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‘Higher Learning’ With Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, and Wesley Morris

February 19, 2020 · Higher Learning (1995) · Crime · Drama · Thriller · 1:29:41 · ▶ Listen on Spotify

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Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 8:03Tupac Shakur — What if Tupac had been cast instead of going to jail during pre-production
Bill Simmons▶ 1:11:41Singleton's choices for The Professor: Sidney Poitier first, Dustin Hoffman second, Sam Jackson third — the studio insisted on Laurence Fishburne; Vivica A. Fox was considered for the Tyra Banks role; Singleton originally wanted Gwyneth Paltrow and Juliette Lewis for the Kristy Swanson and Jennifer Connelly parts; if Leo had played Remy, Michael Rapaport would have played the Cole Hauser part
Van Lathan▶ 9:05Leonardo DiCaprio — DiCaprio was rumored to be in for Remy role when Tupac was lost
Van Lathan▶ 1:13:08Vivica A. Fox over Tyra Banks — 'That was a whiff. Should have gone with it'; also guessed Sidney Poitier for The Professor and said it would have worked
Wesley Morris▶ 8:45Tupac Shakur — Agrees Tupac was the most exciting person in whatever movies he was in, citing Poetic Justice and Above the Rim
Wesley Morris▶ 1:13:28Juliette Lewis (in the Jennifer Connelly role) 'would have changed everything because the style of acting would have been different'; wanted to play out the Tupac + Juliette Lewis alternate cast; called Tyra-over-Vivica a 'bad mistake' (Singleton had a crush on Tyra); skeptical Dustin Hoffman works without rewriting the part

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 9:21Leonardo DiCaprio was rumored to be cast but couldn't do it due to The Quick and the Dead; Tupac was originally cast but left the project, which would have completely changed the movie's dynamic and intensity
Bill Simmons▶ 1:18:58The sniper scene was based on the 1966 Charles Whitman University of Texas tower shooting; Cole Hauser and Michael Rapaport are both Jewish; Singleton asked Rapaport not to hang out with the cast so he'd feel isolated (Rapaport was jealous hearing Illmatic early by Omar Epps' trailer); Kristy Swanson is now one of Hollywood's most vocal Trump supporters
Van Lathan▶ 9:54DiCaprio lost interest once Tupac left the project; Tyra Banks was cast after John Singleton saw her on Essence Magazine cover and was dating her at the time
Wesley Morris▶ 10:20Tupac's casting would have changed the sexual chemistry and intensity of every scene, particularly with Tyra Banks and Lawrence Fishburne
Wesley Morris▶ 1:19:15Added that Cole Hauser has deep industry/family ties — 'he's a Warner brother' (Warner Brothers family) — and an Affleck/Damon connection almost happened for him

What's Aged the Worst

Van Lathan▶ 42:44Agrees with the systemic racism discussion and adds that Hollywood's 'there can only be one' mentality for Black actors has only recently changed in the last 6-7 years
Wesley Morris▶ 42:45Hollywood's racist treatment of Black actors - the 'one mistake' policy where Black actors get limited chances compared to white actors who get multiple opportunities to succeed

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 47:10Ice Cube and the gang crash the party for revenge, Cole Hauser wins over Remy scene, Malik confronts Remy scene, outdoor lunch brawl followed by Ice Cube's '439 years of captivity' speech, and the school shooting sequence
Van Lathan▶ 47:16Ice Cube and the gang crash the party scene - the confrontation about disrespecting black women
Wesley Morris▶ 47:24The second party crash scene when they take Christy Swanson - calls it 'the best sequence in the movie'

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 56:30Did Kaepernick watch this movie and get the idea for kneeling during the anthem?
Wesley Morris▶ 56:38Disagreed with the Kaepernick question - 'I think Kaep came up with that one on his own'

What's Aged the Best

Wesley Morris▶ 1:07:44The depiction of sexual assault has aged the best because it's not exploitative and represents a state of mind rather than being shot exploitatively

Joey Pants Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:14:44Jason Wiles — Cowboys (the guy from the program), with Jason Wiles as runner up

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:17:42Busta Rhymes
Van Lathan▶ 1:18:10Busta Rhymes — Busta Rhymes (agrees with another host)
Wesley Morris▶ 1:18:15Would not give it to Busta Rhymes (disagrees but offers no alternative)

