Time Is Illmatic is well-informed but inessential, a making-of featurette barely expanded to feature length at a trim 74 minutes.

Just as "Illmatic" brought people from all across the globe a little closer to Queensbridge, Nas: Time is Illmatic draws audiences closer to hip-hop.

An essential celebration of the New York rapper's groundbreaking 1994 album.

Parker and One9 deserve huge credit for treating their subject with suitable, but unusual, respect and reverence.