Hope you're subscribing to the Ringer Dish podcast. You can hear me talking about the challenge every Wednesday night with Dave Jacoby, our favorite reality show, plus a new podcast twice a week for the next five weeks, nor Prince Yachty and Nathan Hubbard are breaking down every single Taylor Swift album on a podcast called Every Single Album, Ringer Dish, check it out. This episode is brought to you by Volkswagen. Let's talk about the ride that steals the spotlight every time it hits the road.
The Volkswagen T1, it's sleek exterior makes the first impression you can ignore, step inside to find available leather seats and wood accents, the kind of interior that makes even grocery runs feel cinematic. Under the hood, the available 268 turbocharged course power engine gives it a fun to drive edge. The refined T1, you deserve more style. Visit vw.ca to learn more.
S-C-B-W German engineered for all. We're also brought to you by TheRinger.com as well as the Ringer Podcast Network. Coming up, seat your $5 ask down before I make change. New Jack City is next.
There's a fine line between wrong and right. It is more out there between those who enforce the law and those who break it all over the days and sell it on the street cards. Now, we gotta look up and we have a family out to run a city, all up against cops who know what we might like to see. Morio Van Beel and Joe Nelson.
This person, New Jack City, now played out of the theater near you. All right, Van Leith in this here. Look at Murdock is here. We're gonna talk about a movie that came out 30 years ago.
And in some ways it feels like less than 30 years ago and in some ways it feels 100 years ago. New Jack City, a really important movie for a lot of different reasons. Van, a way more political movie than I remember from just watching bits and pieces on cable with commercials and all that stuff. When you really sit down and watch this, it's like, man, this movie was way more political than I remember even in 1991 where I'm just like, cool, Wes, this is Jen Nelson.
This is basically a Scarface so much. There's so much shit going on here. I was kind of still in watching it 30 years later. Will you say political in what respect?
Well, it's basically, it's an indictment of the Reagan era. And it is one of the first movies that really dives into you how cocaine and crack is just destroying an entire generation of people. And I don't think I really fully realized that in 1991 that there was this big picture thing going on. I was just enjoying the movie because it's so goddamn enjoyable.
So they used to do these things, and I don't know why they're not as popular as they are, but they used to do these things whenever big movie will come out, but making enough specials. I talked about this a little bit on the big picture. And I did one with New Jack City and Marvel Van Peoples was talking. And he said, he says when he's talking, he goes, drugs, crack is not a black thing, it's not a white thing, it's a death thing.
That doesn't give a shit about color. That is an exact line from the movie, right? So that tells me that this movie was created with a very specific message. This is a very specific indictment of the drug epidemic, the crack epidemic.
But the lens is the thing that I am more fascinated by, like watching it back now, because this movie is propaganda, right? You have a completely evil, a totally evil, like Mephisto Satan-like character, Nino Brown. When I watched the movie, I realized that Nino was way more evil and diabolical than what I remember. And then you have the cops, which seem to be completely altruistic in their goals and motives.
And there's not a lot of nuance in the back and forth of the drug war and who is, and what people's motivations of what they're doing, all of that stuff, going back and forth. That kind of stuck out of me. The politics definitely seem to be an indictment of the politics of the day, but the movie is very heavy on message. And it seems like it was just a lot of fun when we were kids, but it's very heavy on message.
Logan, this movie is older than you are. It is, it is older than me. And it's funny because I saw it through the lens of like you were saying with commercials, on BET and syndication, but now to watch it back, I think it tells a complete story of the crack epidemic in terms of how the highs and highs of Nino overcoming and making all the bread out of a bad circumstance, but also by the end, no one wins in this one. Nino doesn't win, he gets killed.
Pookie doesn't win, he gets killed. No one actually wins in this one. The cops don't actually win because they don't only get what, a one year sentence, like nothing, no one wins. Kareem Akbar doesn't win this one because he gets blamed for the whole operation.
That was one of the biggest things that I saw. And from political standpoint, you, it sets the tone right in the beginning. When you're having the first shot across the bridge and you have the radio playing where it's saying that the levels of poverty during that, during the Reagan administration, yeah, there was a lot of wealth in that administration, but it was one of the biggest wage gaps in human history when you talk about how blacks are, how blacks and people of color are treated during this epidemic and how they are getting more sentencing and also how they are not reaping the rewards of the wealth that is being generated during this time. And you really see that during the first five minutes of this time, it was a really sobering movie, even looking back and I watched it about like three or four times preparing for this.
And I was one of the biggest things that it does tell that complete picture of the crack epidemic that it's not all, it wasn't all roses for the drug dealers and it wasn't necessarily great for anyone involved. Yeah, you know, I'm older than you guys. The anti-drug stuff really started, I'm gonna say 83, 84 range. And that's why I like, I'm not Jay Adande recently sent me this one minute commercial that played during a Cosby show.
That was basically a don't do drugs PSA. And it reminded me how that was what it was like in the mid 80s where there were real PSA's constantly on TV about, hey, be careful, blah, blah, blah. And it was a lot like the smoking ads now, but it was for cocaine. So it was always in the vortex.
Len Bias died. Don Rogers died, the NFL player. Richard Pryor, even said himself on fire. There are all these cautionary tales.
But yet there was this other thing happening that somebody like me and growing up on the East Coast, like I didn't really know how bad it was. And it's weird how important New Jack City was in the big pop culture landscape of, there just wasn't TV and movies trying to capture this stuff. And this isn't the greatest movie of all time. The disclaimer at the end is really bad.
It's like, yeah, we get it, dude. You don't need the disclaimer. We get where you're trying to say the movie. But at the same time, you look at this movie, King of New York, which comes out of year before, and then the whole subplot of Jungle Fever, the B story of drug addiction, and then Boys in the Hood.
And that's all in 1990, 1991. Like an 18-month stretch, where all of a sudden these experiences are in movies again, in Van. The 80s, they weren't. You just wipe it out for basically, you have the black exploitation era and some of the other stuff.
