Gangsta Rap: The Glockumentary

Okk went in expecting something mindless, wasn't expecting it to be essentially / mindlessly spinal tap - not just in premise; recycled jokes / near identical structure/plot points.. repeatedly I found myself watching scenes lifted exactly from the movie except with ever so slight variation because of the style of music/culture covered - srsly watch Spinal Tap and then This Movie back to back. I don't necessarily dismiss Gansta Rap based on this, I just don't fully understand the thought process of the writer / director. Why spend so much time working on a film that is obviously never going to outshine the original film that all this material is lifted from? Is it a love letter? Did he think people wouldn't notice? And furthermore, You've got the opportunity to make your own film, why not just spend a little more time making it Your Own?

BUT: I could see the appeal in doing somewhat of a "remake" of spinal tap, putting the artists in the same situations but having them react in their own ways (though sometimes the response is the same and only the wording has changed...), even though in my opinion it doesn't work 95% of the time.

I don't know. More than view this movie I tried to wrap my head around the thought process behind. Did the director make sure all of his actors had seen Spinal Tap first or did he pass the identical script outline as his own? Did he own it or lose sleep over being found out? I'll never know because as soon as I'm done writing this I'll probably never think about it again and I'm sure not gonna ask.

Recommend for fans of Spinal Tap who also like to watch Bad movies on purpose. Not a wholly Terrible film, not really anything special, but it exists in the same universe as You, Me, and Spinal Tap, so take that as you will.

Don't trust the critics, this movie is hilarious when it finds the right audience. Would totally recommend if you don't mind a little bit of 2000's type humor. Very well thought out movie and they even made an entire playlist to go along with it. I don't think the critics were a part of the targeted audience, which makes their reviews scuffed and I think that is why the movie didn't go too far. Image quality and sound may not be great but that is because it was from the early 2000's, that's another thing you can't let fool you with this movie. It is funny and well written. The story is good within itself.

This movie is what CB4 and Fear of a Black Hat wanted to be. Those films were obviously written by someone who was neither from or understood the "Gangsta" mentality, or the music industry. Although Gangsta Rap is not as prevalent as it was in the 90's, it's still here. 90% of rappers rap about guns and dope....i.e "Gangsta sh..", and 89% of them are as fake as the characters in this movie. This movie was written by two guys who are from that environment, one of them used to be a rapper himself so they know these characters intimately and it shows in the film.

Being from Los Angeles, I know and see these characters everyday where as in those other films there was no authenticity whatsoever. Most people from the streets who saw those other movie's thought they were both terrible, and were probably offended by them. You cannot as a filmmaker provide a commentary on something you know nothing about other than playing on stale stereotypes. Gangsta Rap goes beyond that. Murder Mike is my neighbor, Du-Rag is my cousin, Mama Rag is my ex-girlfriend's mother, these characters ring true.

In my opinion this film is both funny, and a relevant commentary on the state of Rap music today. Additionally, the group has an album of original music that's hilarious, but more importantly playable, where as the other two films I've heard it compared to sorely lacked in that department. Don't believe me, check out their video for "My Houseshoes" on youtube.

I enjoyed both the comedy and commentary. After renting this movie, I bought it online and also bought the album!

I must admit, when it first saw this I thought it was gonna be crap, and a CB4 rip-off. Well i was wrong as it is funny, and although both films are about "gangster rap", the two films are different. In CB4, the characters were actually well to do and not from the ghetto at all. In this film, they are definitely from Compton and act the part. Definitely worth a look or two, especially at 420. In my opinion, Howie bell as "Du-Rag" steals the show. The music in the film is crazy, over the top funny. I just found out that "Gangsta Rap's" album is actually out on Delicious Vinyl and I plan to pick that up. Although it's meant to be a joke, I can play a lot of those songs up against any rap that's played on the radio right now!

I thought this was an excellent mock documentary. Yes, it borrows liberally from Spinal Tap (some scenes are identical) but the music, script, direction, and acting were quite good. I ended up watching it several times and quite enjoyed it. The music is extremely well done. A lot of parts are funny, but esp. the part with "Momma Rag." I hope the filmmaker does a sequel to this.

What else? (this site wants me to write 10 lines for some reason). The love story was extremely well done (good acting), showing the tension between musicians and romance (a la John Lennon and Yoko Ono). The parody of the 'hardcore' gangsta persona was funny (Murder Mike flinching). I guess Durag is my favourite character. The failed aging musician theme is unfortunately all too real for most musicians in our culture, so it needed to be shown. Reminds me of the real life Spinal Tap, "Anvil" (a great documentary if you have the chance to see it).