Run-DMC Tagged Articles at Cinematical

With the murder of Jam-Master Jay in Queens on October 30, 2002, one excellent part of Run-DMC was taken from us. There was word last year that a biopic was in the works, and now we're getting a musical documentary, one that will open the Hollywood Black Film Festival on June 3, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

2 Turntables and a Microphone, which was directed by Guy Logan, follows Jam-Master Jay's life and death, and contains information that the HBFF website says could help solve his murder. The doc features the likes of Russell Simmons, Reverend Run, Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Method Man, 50 Cent and even more names in the hip-hop world, with the story following not only the rise of DMC and death of Jay, but also the world of hip-hop and mainstream rap.

If you're a fan of DMC and located in California, this will be a pretty cool night out -- and not just because you can check out the film. After the screening, there will be the usual Q&A, but along with the director and producers, "some of the cast" will be there. I would hope that means at least a few of the names mentioned above. The flick will screen on June 3, 8 PM, at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills, with a hip-hop-themed party to follow.

Until they make Krush Groove: Redux, I guess this will have to do. The Hollywood Reported announced that Def Jam creator and Hip-Hop legend Russell Simmons is shopping around the life story of the Reverend Run (of Run-DMC fame) for the big-screen. Simmons was speaking at a New York conference on money and media when the subject of a feature film about the life of Reverend Run (born Joseph Ward Simmons) first came up.

For those of you out there who aren't that familiar with the awesomeness that is Run-DMC now is your chance to find out. Not only were they the pioneers of mainstream rap and hip-hop, they were the first group (for better or for worse) to cross over to the pop charts with their collaboration with Aerosmith on a remake of Walk this Way. Plus no-one could wear a fedora and Adidas like Run-DMC. After the murder of founding member Jam Master Jay in 2002, the group parted ways and Run was quoted as saying, "No one will want to see Run-DMC without Jam Master Jay. Run-DMC is officially retired." Over the years the surviving members have recorded solo albums and with each other and Run has recently had success with his Osborne-style reality show on MTV, Run's House.

It's a shame that in the flood of musician biopics over the last few years that hip-hop artists have been virtually ignored -- I mean, how long has it taken to get a Notorious B.I.G film into production? Since Simmons is still on the hunt for funding and a studio to produce the picture, it could take awhile before the production gets rolling. But ever the self-promoter, Simmons doesn't seem too worried about the bottom line, telling those in attendance at the conference, "It's gonna make a lot of money". If anyone knows how to make money, it's Simmons. So what other music legends do you think have been overlooked on the big screen?