It makes the viewer uncomfortable, too -- but it's unquestionably honest, like so much of Hip-Hop.

Full Review | Jul 22, 2008

More, I can't shed my enthusiasm for what Kazi accomplished, the philanthropic legacy he has crafted to give voices to the voiceles a simply stunning achievement.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 12, 2007

A big, wet, sloppy valentine to hip-hop's power to give voice to the voiceless.

| Original Score: b | May 12, 2007

First-time director Matt Ruskin is a skilled documentarian; he releases information gradually so the narrative develops in an organic fashion that is consistently engaging.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 11, 2007

The film meanders, sidetracks, and frustrates -- few of the rap songs, some of them boasting wildly inspired couplets, are shown and heard in their entirety.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 11, 2007

Dramatically, the movie lacks motion -- the kids don't seem a lot better off at the end -- and the point of the program escapes me. These kids badly need an education.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | May 11, 2007

[Director] Ruskin is so awed by his subject that he never gains the distance needed to create a bigger, more powerful picture.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 11, 2007

Will the music of The Hip Hop Project album change your life? Likely, no. Did the process of making it change the lives of those involved in its creation? Undoubtedly. And that, perhaps, is inspiration enough.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 11, 2007

There is some inspired camera work during some of the performance sequences, but none of the performances themselves stick. It's a shame when a film about the power of music doesn't contain one memorable song.

| May 11, 2007

The live performances sizzle. Expect genuine passion behind the music, even when you wonder, as an M온라인카지노추천 interviewer does during the film, whether these kids are that much more captivating than a million other hip-hop hopefuls.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 11, 2007

All of this is related in a well-meaning, would-be uplifting but ultimately ham-handed manner somewhere between a PBS documentary and a 온라인카지노추천 movie of the week.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | May 11, 2007

In fact, it is the tyro director's slapdash structure and pacing that distract from the film's content. A rather haphazard architect of his own material, Ruskin tends to rush certain crucial developments while lingering on more lackluster details.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 11, 2007

Despite a jumpy narrative, the film works because Kazi speaks to the kids on their level but from a slight elevation, and the honesty and raw emotion he draws out of them come through.

| Original Score: 4/6 | May 10, 2007

The commercial pressure that is often brought to bear on rappers to be scurrilous and offensive. This project, which was produced by Bruce Willis and Queen Latifah, shows that there is another way.

| Original Score: B+ | May 10, 2007

In a nation that's stripped arts instruction from the public schools, the Hip Hop Project seems like a godsend.

| May 10, 2007

The film works best when it pays specific attention to how hard it is to write a rhyme worth hearing.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | May 10, 2007

There's not enough story to the story, which is curious, given that rap is ultimately a tale-telling medium.

| May 10, 2007

The Hip Hop Project has a good heart and more than a little trouble organizing its thoughts.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 10, 2007

The most impressive accomplishment of Project is not the student-made album, but that when Kazi says cheesy things like 'This is healing through hip-hop,' you actually believe him.

| May 8, 2007

There's an inspirational story lurking within The Hip Hop Project, but directors Matt Ruskin and Scott K. Rosenberg can't quite seem to bring it out.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 6, 2007