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Film credit

Tupac Shakur

Also referred to as Tupac

Stats

Episodes featuring their films
2
Movies in this archive
2

Rewatchables episodes featuring Tupac Shakur’s films

Above the Rim

1994 film

Bill Simmons · Van Lathan · Wosny Lambre

Aired July 19, 2022

Juice

1992 film

Bill Simmons · Van Lathan · Wosny Lambre

Aired January 11, 2022

Displaying all 2 episodes

Mentioned in discussions

Forrest Gump The Rewatchables
Forrest Gump

Casting What-Ifs

Harry Anderson, John Travolta, Sean Penn, several Bubbas and Jennys, Terry Gilliam, and Joe Pesci form the casting tree.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:53Read transcript
Above the Rim The Rewatchables
Above the Rim

Just One Oscar

Soundtrack/song; Tupac; Tonya Pinkins

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:49Read transcript
  • The soundtrack is one Oscar choice. — Wosny Lambre
  • Tupac’s varied Birdie performance is another choice. — Wosny Lambre
  • Pinkins is a competing performance choice. — Wosny Lambre
  • Because soundtrack is not an Oscar category, the idea shifts to original song, with Big Pimpin’ proposed against the Lion King-dominated field.
Above the Rim The Rewatchables
Above the Rim

Apex Mountain

Duane Martin; Eric Nies; shadow basketball; street-tournament imitations; 1990s New York basketball

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:33Read transcript
  • Two yes responses favor this as the peak 1990s basketball movie; Blue Chips is a dissenting choice for its predictive story. — Bill Simmons
  • Playing basketball without a ball receives an uncontested yes. — Bill Simmons
  • Tupac receives no because of personal troubles. — Bill Simmons
  • The film and contemporary Knicks/point-guard culture support a yes for 1990s New York basketball relevance.
  • Martin receives an unqualified yes. — Wosny Lambre
  • Pinkins’s Tony-winning theater work is preferred to this film as her overall peak. — Wosny Lambre
  • Rucker Park imitation tournaments receive a yes. — Wosny Lambre
  • Bernie Mac receives no, with his television show and The Players Club stronger candidates. — Wosny Lambre
  • Eric Nies receives a yes. — Wosny Lambre
  • Tha Dogg Pound receives an initial yes but New York, New York and its video are a competing peak. — Wosny Lambre
  • Leon receives a yes from one participant; The Five Heartbeats and especially The Temptations performance as David Ruffin are competing choices. — Wosny Lambre
Above the Rim The Rewatchables
Above the Rim

Recasting Couch

Aiello or Law & Order’s McCoy as coach; contemporary basketball and rap cast

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:00Read transcript
  • Danny Aiello is proposed as coach, but his stature may make the role unrealistic. — Van Lathan
  • The actor playing Jack McCoy in Law & Order is another coaching option. — Van Lathan
  • Tyler Herro is the contemporary Montrose choice. — Bill Simmons
  • Anthony Edwards is the Kyle choice after Hustle; using actual hoopers is favored. — Bill Simmons
  • P.J.Tucker is a Motaw option.
  • Snowfall’s Damson is considered for Birdie, but a rapper may better honor Tupac’s legacy.
  • YG is a Birdie possibility, subject to acting ability.
  • The Game is suggested for Birdie but rejected as too old; his team name Birdie’s Revenge is mentioned.
  • Drake is a fallback suggestion met with incredulity.
  • 21 Savage is a more warmly received Birdie choice.
Above the Rim The Rewatchables
Above the Rim

What’s Aged the Best?

Tupac; Wood Harris; Eric Nies; Shep’s game; marketing; villains; streetball; Tonya Pinkins

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:28Read transcript
  • Tupac at his peak and Harris’s later Wire connection have aged well. — Wosny Lambre
  • Eric Nies’s Real World and The Grind fame makes Montrose an especially 1990s casting choice; his basketball bearing and passing look convincing.
  • Shep’s twenty-six points in one half in corduroys deserve comparison with famous real basketball performances. — Van Lathan
  • Kyle’s Michael Jordan Aerial Assault poster is exciting nostalgic decoration despite being judged a bad poster. — Van Lathan
  • Shep’s fourteen-year grief is both best and worst: it drives the plot but leaves him implausibly unable to function or accept companionship. — Bill Simmons
  • The Holler If Ya Hear Me trailer is credited with attracting audiences and anticipating later song-driven marketing. — Bill Simmons
  • The entertaining villains make it possible to root for both tournament teams. — Bill Simmons
  • The film’s promotional poster is praised. — Bill Simmons
  • The white big man on Kyle’s team is an enjoyable 1990s type; the idea he is the coach’s son is speculative and challenged by his absence from the school team.
  • Yellow tape and crowds pressing onto the court convincingly capture New York streetball culture.
  • Tonya Pinkins’s mother character is praised for fierce vulnerability, firm parenting and a steadying perspective on college ambitions.
Above the Rim The Rewatchables
Above the Rim