Which is more about what we're talking about. The 80s is gone. The 80s is just gone, and then it comes back for some reason. I want you to look at the evolution of those movies that you just talked about, right?
And look at the evolution of those films. And watch in those films, the drug dealers get more human, right? So it's New Jack City, King of New York, these guys are just these overwhelmingly powerful ruthless figures, kill everyone, we'll go get everything. Even though Frank White had like this weird good streak that would make him work with everybody and all of that, there was something like a bull about him.
And that part is something like a bull about, you know. But then as those movies evolve, what happens is if an epidemic lasts long enough, it becomes familiar to you. So now, it's very difficult to just demonize a drug dealer because he might be your brother or your friend from around the way or something like that. I would argue that somebody does win in New Jack City, good wins, because remember, not any one person, but like when you know gets killed by the guy who's sole purpose in the movie is righteousness, right?
He's brave, he's wise, he's like a weird sort of movie, pure figure, right? When he waxed, you know, at the end, it makes sense. Great name, by the way. Great name.
When he waxed, you know, at the end, it seems like the villain is dead. So when you look at sort of where we are by the time we get to miss society, well now, the drug dealer and the gang member of men's society is the protagonist of the story. Like we're hoping that he figures his life out. Like he doesn't, at the end, it's still, he's the same fate as you know.
But these things evolve because the crack of the epidemic didn't go anywhere. Ben, I will push back on just the winning aspect because you talk about that guy who did pop Nino at the end, yes, he won that victory, but he was one of those guys that you remember, he's in the police station talking about, man, we need more police presence in our neighborhoods. And yeah, rightfully so, you want more protection, but that's when you start getting more police presence in these neighborhoods during the nineties when the shit does not go the way OG wants it to go. And that's when you get the 94 crime, but that's when you get all these other things that happen that you push for, though.
So does these neighborhoods actually win when you think about it? No, no, no, no. No, no, no. No, yeah, the neighborhoods didn't win.
By the way, just let you guys know, it's still a lot of guys and old folks in the neighborhood that want more police. Yeah, it's still that there's no uniformity in that argument. There's the younger kids like you, Logan, who's like, then we don't want any cops throw them all in the Pacific Ocean. And then like, if you talk to my uns and stuff, they go, yeah, I want a cop on every block.
So that's still kind of a pushable. I guess what I would say is going back and looking in the movie, the movie treats the entire thing in a very simplistic manner. It's like, these people are good, these people are bad, and these people are so good. Like Scotty is so good, he'd take a chance on an X crack hit being in a crack room.
That's how much Scotty believes Scotty's that good. And Nino is so bad that he would pick up a child to shield himself from gunfire. That is a ocean of difference between a good guy and a bad guy. Yeah, when they use the human shields in movies, that's usually a good sign.
He's like that size bar picks up a little girl. He's like, little girl bullet shield, it's like that's like the final level. The dead zone? They do it in the dead zone too?
That was another human shield too. And when I see he picks up the dude and when he's coming in to kill Nino and he has the human shield dude, as Nino is shooting around the final scene, there's a lot of human shields in this movie. 91, which we've already done a couple of films from for the rewatchables this year, because it's 30 years. Such a fascinating year.
We don't have any movie with a Black Star in the top 15 for box office that year, but we have Boys in the Hood, made 57 million. That was 19th. New Jack City, 47 million, it was an indie movie. It was the highest grossing indie movie of that year.
That was also the continuation of Black exploitation, right? Because the premise of Black exploitation is you make movies for cheap and you make braille on the back end and that's what happened in New Jack City. And then Jungle Fever was 43rd, that made 32 million. And this is when Hollywood looks at this and goes, oh, oh, these things make money.
And then we see a bunch of good stuff happen after that, but for whatever reason in the 80s, it didn't happen. I still think we did King of New York on this pod with Tarantino over a year ago. It's a better movie. I think it influences this movie in some ways, but New Jack City was 100 times more successful.
This was a big movie. I think one of the reasons, the soundtrack, which had Ice-T, Key Sweat, John Gale, Guy, Two Life Cramps, it was part of this. And this was an era when the soundtrack, we saw Boomerang Two and some of these other movies where the soundtrack was kind of became part of the package. This just felt like an important pop culture movie.
Could you remember that van? Because you were younger when this came out. I was gonna say, King of New York was a piece of cinema. New Jack City was a piece of culture.
And from a bunch of different ways, number one, New Jack, like the sound, the field, the vibe, the clothes, the chains, all of that stuff, right? You have people that you recognize. Mario Van People's used to play a guy on TV called Sunny Spoon. You know what I mean?
It didn't last very long, but my mother and my grandmother were obsessed with Mario Van People's, right? Hey, yo, everybody's on CMOM had a crush on Mario Van People. Everybody's on CMOM had a crush. He was one of the guys.
And they kept waiting for him to take that to Zell Step. And for whatever reason, I mean, he had a great career, but it kind of never happened. And then you had Ice-T, who was on the come-up, right? Ice-T was coming off.
He's a huge rapper, colors, all of these things. Ice-T, and then you had Wesley Snipes. This was Wesley finally grabbing the mantle and having a movie all around him and his deal. So this was one of those, it was a cultural thing.
That kind of set this movie apart from a film like King of New York, which we rented. Like we saw King of New York, we rented that movie. We saw New Jack City in the theaters. So it was just a different film.
And really to be honest with you, almost for every, it's one of those movies. For everybody in the movie, it was a major step forward in their career. It was a major step forward in his career for Chris Rock. It was a major, today Chris Rock's finest performance, if you ask me.
It's a major step forward for Mario Van People's. It's a major step forward for Ice-T and West Snipes. It's for everyone. It's a movie that led to bigger and better stuff.
Well, let's talk about Snipes for a second. This is when he grabs the mantle as the most important black movie star. He has an unbelievable run here because he had Major League and he's in King of New York, but he's supporting parts. Then he has more better blues, shows he can lead a movie.