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:20:07Omar Epps — Omar Epps - Love and Basketball; Kristy Swanson - PCU; John Singleton - Rosewood
Van Lathan▶ 1:20:20Omar Epps — Omar Epps - ER run was more significant; agreed on Rosewood for John Singleton but argued Higher Learning era was when he had more juice/heat as director
Wesley Morris▶ 1:20:16Omar Epps — Omar Epps - Love and Basketball; Kristy Swanson - PCU; Busta Rhymes - not this movie

Picking Nits

Bill Simmons▶ 1:22:58Why is the six-year senior Fudge rooming with freshmen; wouldn't more people have gone to jail given the date rape scene; the cops being so biased toward white people that the racist security guard still sympathizes with the shooter
Van Lathan▶ 1:23:02Problems with housing arrangements (private residence halls), but can't really pick nits with the police bias because similar things actually happened in reality (referencing Dylan Roof)
Wesley Morris▶ 1:23:47The date rape scene didn't pay off properly when they got to the party to beat up the frat - it became completely disconnected from the assault by then

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:26:47Ice Cube — Ice Cube, but would also accept John Singleton
Van Lathan▶ 1:26:30Ice Cube — Ice Cube - because he has the most concrete, understandable character and is the only one whose character arc is resolved when he finally graduates
Wesley Morris▶ 1:26:58Ice Cube — Doesn't think anybody in the movie won - sees it as more conceptual/abstract, but doesn't object to Ice Cube

Movies Referenced (26)

Poetic Justice (1993)

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris▶ 8:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jungle Fever (1991)

3 mentions · Wesley Morris▶ 25:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Boogie Nights (1997)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 28:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Booty Call (1997)

2 mentions · Van Lathan▶ 1:22:19IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Den of Thieves (2018)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:28:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Hook (1991)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris▶ 1:13:54IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Judgment Night (1993)

2 mentions · Wesley Morris▶ 1:09:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Remember the Titans (2000)

2 mentions · Van Lathan▶ 44:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Hot Spot (1990)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 36:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Three Kings (1999)

2 mentions · Van Lathan▶ 58:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

True Romance (1993)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan▶ 39:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Vision Quest (1985)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 45:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (8)

John Singleton

38 mentions · Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Van Lathan · Known for Boyz n the Hood, Four Brothers▶ 1:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Spike Lee

19 mentions · Van Lathan, Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons · Known for Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, She's Gotta Have It▶ 18:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Radford

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Postman▶ 51:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Penny Marshall

1 mentions · Wesley Morris · Known for Big, A League of Their Own▶ 33:15IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Quentin Tarantino

1 mentions · Wesley Morris · Known for Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Till Dawn▶ 42:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tom Brady

1 mentions · Wesley Morris · Known for The Hot Chick▶ 1:20:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

W.K. Border

1 mentions · Van Lathan · Known for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure▶ 13:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Woody Allen

1 mentions · Wesley Morris · Known for Annie Hall, Manhattan, Deconstructing Harry▶ 4:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (51)

Omar Epps

34 mentions · Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Van Lathan · Known for Love & Basketball▶ 7:09IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ice Cube

29 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, Wesley Morris▶ 12:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Busta Rhymes

16 mentions · Van Lathan, Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris · Known for Narc▶ 5:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Laurence Fishburne

13 mentions · Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Van Lathan · Known for The Matrix, Contagion▶ 10:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tyra Banks

12 mentions · Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons, Van Lathan · Known for Coyote Ugly, Tropic Thunder▶ 6:09IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jennifer Connelly

11 mentions · Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons, Van Lathan · Known for A Beautiful Mind, House of Sand and Fog, Hulk▶ 14:53IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cole Hauser

8 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, Wesley Morris · Known for Dazed and Confused, Good Will Hunting▶ 6:47IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Urban Dance Squad

8 mentions · Wesley Morris, Van Lathan, Bill Simmons · Known for Gigli, Pump Up the Volume▶ 40:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Juliette Lewis

7 mentions · Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons · Known for Cape Fear, Natural Born Killers▶ 59:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Regina King

7 mentions · Van Lathan, Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris · Known for Ray, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Harder They Fall▶ 15:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gwyneth Paltrow

5 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Shakespeare in Love, Sliding Doors▶ 1:13:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sidney Poitier

5 mentions · Van Lathan, Wesley Morris · Known for Lilies of the Field, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night▶ 1:01:11IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (2)

Roger Ebert

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 37:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Noah Baumbach

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Squid and the Whale, Marriage Story▶ 31:52IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (1)

Michael Grantland

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Taking of Pelham 123, The Other Guys▶ 2:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