Most Rewatchable Scene

Final championship game: Shep in corduroys

In the discussion (18)
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:38Read transcript
  • Birdie’s first club recruitment is nominated for Tupac’s charming, seductive register alongside his menacing and wounded scenes.
  • The club recruitment’s secret-room atmosphere and smarmy recruiter who knows Kyle’s shoe size make it a favorite. — Bill Simmons
  • Kyle’s one-on-one game against Flip mixes Bernie Mac’s aggressive comedy with the moving reminder that their past championship cannot be erased.
  • Birdie rejecting Bug, followed by Kyle challenging Shep and Shep addressing Nutso, is a scene candidate.
  • Shep talking to a dead person and practicing without a ball raise concern about him as a prospective stepfather. — Bill Simmons
  • The opening Nutso rooftop death is nominated despite being considered absurd, with inconsistent walls/glass and impractical varsity jackets.
  • Big Pimpin’ into the tournament signup is a favorite forty-five seconds that deserves a longer cut.
  • The first tournament montage combines hard fouls, music and the coach’s abrupt Georgetown-letter announcement. — Bill Simmons
  • Shep’s thirteen-for-thirteen performance is praised. — Bill Simmons
  • Shep’s midrange shooting conveys disciplined old-school skill and purity.
  • Shep lighting everyone up in corduroys is an especially fun five-minute stretch. — Van Lathan
  • Kyle’s Georgetown shot directly into Regulate is nominated and looks so authentic it was once mistaken for Martin’s real college footage.
  • The final game wins explicitly, with Shep’s apparent heave revealed as an alley-oop. — Van Lathan
  • Shep’s shooting form and defense are admired. — Van Lathan
  • Shep in corduroys is reiterated as the winning scene. — Wosny Lambre
  • Wayans’s entire performance is a comic alternative, especially the gold-Urkel remark and his post-jail introduction showing off his physique.
  • The first outdoor shadow-basketball scene is an additional nomination for its bizarre ball-free practice. — Wosny Lambre
  • The coach telling Shep he can help Kyle avoid repeating his mistakes is an additional scene nomination. — Bill Simmons
Above the Rim The Rewatchables
Above the Rim

Half-Assed Internet Research

Cast ages and basketball backgrounds; Tupac filming; trailer sharing; budget and gross

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:18:19Read transcript
  • The film is described as Tupac’s last movie released during his lifetime; later completed films arrived posthumously, and shooting reportedly sometimes waited for him. — Bill Simmons
  • A reported$6.5 million budget and$16.2 million theatrical gross are supplemented by speculation that later formats earned much more. — Wosny Lambre
  • Martin attended NYU rather than Georgetown, correcting a long-held assumption that the ending used his actual college shot.
  • Kobe Bryant reportedly sometimes practiced without a ball; any influence from this film is a joke rather than established history. — Wosny Lambre
  • Pinkins is reportedly only three years older than Martin. — Van Lathan
  • Martin reportedly played at NYU in the late 1980s and received an 1988–89 first-team honor. — Van Lathan
  • Leon reportedly left a Loyola Marymount basketball scholarship for acting. — Van Lathan
  • Leon described NYU scrimmages involving Rucker tournament players, where actual skill mattered more than acting. — Van Lathan
  • Tupac and Wayans reportedly shared a two-bedroom trailer, and Wayans recalled frequent marijuana smoking. — Bill Simmons
  • Speedy Williams, the red team’s point guard, is identified as a basketball technical consultant. — Bill Simmons
Juice The Rewatchables
Juice

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:43:22Read transcript
  • The first participant chooses Tupac because the film functions as his vehicle and coming-out party. — Wosny Lambre
  • A second participant also chooses Tupac without hesitation. — Wosny Lambre
  • The third participant chooses Omar Epps because Q supplies the film’s stable conscience against Bishop’s storm. — Van Lathan
  • The final synthesis says Tupac wins the movie itself while Epps wins what came out of it through a thirty-year career. — Wosny Lambre
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Tupac Shakur
Speaker not identified
Tupac Shakur
Juice The Rewatchables
Juice

Apex Mountain

Ernest Dickerson (Juice and Malcolm X together); Khalil Kain; Jermaine Hopkins; Cindy Herron; the DJ competition

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:25:23Read transcript
  • The category opens with the direct verdict “Tupac, no.” — Bill Simmons
  • Ernest Dickerson receives a combination verdict for directing Juice while shooting Malcolm X, though his work on The Wire complicates the case.
  • Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight is named as one participant’s favorite Dickerson movie but explicitly rejected as Dickerson’s Apex Mountain. — Van Lathan
  • Khalil Kane and Jermaine Hopkins receive positive verdicts for their careers. — Wosny Lambre
  • Neil Moritz is rejected because producing the Fast and Furious franchise became a larger achievement. — Wosny Lambre
  • Cindy Heron receives an emphatic yes for combining the film with EnVogue’s success. — Bill Simmons
  • Omar Epps is moved to Love & Basketball when the question is restricted to his characters named Quincy. — Bill Simmons
  • For Omar Epps’s recurring angry, bulging-eye expression, the panel chooses Higher Learning as the apex. — Bill Simmons
  • The DJ contest receives a positive verdict as the film peak for scratching.
  • The panel narrows Harlem’s movie-location peak to Shaft, Harlem Nights, or Paid in Full and does not settle one answer.
Displaying discussions 1 - 12 of 18 in total

Films in the archive

Above the Rim

1994

Juice

1992