"Say 'ello to my little friend!"

I had mixed feelings buying the latest "Platinum" Edition DVD of Scarface that came out a few weeks back. Wasn't I down this exact road a couple years ago buying the new "Anniversary" Edition DVD. Was this another shameless double-dip (or in Scarface's case - triple dip) by the studios to continue to capitalize on this incredible flick? Well quite frankly, it does appear so. But I can honestly say after bringing the DVD home and watching it - there are considerable improvements to the picture and especially the audio with this new edition. Universal really went to work to beef up this new print. The action sequences and gunshots really pop off my speakers. There are some new special features in this edition - best of which I found to be an on-screen counter of how many times "fuck" is said and how many bullets are flying (funny shit during the final shoot-up as the bullet counter has trouble keeping up) and one of the best features continues to be "Origins of a Hip Hop Classic" as almost every playa' in the game give thought to the cultural impact of Tony Montana. There's no question this was one mighty influential flick on the Hip Hop community. Which leads me to wonder why in the last few years so much talk in the media is concerned with how Hip Hop may inspire a gansta lifestyle -- but little attention has been made to what has inspired rap.

Ghost Dog - A real hip hop movie

I actually might have been influenced by some of the advertising on the channel today. I saw "The Last King of Scotland" - starring Forest Whitaker playing evil dictator Idi Amin. A wicked movie. I have to confess that while I had heard of this Idi Amin character before, I just knew of him as this evil dude - but didn't really know the details of his place in history. Whitaker brings his serious A-game to the role and captures the complex personality of Amin brilliantly. I can't see how he won't get an oscar nomination for the role. My only complaint with the flick was this b-story it was telling with this Scottish doctor. The movie seemed to deflate anytime Whitaker wasn't on the screen. We had to highlight on the channel another Whitaker performance of a few years back - in GHOST DOG. If you haven't seen this flick then your missing a classic that merges the gangster and hip-hop genres in a way that many of today's films can't begin to do. A film that knows how to lay down a serious hip-hop score (respect, RZA) that enhances the beauty of the film - and not just for the marketing of a single or crew that too many of today's movies only try and do. I recently saw the Ghost Dog DVD at HMV for ten bucks. A worthy addition to the collection.

RAPproject.tv is Launched!

We're finally up and streaming some video for you. Our official broadcast site is still a few weeks away - but this teaser site should give you an idea of the type of urban programming we're going to offer. Documentaries, comedy, behind the scenes of cool movies, music videos will be a lot of what we'll be showing on RAPproject.tv - We can't forget our Canadian roots so will be showing off some of the great talent this country has to offer. And we do expect to hear from you, our audience about what you feelin' about the channel and what your hating on' So we hope you do enjoy a few of our vids and we give you one more reason why you'll never have to watch that shitty old TV again. Peace.