Searching for Bobby Fischer
1993 film
Bill Simmons · Van Lathan · Charles Holmes
Aired January 2, 2024
‹ All people
Die Hard with a Vengeance
Searching for Bobby Fischer
Searching for Bobby Fischer
Out of Sight
Bad Boys
Higher Learning
Higher Learning
King of New York
Film credit
Laurence Fishburne
Also referred to as Lawrence Fishburne, Fishburne, the Bowery King
Stats
- Episodes featuring their films
- 6
- Movies in this archive
- 8
Rewatchables episodes featuring Laurence Fishburne’s films
Boyz n the Hood
1991 film
Bill Simmons · Sean Fennessey · Van Lathan · Logan Murdock
Aired June 29, 2021
Displaying all 6 episodes
Mentioned in discussions
Casting What-Ifs
Laurence Fishburne; Brandon Lee; uncertain Sean Connery story; McTiernan’s Batman offer
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:29Read transcript
- Fishburne reportedly had a verbal agreement for the role, but compensation negotiations stalled and Andrew Vajna chose Jackson after seeing Pulp Fiction at Cannes. — Bill Simmons
- Fishburne reportedly received $750,000 after suing, and the producers also had to option a script he wrote. — Bill Simmons
- Simon Says was reportedly intended for Brandon Lee before his death. — Bill Simmons
- Connery was reportedly first choice for Simon, though the research is not treated as certain; his villain credibility, German accent and physical fit are doubted.
- McTiernan reportedly declined Batman Forever to make this film. — Bill Simmons
Apex Mountain
Chess movies; Max Pomeranc; ambitious 1993 children’s films; Washington Square Park, personally
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:04Read transcript
- Chess movies and Pomeranc are affirmed; Mantegna is rejected in favor of Godfather III’s greater contemporaneous impact despite the film’s possible belated stature.
- A case is endorsed for ambitious 1993 children’s live-action films, citing The Sandlot, Cool Runnings, Hocus Pocus and Homeward Bound, plus animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and The Nightmare Before Christmas. — Charles Holmes
- Bringing the queen out early is floated and turns into suggestive wordplay and a discussion of which chess piece suits Van; no clear settled award follows. — Bill Simmons
- Kingsley and Allen are rejected, with The Contender proposed for Allen. Fishburne’s 1993 Oscar run is argued for but challenged by Morpheus and The Matrix’s lasting cultural identification.
- Evil kids is rejected. Washington Square Park is personally affirmed for this movie, while I Am Legend and When Harry Met Sally are raised as comparisons without resolving the broader claim.
In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:07Read transcript
- Most casting is left alone, but Samuel L. Jackson and especially Danny Trejo are proposed as Vinnie. Jackson’s Fresh role and interchangeability with Fishburne lead to a Pulp Fiction casting tangent.
The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film
Too little Vinnie; underused sister; disappearing professor
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:21:01Read transcript
- More Fishburne is wanted: the relationship skips its early testing phase and Vinnie lacks the arc given to Kingsley and the father. Whether the mother gets an arc is debated. — Bill Simmons
- The underused younger sister is criticized as generic sibling baggage; others defend her effect on family psychology and her refusal to play chess as showing Josh’s difference.
- The professor needs more scenes as an antagonist and disappears after an outsized introduction. — Bill Simmons
- Fishburne needs another 15 minutes and more wisdom; his absence from the family home and travel funding provoke questions. — Bill Simmons
Recasting Couch
Laurence Fishburne as Daniel Burdon
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:31:19Read transcript
- Replace Lopez's boss, played by Wendell Harris, with Lawrence Fishburn, who would be formidable at the right point of his career. — Bill Lawrence
- The original actor is called the weakest in the movie despite having a lot of lines. — Bill Simmons
Casting What-Ifs
Dana Carvey and Lovitz; Arsenio Hall; Laurence Fishburne
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:30Read transcript
- This is a Don Simpson-Jerry Bruckheimer movie, and the hosts say Simpson was unraveling with substance issues at the time. — Bill Simmons
- The hosts say Dana Carvey and Lovitz were first wanted in a film written for them called Bulletproof Hearts; Carvey backed out after a Vegas trip with Simpson, and the project moved from Disney to Columbia. — Bill Simmons
- Bay wanted Will Smith, and Arsenio Hall reportedly turned down Mike Lowry and calls it his worst mistake; nobody can picture Arsenio in the opening or the open-shirt run.