Then New Jack. He's not to lead that. Well, but like that, he can be, yeah, that guy. One of the guys.
Then New Jack City, he's actually the lead and it's the Tony Montana character, basically. That leads to Jungle Fever, Water Dance, White Man Can Jump, Pastor 57, Sugar Hill, Demolition Band, and Money Train, among others, all in the span of seven years. And he's an A plus Lister. I actually think this is his best performance.
Interesting. Really? Yeah. I really do.
I think it's my favorite Wesley Snipes of all the Wesley Snipes. I think his best performance is Blade Trinity. Facts. I was gonna say that.
We're gonna get that a second. We're gonna get that a second. Best. So he would have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor if he had gotten nominated.
Here are our nominees that year. Jack Palance, one for City Slickers, Tommy Lee Jones, JFK, Michael Lerner, Barton Fink, and then two people from Bubsy, Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley. It's kind of unbelievable that Snipes are Chris Rock did not get nominated because Chris Rock's incredible in this movie. Neither, they just get wiped out both of them.
Oh, we're talking about Bubsy, fucking the Warren Beatty and that binning joint. Yeah. Yo, you gotta be fucking kidding me. Like, that movie is a disaster.
Like, it has like 10 Oscar nominations. Really? Yeah. It took a lot of spots from a lot of more deserving movies including this one.
Logan, how about it? I don't know what to say about that. I don't know what to say about that. I don't know.
It's racism. I don't know. That's all I can say from that. I don't, I don't, I don't, like, do you, Pookie was so great in that movie.
Like Chris Rock was so great in that movie. I have him for some awards later down the line in this, in this, in this pod, but Pookie was incredible. Rusty Satch was incredible, was incredible. And the fact that they did not get a nom, it just speaks to the early 90s in a lot of ways, honestly.
I think in the way that, you know, Oscars were nominated, it speaks to the 90s, we were just getting there too, but this was a travesty. Come on. Yeah, I was, if you had, if you showed somebody right now, that was Logan's age, you showed them Bugsy and you showed them New Jax City. And then you said, one of those movies had two, midway through and I'm saying put on New Jack, please.
But if I told you one of those two movies had two best supporting actor nominations, there's no way you would say Bugsy, but that's the way the Oscars were back then. We mentioned the soundtrack, the screenplay is an interesting piece of this. It was co-written by Thomas Lee Wright with a guy named Barry Michael Cooper, who was an investigative reporter with The Village Voice and who wrote for Spin and did some really good stuff about the crack epidemic, including, he wrote this piece for The Village Voice called, Kids Killing Kids New Jack City Eats It's Young about the drug war in Detroit, tied in the late 60s and the riots and then the rise of the crack cocaine gangs like the Young Boys, Chambers Brothers. They basically adapted that into the movie and moved it to New York, which I guess was the right move.
I think this would have been an interesting Detroit movie, $8 million budget made $47.8 million. Roger Ebert, three and a half stars. He wrote, True Faux once said it was impossible to make an anti-war movie because the worst sequences would inevitably be exciting and get the audience involved on one side or the other. It's almost as difficult to make an anti-drug movie since the lifestyle and money of the drug there was looks like fun, at least until they're killed.
This movie pulls off that tricky achievement. Nino, who looks at the dead body of Scarface and laughs does not get the last left. One other note, so Darryl, DMC from Run DMC. This is the quote he said about this movie and we should talk about this for the other categories.
Quote, the film made, kind of made everyone think drug dealing was a good thing. Thanks to Nino's confidence style and swagger, everyone wanted to be like him. They loved him. All these drug dealing rappers were inspired by him.
Nino Brown became the black Scarface to give the drug there was a black hero to look up to. That was ill. You see a massive hip hop influence that this movie had that ties in a whole bunch of things, most notably Lil Wayne. I mean, that's like, it's the convert.
But why did that happen, Van? I don't think it has anything to do with the movie because really, when you look at these films, people are only informed by what it is that they know, right? You know, when Native Americans watch any of the films from early on in the day, early on in the century, when there was Cowboys and then they would say Indians, how do you think they felt when they watched it? They felt like the wrong guys were winning, right?
So the reality is, if you're from a neighborhood like where I grew up, there are a bunch of people that go to work and come home. They go to work and they come home. They go to work and they come home. If they can find jobs, right?
And when you start to see, and all Americans are really like this, right? When you start to see somebody who says, to hell with that, I'm gonna go grab something. I'm gonna go do something. I'm gonna go be something, whatever chances I have to take.
If you're from that same environment and they have so many things that you're told that you can get if you walk the straight narrow, but you don't see anybody who's walking the straight narrow having those things, you're gonna be enamored by it. Like you're going to be enamored by it. That's the, so for me, when I see the movie, the way that they can do the story justice is really to make me know as bad as they do, to show that he doesn't care about the people in his community, to show all those things. So I don't think that because Scarface dies at the end of the movie, tell me he doesn't have grand shows.
He dies, he kills his man. You know, dies, he kills his man. Can't dies, no boy dies. You know, they all die, no boy doesn't die in the movie, but it shows that he died later.
They all die, but the question is, what part of them, what part of their life speaks to people who don't feel like they have any opportunities, there's any chances. So I don't know, you have to do very much. Anybody who's coming up and has shit and has control. And also in the movie, Nino is very directly opposed to white power.
The Italians are trying to encroach upon his business and trying to, and he says no, he's willing to go to war with that. He's willing to go it alone. And that's always going to be sort of intoxicating to people. Yeah, it was funny you said that, I think it's funny because I was on the other side of that vantage point, right?
Like I'm watching New Jack City at such a young age and it really influences how I go about life. Cause you know, like Oakland was still lit in 06, right? So I'm seeing that from that vantage point, but watching boys in the hood and Nino Brown and all in Minnesota society and all these people, it's like, I see why that Nino comes into power, but I also, you can also see in those movies the downside of that man. I don't see a happy person in Nino, man.
