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The Rewatchables · February 19, 2020

Higher Learning

host Bill Simmons host Van Lathan guest Wesley Morris format Flawed Rewatchables

Casting what-if: Tupac Shakur as Malik
Sequel or remake: No ten-episode version

All 14 categories

Who won the movie Ice Cube
Dion Waiters Award Busta Rhymes
“That Guy” Award Andrew Bryniarski
Overacting Award Michael Rapaport

Most Rewatchable Scene · 47:00

Fudge and his group crashing the fraternity party to confront Billy

The first party crash and the later retaliatory party confrontation are nominated separately.

The retaliatory scene is praised for Ice Cube's presence and for concentrating the film's rape and racism conflicts at the fraternity house.

The film

Higher Learning (1995)

Directed by John Singleton · Crime

127

IMDb Find on JustWatch Find on Rotten Tomatoes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Omar Epps Malik Williams

Kristy Swanson Kristen Connor

Michael Rapaport Remy

Ice Cube "Fudge" White

Jennifer Connelly Taryn

Tyra Banks Deja

Regina King Monet

Jason Wiles Wayne

Cole Hauser Scott Moss

Busta Rhymes "Dreads"

Laurence Fishburne Professor Maurice Phipps

Bradford English Officer Bradley

Jay R. Ferguson Billy

J. Trevor Edmond Eddie

Andrew Bryniarski Knocko

Trevor St. John James

Talbert Morton Erik

Adam Goldberg David Isaacs

Bridgette Wilson Nicole

Kari Wuhrer Claudia

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

7:34

Casting What-Ifs

Tupac Shakur as Malik

In the discussion (7)

Approx. transcript time · 00:07:34Read transcript

Tupac Shakur was cast as Malik before a jail sentence forced a last-minute replacement. — Bill Simmons
His screen presence is argued to have added anger, intensity, and different chemistry throughout Malik's story.
Leonardo DiCaprio is discussed as a rumored Remy candidate, with conflicting explanations for why it did not happen. — Bill Simmons
Vivica A. Fox was considered for the Deja role and is preferred to the final casting.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Juliette Lewis are reported as early possibilities for the Kristen and Taryn roles. — Wesley Morris
Sidney Poitier was the first choice for Professor Phipps, followed by Dustin Hoffman and Samuel L. Jackson before the studio chose Laurence Fishburne. — Bill Simmons
Michael Rapaport playing Scott Moss is rejected because the performance would not support the character's authority. — Bill Simmons

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1:18:35

Recasting Couch

Skipped; covered in Casting What-Ifs

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:18:35Read transcript

The category is explicitly acknowledged and treated as already covered. — Bill Simmons

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1:18:35

Half-Assed Internet Research

The shooting's inspiration, cast backgrounds, deliberate isolation of Rapaport, and Kristy Swanson's politics

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:18:35Read transcript

The campus sniper sequence is reported as based on Charles Whitman's 1966 University of Texas shooting. — Bill Simmons
Cole Hauser and Michael Rapaport are reported as Jewish. — Bill Simmons
Cole Hauser's family connections and early Affleck-Damon circle are noted. — Bill Simmons
Singleton reportedly asked Rapaport to avoid much of the cast so he would feel isolated during production. — Bill Simmons
Rapaport recalled feeling jealous while Omar Epps, Busta Rhymes, and Ice Cube listened to an early copy of Nas's Illmatic. — Bill Simmons
Kristy Swanson is reported as a vocal Donald Trump supporter on social media. — Bill Simmons

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1:22:52

Picking Nits

Fudge’s housing, institutional responses to assault, party retaliation, and campus security’s sympathy for Remy

In the discussion (4)

Approx. transcript time · 01:22:52Read transcript

A six-year senior living with freshmen in what appears to be private housing is questioned. — Bill Simmons
The lack of a formal consequence for Kristen's reported date rape is questioned, while her decision not to report is acknowledged.
The fraternity confrontation is criticized for shifting away from Kristen's assault by the time it happens.
Campus security's sympathy for Remy after the shooting is called implausible before the discussion concedes later real-world parallels. — Bill Simmons

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1:24:59

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Professor Phipps’s accent; the final UNLEARN title card as homage or imitation

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:24:59Read transcript

Professor Phipps's accent is variously heard as Caribbean, West African, or broadly diasporic and judged inconsistent.
The UNLEARN end card is questioned as either an excessive Spike Lee-style device or an affectionate homage.
The group concludes it is both homage and imitation while joking that Spike Lee has made even more emphatic endings. — Van Lathan

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