- Martin Lawrence reportedly told a magazine that Fishburne also turned down Lowry; Fishburne is said to have turned down Jules in Pulp Fiction and Die Hard 3, about seven iconic roles in five years.
- Fishburne would have made this a different movie; he was born to play Jules, a cold pill to swallow until Morpheus. — Van Lathan
What’s Aged the Best?
The national-anthem scene, Remy's radicalization, Malik's Columbus speech, Fudge's look, and Fishburne's immigrant-professor perspective
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:07Read transcript
- The national-anthem exchange is judged startlingly prescient in light of Colin Kaepernick's later protest. — Van Lathan
- Remy's progression from isolation into white nationalism is called the film's strongest structural achievement. — Bill Simmons
- Malik's Columbus speech is singled out as one of Omar Epps's better acting moments despite some theatricality. — Bill Simmons
- Fudge's Afro is praised as a deliberate identity marker that was unusual in 1995. — Bill Simmons
- Malik's statement that racism has become more mental than physical is treated as a point the film articulated unusually early. — Bill Simmons
- Professor Phipps is read as an immigrant voice emphasizing opportunity and effort rather than the inherited racism confronting Black Americans.
- Michael Rapaport's physical choices are praised as convincing isolation by some participants and criticized as inert by another. — Wesley Morris
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
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 02:08:17Read transcript
- One voice says it is always going to be Fish. — Sean Fennessey
- Another goes Walken 'as well', saying the incredible Fishburne case changes how he sees him as an actor, but it has to be Walken's movie.
Podcast choices
- Speaker not identified
- Christopher Walken
The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie
"I'm going downtown, find me a girl, and get my knob polished"; "Who wanted to see you in a cage, man?"; "You don't sell drugs, my brother. You shoot people."; "The test came back negative"; "I thought about you every time I jerked off"
In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:51:30Read transcript
- The opener is Jimmy at the Plaza: 'I'm going downtown, find me a girl, and get my knob polished.'
- Every Fishburne line gets said back to the screen, like Smokey in Friday; 'get my knob polished' feels like a Fishburne ad lib, though Nick St. John could have written it.
- 'Hey Jimmy, why didn't you visit me?' / 'Who wanted to see you in a cage, man?' is a great line and a genuine explanation that defuses the reunion's tension.
- Jimmy before the raid: 'I want to know who I'm selling drugs to' / 'You don't sell drugs, my brother. You shoot people.' / 'Yo, I'm unemployed. Ain't nobody left.'
- Caruso's 'The test came back negative' aside in the toast and his bar speech; Caruso communicates arrogance better than any actor. — Sean Fennessey
- Frank's line during his first arrest, 'I thought about you every time I jerked off', is a favorite; 'slap the black off you' is also thrown out.
In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:44:10Read transcript
- The research says the real Walken called Biggie's hotel room in the mid-90s and left a message as the real King of New York; possibly apocryphal. — Bill Simmons
- The research says Lawrence Fishburne and Nicholas St. John were booed off the stage at the second New York Film Festival showing. — Bill Simmons
- The research says the first cut ran almost two hours and was edited to 106 minutes to avoid an X rating. — Bill Simmons
- The director is quoted as saying Donald Trump let them film at the Plaza free on condition that Walken pose for a photograph with Ivana Trump. — Bill Simmons
- The director claims Snipes was living in his car during production, which seems conceivable from his credits. — Bill Simmons
- The research says the opening was shot partly at Sing Sing, the first time the prison was used in a movie. — Bill Simmons
- A guess of 90 is offered for how many times 'fuck' is said. — Sean Fennessey
- It is noted that Abel directed a porn film under a pseudonym. — Bill Simmons
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:42:47Read transcript
- Artie Clay peeing on Paul Calderon's shoes is named. — Bill Simmons
- Fishburne dials it up in his death scene, but the voice that chose him for Apex Mountain would not give him the award and agrees on Artie Clay.
Displaying discussions 1 - 12 of 22 in total
Films in the archive
Apocalypse Now
1979
Boyz n the Hood
1991
Contagion
2011
Fast Break
1979
Higher Learning
1995
John Wick: Chapter 2
2017
King of New York
1990
Searching for Bobby Fischer
1993