I see somebody that's trying to get out of his circumstance, but it doesn't seem like he's living a really mentally stable life, bro. Like he's literally, he has a threat of getting killed every single day. He looks fly as fuck. I will say that.
That's something I did take away from Nino. He do look fly, but each day it's either, I'm trying to get somebody off my territory. I'm not ever able to enjoy all the bread that I'm getting and all the access that I'm getting. And that's what I saw from Nino was that, yeah, it's fly, but this is fleeting.
Like you're going to have a well big high, but it's not going to work at the end of the day. And I know all the reasons why Nino did it, like based on circumstance, that was his way of getting to that level. And that's very intoxicating. But also, I think seeing it removed, and I didn't live during 90s and stuff, early 90s, seeing it removed and showed me like, I don't want to do this because I'd rather have a longer life than having the short life and having so much fun and also not having the mental stability.
So like, I was that kid at the end where he was like, man, Nino wasn't all great at the end of the day to do that wound up snitching actually at the end that told where he was at a succeed. But I was that kid, it was like, no, I don't really, I don't want this life from my, I don't want this life. I can't say one last thing about that, is that another thing that these movies did is they made a distinction that I think is a very important distinction to make. There is a difference between somebody that is maybe hustling a little bit on the side to make some extra money, to feed their family or doing something like that.
I am not in any way espousing that, but there's a difference between that and then being the kingpin of your whole hood. Because you got to drop so many bodies and you got to addict so many people. You got to live with that, too. And there's a completely different, and that's really at the top of any business.
There's a way that you have to be shrewd and a sort of dedication to what it is that you're doing, that you do infinitely more harm, if you're Nino Brown, right? If you're selling weed or catching a lick every now and again, you're doing wrong and you need to stop doing what it is that you're doing. But those guys that get to that point, they are absolutely ruthless most of the time. And they probably can't get out.
You talk about the little stick-up kids and people hitting licks and stuff, they could probably get out of it. But like if you get to a Nino's level, you are, you have a lifestyle that you're trying to keep up, but you also have a business that employs hundreds of people in the carter. So if you say, I don't want to do this, there's a lot more ramifications than if you're just sticking up and hitting licks with your partners. I mean, the wire explored that really smartly.
Absolutely. Not just Marlowe, but with Stringer, that was his end game, right? Let's get to that here and we'll just own real estate. And what would happen if Stringer got out?
Stringer would probably then stop hurting people. There would be no reason. That's why I would not go back and forth. You about to get me started again.
That's why when I go back and forth about people who argue Avon versus Stringer. I'm saying, yo, if Stringer takes the organization straight, I know everyone wants to act like something wrong with Stringer, then Stringer can stop being responsible for people being addicted to heroin and people then also getting killed because of the peripheral things that happened. So it's always good to get out the game if that's what Stringer wanted, then he was better than Avon. The movie really smartly uses Scarface for two reasons.
One, it's obviously in the Scarface circle, right? So instead of just being like, all right, we're basically doing black Scarface and it's gonna be the same thing where the drug lord loses his mind and then turns out his best friend, we're actually gonna own it. And we're gonna show clips from Scarface. We're gonna show you that we are aware that Scarface is a movie that exists.
That's one thing. The second thing is it's kind of paralleling where Nino's gonna go, right? The way they're using the clips, it's like, look, this guy Scarface is all about this dude who loses his way and the power becomes intoxicating and he doesn't care who he hurts, he ends up killing his best friend, then he dies. And Nino's watching this, not realizing that this is how his life is gonna go.
And I actually think it's really smart how they do it. It's something that could've, I think they're bad in the wrong hands, but they- As G-Money is saying and the brothers. Yeah. As G-Money is Jimmy Cricket.
As he's Jimmy Cricket, the conscious of the drug dealer going, hey, don't forget about us. Hey, don't forget about us. And you can see that Nino's hubris is gonna kill him. I love the fact that Scarface has shown alongside this movie and the way his juxtaposing this movie because black people love Scarface, man.
Black people love Scarface and love watching Scarface and love watching Scarface around women. Like love it and just saying all the words and that specific scene where they're watching Scarface is perfect. It's true. We're gonna do the categories, starting with the most rewatchable scene.
Today's most rewatchable scene is presented by Blue Moon. Blue Moon is on a mission to bring some brightness to your life and break up your routine. Kind of like a rewatchable scene. Something you know you'll enjoy going back to every time.
I need a ruling. Is the Chris Rock bike chase with iced tea chasing him? Is that count as a rewatchable scene for you guys? Of course.
Okay. Why don't I say no? Cause it's short. I had a wet stage the best, but we could put it in most rewatchable.
All right. We don't like riding over steps. Great. So how does he not hurdle?
I don't know. It's one of those things you're watching. You're going, how is he not hurtling over the bike and hurtling through his death? I don't know.
Real bars. Real bars right there. I don't know how to do this. Next one is the first, the first thing with Nino G money and the stuttering guy.
AKA Radio Raheem in the Jeep Wrangler. Yeah. Don't know this. He was kids man.
We played for a revenue. Yeah. Yeah. I never knew it was 13.
We the baddest back court. And he's one. He's one. He wasn't making no money.
That was now that we are. You out here living your fucking Michael Jordan fantasy. Jumpers and whatnot. This must be pretty good.
We will be brother. Leave this app. That whole thing they're laying out the relationship. It's a little hacky, but I like it.
It's like, all right. We've known each other since we were telling him we used to play hoop. Here's we go. And it's clear Nino's not a great guy.
It's clear those are the three. And it's like, all right. These are these are the guys we'll be spending time with. I like how they do it.
Nino laying out the card of complex and his vision for it. Leading right into the. Everybody's making a ton of money montage bar directly from Scarface. I love that 10 minutes.
