reel Movie Critic (Brenda Sexton)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Dan DeLuca)
Filled with wildly inventive sound, as records are cut up and recombined on the spot. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Dan DeLuca)
San Francisco Chronicle (Neva Chonin)
It's a documentary that invites viewers inside its story to groove along with a genre that's changing the past, present and future of contemporary music. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Neva Chonin)
Miami Herald (Evelyn McDonnell)
Chicago Tribune (Robert K. Elder)
It lays the groundwork for such collaborations by suggesting that all forms of music must come full circle before evolving into something new. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Chicago Tribune (Robert K. Elder)
filmcritic.com (Warren Curry)
Ain't It Cool News (Vern)
Variety (Dennis Harvey)
Works best as a straightforward appreciation of the music. Though docu's structure wears out full viewer interest after an hour or so, few will come away with staid prejudices (i.e. that turntablism isn't "real" musicianship) intact. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Variety (Dennis Harvey)
New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
A loose-limbed documentary about the hip-hop D.J. scene that, for know-nothings like me, is highly informative without being in the least academic. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
Village Voice (Ed Morales)
Scratch's strongest moments are the live performance sequences, where hip-hop becomes an ultra-rhythmic spiritual experience, with roots in West African trance ritual and South Bronx gang solidarity. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Village Voice (Ed Morales)
Washington Post (Curt Fields)
Should appeal to more than just hardcore hip-hop fans. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Washington Post (Curt Fields)
The New York Times (Stephen Holden)
Dense, exhilarating. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at The New York Times (Stephen Holden)
Planet Sick-Boy
Philadelphia City Paper (Sam Adams)
If nothing else, Scratch firmly establishes Herbie Hancock's "Rockit," with its showcase on the scratch wizardry of GrandMixer DXT, as the "Like a Rolling Stone" of two turntables and a microphone -- practically every DJ, MC and hanger-on interviewed ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Philadelphia City Paper (Sam Adams)
filethirteen.com Review
Movie Magazine International (Purple)
Dual Lens - Review
New York Post (Megan Lehmann)
Pray will force you to look at the music as more than just gobbledygook created by musical-bower birds who can't spell. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at New York Post (Megan Lehmann)
Reel.com DVD review (Jeffrey Wachs)
Reel.com (Tor Thorsen)
Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)
A standard mix of performances, interviews, and gimmickry -- the image and sound sometimes loop or jump in a tiresomely literal attempt to translate the techniques of scratching and "beat juggling" into cinema. ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Chicago Reader (Lisa Alspector)
Chicago Tribune (Robert K. Elder)
Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
A feature doc about the roots of "turntablism" is probably a marginal commodity, and indeed it's not terribly easy watching for non-fans. But it's quite intriguing to follow the birth and growth of hip-hop music over the past 20 years, and you can't ...read the complete Scratch movie review at Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
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