Spit thy rhyme

A recent movie by American director Michael King, Rapping With Shakespeare, follows the lives of a few teenagers from Crenshaw High School in South Central L.A., paralleling them with characters from the work of the famous British playwright and capturing their discovery of his writing through English teacher Andy Molnar, who uses hip hop to bridge the gap between 16th-century plays and music of the new millennium. All the kids in the movie are reminiscent of Shakespeare’s infamous characters in some way or another—Myles, with his journey to leadership, is Henry V; Joanna, a 17-year-old foster child dealing with incest, is Hamlet; Emanuel and Estephany are the modern-day Romeo and Juliet, their families harbouring strong dislike for each other. The way these high-schoolers relate their lives to Shakespeare’s work is not only a testament to the timeless nature of his pen, but also a declaration of hope from a generation that is sometimes considered next to illiterate. I don’t often big-up movies on this corner, but this is one I strongly suggest you go peep and pass on to others. It will be shown during the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, first tonight at Cinema du Parc at 9:30 p.m., then Monday at 3:30 p.m. and Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. The festival will also be showing George Romero’s Survival of the Dead among a slew of other stuff to see, so be sure to hop on nouveaucinema.ca to find out more.

Also happening tonight is the triumphant return of the Moustache Men DJs at Blue Dog for their iconic Grilled Cheese Thursdays, which was on hold throughout the summer, celebrating Twitter beast DJ New Money’s birthday (holla) and hosting DJ Frisk from Vancouver. Obscene Kidz and Jeune Chilly Chill, poster kids of a healthy, and no doubt kitschy, electro-rap brand rather unique to our city, rock the crowd at Divan Orange, also tonight.

Save some juice for Sunday night—Off the Hook is celebrating 10 years in the game at Tribe Hyperclub. And don’t worry, Monday is Thanksgiving.

SO BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU GOT… DABEATSEEKER@GMAIL.COM