That best part of that part was when the best at least scene is when the end of that scene where he puts up the violence. He's like, crack. Like that was that was the one that was the one where he's just like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, man, it's a brilliant plant. But there's one thing that does concern you though.
That curry goat eating skinny ass fat smitty. He controls the brothers around the car. It's time to see that fat bitch a little about it. Rock a blob, baby.
Yeah, he gonna be hanging with Elvis. Damn. Bar none. That was that was a very powerful scene when he was talking about it.
And he's really talking about it and the way and this is to your point van about like the wire and stuff, he's building us out like a real business, man. This is like Henry Ford type shit. We're gonna, you know what I mean? We're gonna do the we're gonna put the vials.
Yeah. You know what I mean? But it was just it was crazy. Just how it's just how militant they were and how organized they were with the Carter.
That was just that scene was great. I say from the opening credits when he's dangling that dude off the bridge all the way through that we're making money montage. This movie is unassailable entertaining that 22 minutes, however long it is, it moves great. I love every scene.
And you're just watching. Wow. This is and then it starts to get dark after that. But really it doesn't get dark when the first time we see though he drops a guy off of the bridge.
I kind of enjoyed that. See it would want to be. Kind of enjoyed it. We want to be.
Next one, Pookie's Pookie explaining to iced tea how Nino's whole crack set up works is actually a really good scene. Yeah. And Lucid Chris Rock now being like, here's what we do and they're going through the whole thing. After that, just split up to the second floor.
Just work a rings of buzzer and a cold. A little panel on the wall opens up. Then you just crack. I don't think it's that cold buzzer would I go?
Cold goes to this place. They call it drug storm. And that's really actually make the crack. It's crazy because I heard they got everybody in their butt naked eighties hanging.
Yo, Nino don't trust them. I'm just telling you like I was going to college and Massachusetts at that point. I didn't have a lot of experience with what that kind of stuff looked like. I was like just mesmerized.
And it's still like, I think that's the first time they've ever really shown in a movie or TV show exactly what that goes and how people have to be basically naked and all that stuff. It's just really, it's really smartly filmed and explained for how it could have gone. Now, look, it is the first time on film that the idea and it's something that would be used over and over and over again. I had never seen it before.
It's the first time the naked drug house thing was done. Now you see, and obviously that was a thing, but I didn't know about it. You know what I mean? You saw the naked drug house thing and that level of organization.
Remember, at this point, I may be like 10 or 11 and I knew dope dealers, right? But most of the dope dealers that I knew, you know, they was hustling out apartments or they mama's cribs or something like that. I didn't know those guys. But that level of organization, now we know existed and normally has to exist for you to make that much money.
So it was kind of the first time I had seen it. Van, I think another thing just about that, just how nakedness is taking, is portrayed in this movie, right? As taking away humanity. You know what I mean?
When you talk about not just that scene where everyone is naked, putting in the drugs and stuff and it just lists people. But also when Nina was taking the Carter owner out with the shotgun and took all of his clothes off and took away his humanity as a man and as a person in general and as a being. It's the way that nakedness was portrayed in this movie is really, really interesting and fascinating. Next one, Pookie's cover gets blown.
I mean, who could have seen this go wrong? Putting the crack addict around crack 24 hours a day. What was wrong with that plan? They put a wire on him.
Yeah. And then they blow up the building. That's just a really good action sequence. Yeah.
Nino and Ice-T on the roof when Nino's feeling out Ice-T. There's some good stuff there. When he puts the gun on him and they're just, it's like a little chess game. It's like a wild respect.
It's also just the one thing that age horribly for me is it's super Hokey that Nino killed his mom. That's super Hokey. That's Crash level. Remember the movie Crash?
How cute that script was? That's Crash level script cuteness right there. They have all the guys. Your mom got popped.
Your mom got popped. And this happens to be the guy that killed your mother. That's like so stupid. They got to establish a motive, Ben.
They got to establish a motive. That's what he did. They established a motive of like, yo, this is why I was a cop. I want to do this is because, you know, such you, you and whatever you've done has killed my parents.
And I think probably could have been like maybe his mom got strung out or something like that. That was what they were doing. That was, they were just setting an air to why he hates Nino so much. Or hates drug dealers like Nino so much.
In my opinion. I get it. I get it. Nino doesn't have to be the guy that killed his mom.
What are the chances of that? Yeah, what are the chances of that? But I get it though. I get it.
Two more rewatchable scenes. The rooftop scene. Hold this thought. We're going to come back to it.
Sure. And then Nino's final speech in the courtroom. I'm not guilty. You're the one that's guilty.
Craig, just play that whole speech. It's great. I'm not guilty. You're the one who's guilty.
Lawmakers, the politicians, the Colombian drug lords, all you who lobby against making drugs legal. Just like you did with alcohol doing the prohibition. You're the one who's guilty. I mean, come on.
Let's take the ballistics here. Ain't no do's. He's made in Harlem. I mean, not one of us in here owns a poppy feet.
This thing is bigger than Nino Brown. This is big business. This is the American way. I'm sure that the court was enlightened by your geopolitical tirade, Mr.
Brown. Unfortunately, society is not on trial here. You are Mr. Brown.
Bill, wait. We didn't talk about the scene where he's fucking where they get raided. He has the dog right here. He's fucking stabs Kareem Akbar.
Is that not in the rewatchable scenes? It should be. I accidentally omitted it. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. Yeah. That might be the coolest scene. That's the final ask before I make change.
Just real quick about that scene. First of all, they all come to Nino. Nino establishes a dress code, obviously, because it's a funeral for the Carter. That's a funeral scene.
The Carter is done there in mourning. So I'm wondering when Nino tells everybody, I thought about Nino tells everybody, everybody where black. So he comes out with a, with a rock walla, that chain and a sword in his cane. And it's just, remember, it reminds you of untouchables when Al Capone is walking around and he's got the bat and he has a bat he has headed.
It just lets you know how powerful and feared Al Capone is. He's in the room with other gangsters. Yeah. And they're scared.
