House rap

I have copy of this on VHS, I think they (The television networks) should play this every year for the next twenty years. So that we don't forget what was and that we remember not to do the same mistakes again. Like putting some people in the director's chair, where they don't belong. This movie Rappin' is like a vaudevillian musical, for those who can't sing, or act. This movie is as much fun as trying to teach the 'blind' to drive a city bus.

John Hood, (Peebles) has just got out of prison and he's headed back to the old neighborhood. In serving time for an all-to-nice crime of necessity, of course. John heads back onto the old street and is greeted by kids dogs old ladies and his peer homeys as they dance and sing all along the way.

I would recommend this if I was sentimental, or if in truth someone was smoking medicinal pot prescribed by a doctor for glaucoma. Either way this is a poorly directed, scripted, acted and even produced (I never thought I'd say that) satire of ghetto life with the 'Hood'. Although, I think the redeeming part of the story, thru the wannabe gang fight sequences and the dance numbers, his friends care about their neighbors and want to save the ghetto from being torn down and cleaned up and built new. This is a great depiction of Ice-T though. His worst performance yet? Maybe. From Heart break Ridge with Clint Eastwood to this tale of the rappin' life-sentence. Oh well, he wasn't that good as stitch jones playing electric guitar either.

Forget Sonny spoon, Mario could have won an Oscar for that in comparison to this Rap. Oh well if you find yourself wanting to laugh yourself silly and three-quarters embarrassed, be sure to drink first.

And please, watch responsibly. (No stars, better luck next time!)

Vastly underrated, this gem was recently rediscovered after decades of hiding.

Mario van Peebles is Oscar worthy in this masterpiece. Turbo and Ozone could take lessons from him on this one.

Set in Pittsburgh, the cinematography certainly won awards. No need for CGI here, just raw talent in action.

If Van Peebles were a dessert, he'd definitely be a chocolate waterfall here.

Once you see it on You Tube, it'll forever remain in your heart. I've watched it 6x already and I suspect it'll be a mainstay in the rotation. It's not going to bump Smokey & the Bandit from its' all-time top status, but it did replace Breakin II: Electric Bugaloo from the throne. Enjoy with or without subtitles.

John Hood (Mario Van Peebles) is released from prison. He goes home to his grandma and younger brother. He reconnects with his best friend Ice (Eriq La Salle). The evil landlord Wilson is trying to evict the multi-ethnic downtrodden neighborhood. Hood and his friends work to fight against the villainous land-developer. He falls for rival Duane's girlfriend, Dixie (Tasia Valenza).

If this is a disconnected sequel to Breakin', then this is a complete failure. I would love to have Breakin' 3 with the original crew. As a new story on its own, this is still a failure. If they want a movie about rapping, make Ice-T the protagonist. He's the only connecting tissue and he deserves a chance. His acting couldn't be any worst. Mario has always been a hustler and a try hard. He tries hard to be a rapper but he's far from one. I couldn't believe the first rap is about food. Eriq La Salle is stiff and cold. He can be that way in ER because that's the character. In this, he's just stiff and he's not a real rapper either. Duane is a ridiculously villain. He's white bread trying to be hard and it comes off like a cartoon. I do like the town council rap for its hokey sincerity but the closing credits rap is just cringeworthy. I want to like this but too much of this is cringeworthy.

This movie is such a monumental collection of cheese and brilliance that I got to give it my highest level of fervent recommendation. It took a little while to grow on me, but once I saw it from beginning to end, I was sold for life. Everytime I watch this film, it gets funnier. There are so many funny scenes, it is endless amusement. This movie is epic. It ain't for everyone, but if you find the 1980s to be inherently funny, you will crack up at this monument of cheese. Mario Van Peebles is incredible, delivering his lines with bravado and soul ("Bathroom, Fool!"). Eriq LaSalle is great as the rightous tough guy Ice. Charles Flohe has a career making role as the villian. Tasia Valenza is enchanting as the love interest, Dixie. Melvin Plowden provides portly comic relief as Fats. Ice T wrote the rhymes that Mario spits. Simply incredible. 10/10

... and I mean both strange and hilarious. If you lived through that decade this film is even funnier as a bit of cheesy nostalgia. The plot devices could have been used in a Great Depression era programmer - the guy just out of the joint who wants to make good with a kid brother on the path to prison and the mom with a heart of gold, the pretty lady record producer with an abusive boyfriend who is a corny coupling of Elvis and Billy Idol in the looks department, the evil developer/landlord who is trying to drive out the poor people in the neighborhood so he can tear down the slums and make a fortune, and the developer's lackey who looks like the guy who was the runner up in getting the part of the mayor in Robocop.

There are the just plain weird rap acts, the trips through clubs where half of the women are dressed like Madonna wannabes with the electrocuted hair, the corny minimalist dialogue, and all of the guys wearing the single glove like that will make them Michael Jackson. Throwing a raincoat over the shoulder of B sixties cult film star Arch Hall Jr. wouldn't have made him Sinatra, and the single glove bit doesn't work wonders of transformation either.

Recommended for the unintended humor of it all, but do not watch it in the middle of the night if you are trying to get some sleep. The hilarity and unintended goofiness of the proceedings will wake you right up.