So that definitely has to be. That's funny because it reminds me also that Martin episode and we can get to that. Martin was supposed to be in this movie. And so when Martin says that call back, why are we all wearing all black?
And Martin goes, I'm setting my scene. That's literally what they were doing in the black. It was so great with the medieval house that I thought was a little hacky, but whatever. But it was just a great scene.
So pale, man, that has to be a responsible scene, bro. Hey, listen, it was an accidental error. I have like pain-re-watchable scenes. That's what got deleted.
The rooftop's the winner, though. The rooftop was an iconic scene. Yes. In the movie theater.
And I remember, I remember seeing this in the theater. And it was kind of a moment watching it because the movie, you know, it's fun. It's pop culture. Then it gets dark and there's action scenes and Judd Nelson's in it.
And we're going to talk about Judd at the end of this. We're saving him. And then all of a sudden, there's like an Oscar scene in it. Be mode.
You embarrass me, man. For the harden people, you treat me like I was soft, man. You treat me like I was violence. We built this shit.
You didn't do this shit by yourself. You forgot about me, man. Your brother. What has this done to us, D?
Huh? Keisha? Yeah. They're not a man.
Yeah. Let's just make it like it was. Let's just make it like it was. Let's just make it like it was, man.
Let's make it like it was, man. We can make fucking cars and the bitches and all that shit, man. Fuck that shit, man. It's too awesome, man.
Let's be a family kid. And both of those guys are so great in that. And then when G-Money drops to his knees and the tears are going down. And Wesley's got like really good crying.
Yeah. Some people just cry well. The tears are like fat, fat tears dripping down. It just looks good.
And then you're like, oh, he won't actually shoot him. And he fucking shoots him. But he had to shoot him. He had to.
I get it. But that was an iconic 90 scene. It really was. But like, that's the moment.
That's the moment. You know it's not being a black. I'm serious. Look, look, actually, I don't get why Scarface killed Manny.
Scarface did not have to kill Manny at all. It's the most upsetting moment other than Fredo getting killed in the history of movies. Scarface did not have to. There was way more movie for Nino to kill G-Money than there was for Scarface to kill Manny.
Scarface had no reason to kill Manny. But when you watch that movie, I remember watching that movie with my dad and my uncles. And they'll be like, damn, he can't do his partner like that. And my dad never got over there ever to be like, I can't believe Nino Brown did his partner like that.
I can't believe Nino Brown. Even though Nino is of that, Nino ain't one of you because that's something that, at least where I'm from, if your man is just incompetent, then he incompetent. But if he didn't take you on purpose, I don't know. That changes Nino's character.
But I think he knows that guy wants to snake him though. Because G-Money even says earlier, he's like, I should be the guy. I think he feels like this guy is going to get me, so I got to get him first. It would be my take on that.
It's funny the conflictions that you see Nino's face throughout that whole scene, right? Because he's crying, right? He knows he has to do this. That's unassailable he has to do this right now.
And he cugs him. He kisses him. He almost lets him pass. And he's like, no, fuck that.
No, fuck that. I have to kill you. Like I have to do you like this. But it was weird because it's like, there's no redeeming character in this movie, man.
Like G-Money fucks up the whole operation and then Nino kills him and then Nino snitches on the whole operation. He snitches on Kareem. Like there's no redeemable character in this movie, which I think makes the movie great. So, rooftop scene, that's our winner.
Today's most rewatchable scene was presented by Blue Moon because once in a Blue Moon moment should happen more than once in a Blue Moon celebrate response to be Blue Moon Brewing Company going in Colorado, A.L. Special category just for this movie. Let's do it. The most 1991 moment here are nominees.
Music can't count except for one I'm going to throw on. G-Money's a green velour adidasuit, the hats, the kangal, the fat rub chains, color me bad coming in at a point in their career when people really like, I still defend them. But when people like their music and it was cool to have them in a movie or the opening credits where we have the early 90s happy hip hop, the big 90s graphics, the news anchors and then the hell cop there. She's felt very 91 to me.
Those are my nominees in that you have anything else for what's the most thing? I think the kangals aren't supposed to be in the 90s. It's the 80s. I think the kangals are supposed to be in 80s.
Well, the whole movie is set in the 80s. It's not in the 90s. It's the 86 and 89. So I think the kangals.
So here's my thing about the kangals. The kangals represent the fact that when they first got this time pass, when they first were getting this pop and they were a little younger they had the kangals on. Because by the time this movie came out, the kangals kind of weren't around anymore. Okay, so we'll cross them off.
But I give you one more though. Yeah. Flavor Flav. Like Flavor Flav as the MC at the spotlight later on.
You know what I mean? Look at healthy. And handsome. Super healthy.
Yeah. It's good to see it. Yeah. I just want to say that scene where he's walking in where Nino's walking in.
He might have been the coolest motherfucker on the planet when he walked in the first time when he gets in. He's dapping people up. They said, bro, you're going to check me for my piece? Nope.
All right. Bet. And then he goes in. He gets his champagne has his strong champagne.
He kisses the beautiful woman. Then he's like, everybody's fucking with him. And he was saucy. He was the coolest dude on the whole planet for those 30 seconds.
And he is why I was like, damn, that's when you talk about why people want to be Mino Brown, and then he'll come back in to the club where everybody knows who you are and you were just a clueless motherfucker in the whole city. Well, our winner is the green villa Adidas suit is just I did. Do not ever come back. That came back, right?
That came back? That's amazing. Hell yeah, it's amazing. I had a little bit of every color.
I was like driving down into Orleans to be my genre. Really? Plus he'll win. What tastes the best?
We mentioned how well they use Scarface. The character names include G Money, Pookie, Fat Smitty, da da da dum and Frankie Needles. Great job. Whoever when they were coming up with the character names, great job with all that Nino's clothes, I mentioned earlier his clothes are fantastic in this movie.
Right amazing. We go to arenas I'm coming back with Nino's wardrobe. I'm coming back with that I would argue the NBA guys probably probably sampled this a little bit some of the Stuff this fell the way he would be draped out in the full suits with the button up But it was like that everybody was on that way and then Wesley could pull it off cuz Wesley was like less What's so lean and build he could pull it off everybody if you go back and look at those Oh, yeah, look at the way Dion Sanders was dressing like in the prom time You know what he had to all black joints on or yeah, like everybody was on that also another thing clothing wise That's a is really well can take off there was a lot of can take off in this movie when you talk about the can take off with that That iced tea was wearing as the beanie on the on the on the beach scene I was a nasty beast by the way and then you have just like all that that's you know when you talk about Just can't take off in general that the hoofy memes now like can take off we are here We mentioned the flavor flavor cameo, which is really unexpected and awesome cash money records Influenced all of this though all the Carter albums like it's just funny like it It got to the point where you didn't even make the new Jack thing anymore because it came such of its own thing But it's the tie in is funny see it wouldn't want to be just enjoy I feel like Wesley Snipes has said that like three movies Yeah, and the women in this movie feel very early 90s in a good way to me I kept up by Michael Michelle who I still feel like is like top six or seven goes beautiful She's in Ali where they just need the characters like alright We need somebody who's so beautiful Ali completely loses his way and they're like let's get her I was like there and Tracy Camilla John's really and like a career that oh hold this I have stuff coming on that one. Okay, and then one other what stage the best and again We're holding all Jenn Nelson commentary until the end of this movie But iced tea and Jenn Nelson together kind of the CBS police show we never got wait wait one more thing You just we kind of touched on I think you were going to this iced tea as a cop beautiful age beautifully, right?
This is before cop killer and before long order. He made a whole living on cop I'll be in a cop the funny thing is people get on iced tea for playing a cop now iced tea be like yo I started playing a cop like the first like the first big deal I mean he was in breaking two for like two seconds, but his first big huge movie deal. He was playing a cop So there you go. It's consistent I don't think anyone's had a more complicated history with cops in a pop culture standpoint than iced tea He's been all over the map.
He's many cops as he played at least three different all of them right at least We're probably two other movies. I forgot any other What about crooked cops redemption story cuz cuz iced tea's character crooked cop has to get on straight But we need these guys are our best man. They know the thing and Jenn Nelson's character also a terrible cop and there has to have a redemption story That's a very that's something that is always reoccurring when you talk about these types of movies a crooked cop that saves a day So crooked cop redemption story is that for me? Do they do that anymore?
I feel like that's that's been retired It's probably gone now, but it stayed around for so long There's only one cop that we could get like if that's like a little before remember Cobra There's only one cop. We can get to do this. I'm like a huge in the 80s. What's age?
What's age the worst? I can't believe how bad the Italian mobsters are in this movie. It's pretty bad every single piece of it doesn't work The actors are terrible the accents are terrible. None of racism Yeah, it's just every single piece of it is a miss and it's like it's like they put so much thought into all the other pieces of this Movie and then when it came to the white people that they needed for the movie it seemed like they put two seconds of in it That they're just terrible.
They're bad actors. Everything is bad about them But this is the only movie ever where Italian mobsters get their comeuppance for being racist And I don't know why but there's a complete exception that we make the godfather has one of those racist lines of all time and It's just like racist lines about racist scenes races things like the golf. I was like the movie out like they don't have any soul They don't have anywhere so let them like god damn You know and then even you know good fellas and then the sopranos all of this But we just kind of we just go with it and it's the only movie where actually we're actually they're outwardly racist They do racist stuff and then the black guy comes back because not only there They're you know messing over his business But also because of the way he's treated and they get their just deserves it Oh, we know we get that a pass and I really don't know why like I think uh the biggest what's a's the worst for me is crack And I think we can just go on that. I think it's just it didn't age well for anybody involved I think it's actually a great call.
Yeah. Yeah with you I I have the disclaimer at the end as it would stage the worst just a bad choice Somebody should talk my revamp people's out of that. We I think we mentioned he directed this He's wig was pretty terrible. It was pretty bad.
Also. I was I would say crack in the drug war itself because this movie is a Major major major advocate of the drug war this movie is making the drug war seem like it's a war worth fighting And that's a war where someone can win and there's a war where there's a good in the bad side And I think if you look at it with the 360 scope most of those things you're gonna come away with not being true Even statistically forget about morally, you know in terms of the drug war Yeah, I think another thing that was aged the worst is uh, I know like to as character development We supposed to hate Nino Browns was to hate this but like women being used as pawns for this right like I don't I think that the story could have been told way better I mean it could have been still been told if like the the scene where um, you know doesn't have to portray G. Money through a woman Right? I don't think that that's that's something that we need to have or like when he says, you know Fuck that who I'm not gonna say that the what he said at the end But like you're saying this over a woman You're saying this over a thing and it was I don't think it was really just necessary you could say that G.
Money Presrate betrayed you without bringing a woman into and I know this is and then like they the cancel that chick You know, I mean, I don't think you needed all of that to tell the story You know what I would say about that though. What's up happened in real life? Yeah, so so so Nicky Barnes and Retreat on what's this is um, which is a couple different so Nicky Barnes and those guys up there in New York There was a whole situation involved in somebody who went to jail and then started sleeping with somebody's wife while they were gone So I'd say like that that part actually didn't happen in real life. Yeah, um using little girls as a human bullet shield is a sure worst Yes, I think I was the same thing I think I was the same thing of like you want to make you know a bad a bad dude Like a very bad dude, and that was a way to do it.
Well, I was has it though. It where it depends I mean, it's effective. I would say it would still probably be effective. So has it really age there?
Maybe not maybe it's a perfectly we're gonna take a break that we're doing casting what ifs All right coming back casting what ifs Yeah, Logan just stepped all over the best one. You just you just peed all over it 15 minutes ago. Martin Lawrence cast Had it he had it amazing that would have been amazing. He would have did such a great job Not the fact that I think he would have did a better job in Chris Rock to be honest with you So Cooper that one of the writers said Martin Lawrence's mentor Robin Harris died and Martin was fucked up by it Yeah, and and so he opted out of the movie and Chris Rock was the backup did not know that also didn't know that Michael Wright turned out Nice teas part that would have been amazing.
Michael Wright would have been back together for Sugar Hill. Yeah, Michael Michael Wright would kill this this part, man Vibica a Fox Audition for both Selena and Keisha and they really liked her but they couldn't figure out and they just ended up not having her And she ended up doing 902 and oh that year which I think is the biggest one side or the other She was on a 902 an episode or she could have been a new Jack City. I don't think there are more polar opposites in 1991 pop culture I know but I don't think you know she she got super cooking hot around the mid-90s it worked it worked out Set it off set it off. She killed it the same kind of role and set it off.
She would have been great with Keisha She would have been great Also, I think that um I saw I just think there's Vanessa Williams like the No, no the Vanessa Williams that we all know like the Rick Fox Vanessa Williams would have been great as Nino's girlfriend I just wanted to say that because I just made me as I was thinking and I saw up on the screen immediately I was like that's a Williams would have been a great great great um girlfriend for me No, Alan Payne was a replacement. They actually had this guy orange juice Jones cast his G money and then he dropped Yeah, I saw you and him walk in in the rain. You know, that's all Bill. That's orange juice Jones like I he was in the movie if they film scenes with them and then they That's fucking crazy.
I'll be honest with you. That song right there is so 80s That's the most 80s thing ever go listen to walking in the rain at the end of the movie He was the most 80s song ever rock was for the 80s to catch his girls She did he does a whole spoken word about taking all of her stuff back. My dad used to love that song That was so interesting with him. I always wonder what happened to him.
I have a more interesting fact for you. Okay, let's go Wesley Snipes Obviously was locked in as as Nino, but G money. They auditioned some people Including Tupac Shakur who for G money for G money, and they decided he looked too much younger than Wesley Snipes for it to be Believable that they both grew up together there was a two years they were two years apart I don't know yet. I would have been a whole different.
I don't know man I would like to see like pockets like you know I would I think I would rather see pocket's need on it. I think it was too young I'd be honest with you There's a so pocket is able to do something both musically and on screen that very few people are able to do pocket's able to be both unbelievably aggressive and like a Super vulnerable person even in like even like above the rent where he plays Bernie like a Dogger the king of that of that little neighborhood. He just wants his brother back and there's a point where he and I think I think I think Interesting the C-Pock as G money just to see him And I just want his friend back. It'd be interesting to see I'm a little bit better because the guy was perfect But I would have been interested in it I'm gonna make the case that they should have done it Although he to pop was 19 when they filmed this movie But I think he could have tweaked it and made it so that he was the younger brother of you know Something like that So you would have you would address the age difference early and he's like the up and calmer He's gonna be the pippin to the Jordan and I think it would work I think he would have been better Best that guy okay the Joey pants the word is radio Rahim Is he a that guy or do people know he's bill none because I know he's bill none But I think most people see him and just know him as radio Rahim Meanwhile, he's been in a bunch of stuff.
I think he was that guy I think I think you're right on man I think he is one of those that guys because once you you see him and he's a very distinctive person But he's not a guy that you just say oh I know his name I know but he's that person I would agree He was the only person written on this category for me I think so like he's in he got game. He's like the kind of pedophile uncle And when I saw him I didn't know what his name was I just knew his older radio Rahim I always feel like he's ready for him. Yeah, so I would say so I would say he's that guy plus He's like because I know I'm his bill none just because he's been so much so fantastic and everything and you can't really be Familiar with Spike Lee without knowing bill No, he was an ex-two was he a Malcolm X two he's been in like five or six I would be surprised. I would be surprised.
He was a better blues. He was a do the right thing Yeah, so he was in a bunch of those movies, but then he also then comes back and he's like he pops up He read that he doubles down on being that guy because he pops back up in the spider-man movies Where you just kind of see him a couple of scenes But I he's passed away now, but like did like bill none. I gotta make sure you know give him his respect And his name is definitely of that guy type. I think the guy who shoots Nino in the end I don't even know that guy's name is but he's a that guy the the police sergeant the police sergeant very that guy ish I can't remember where I've seen him, but I know he's a that guy.
I have a very underrated that guy and it's not even a guy It's a woman. It's the woman that is in the um, that is in Pookie's Drug rehabilitation meetings where she's talking about What cracked into her and how it affected her and how to hold that guy career hold that guy career? I mean um that that person sees that person with which ladies of both of them are because what is one of them Is the same girl from summer school and the same girl. I'm seeing this is why is that guy cuz I don't know names Confused makes them eligible.
I said I said why I said Walter mostly. I'm so sorry that is a great writer and so it's bill cops So that guy's name is bill cops that old guy. He's also a demolition man and a bunch of other movies But he's a bad guy. He's a bad guy.
He's also a Morgan Freeman mean meaning that he got to be one age and he's this age in New Jersey and then he stays this age forever for like 15 years Yeah, right? He's that he's that he's that dude and that age and every move Vanessa Williams Not of that guy because she went on to be the only black character I'm out of place and it was a big part of the cast and then had a whole name thing with the other Vanessa Williams Who's married to Rick Fox and the other Vanessa Williams had to change her name and become Vanessa L Williams because the other New Jackson Williams had put herself in first the vince at hand and give me all you got a word for best overacting I hate to do our guys. He liked it. Yes, I agree that ending scene when he's gonna shoot You know and he's I want to shoot you so bad my dick's hard and he's doing like I think he really dials it up It really really really dials it up You know it's that's not even that's not even his most overacting scene His most overacting scene is when he's at the beach with Pookie and he's like and he's like I don't even have glasses on I'm just like listen, man.