Midweek Mention... New Jack City

New Jack City

Reegs: I think the amazing thing is, is how comfy it is in here, and yet how unre relaxed I can look.

Pete: Yeah.

I think it's cuz

Reegs: a special skill.

Pete: new surroundings. Yeah. And they're like, whereas in the Manco you don't give a fuck if you knock anything over.

Cuz the guy who owns, it's a cunt.

Sidey: Yeah, he is. We're in a new venue today.

Reegs: Mm-hmm.

Cris: don't look at me. I only work here,

Sidey: We're in a bar, which is a new for us,

Pete: Well, it's, it's more than just a bar. This is like a, this is a, a sort of, this is a members club. And we are in probably the, the nicest room in the members club. And it's bloody comfortable. We, and it's really, yeah. Yeah. It's, it's a massive

step up from the man cave

Sidey: that we know what we're doing.

Pete: Mm.

Reegs: it's a little bit classier than this podcast really

Sidey: is. Yeah. So let's talk about crack cocaine.

Because we watched New Jack City.

Yeah. Pete, this is your nomination.

Pete: It is. It's a, it's a film I remembered. , I, I can imagine not long after it had come out in the early nineties,

Reegs: 1991. I do know that I did one little thing. I didn't watch the movie, but one little thing I noticed was this was 1991 and there was so many good movies that it was released against, like Lethal Weapon and loads of cool stuff.

So, yeah. Yeah.

Pete: And I think that there was like a splurge of not exactly the same as this, but similar sorts of films around the,

Reegs: well, boys in the

Hood was maybe a year later kind

Pete: of. Yeah.

Sidey: King of New York was the year before the Kristopher Walker one, which I thought was the one you nominated when

Pete: it. You probably wish I had , but no.

This, I remembered really enjoying it at the time, thinking, oh, it was cool. I'd never seen I, I'd, I'd obviously heard of Icet, but I hadn't seen, I don't think I'd seen any of the actors in anything else. I hadn't, this was my first, like Wesley Snipes. Mm-hmm. , and I, I was unfamiliar with the, with the works of Mario Van Peebles and

Reegs: yeah, cuz he's the

Pete: director.

He is the director, yeah. Which I didn't find out until the, this time that I watched it. And also like Judds Nelson, is it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've never seen him in anything else, but I've heard of him, but never seen him in anything else. And he's in this,

Sidey: he is, and it's basically, it kicks off with one of those really stereotypical like helicopter tracking shots of New York City, but more so, not necessarily Manhattan per se, but more the Bronx.

Yeah, that sort area. Cause that's where we're at.

Pete: we're at and it's got some like vocal harmonies going on over the top of it. Sort of like street performer

Sidey: Yeah. There's a mixed bag of music going on in this movie. Yeah. can get onto, but it does that and then it kicks into what you think you're gonna get nwa.

Pete: Yeah.

Because

Sidey: it goes, you're now about to witness the strength of street knowledge and then it fucks that off and goes into something else. But we're introduced right away to a couple of characters. Pooky.

Pete: Yep. Pooky Played by Chris Rock.

Sidey: Rock, yeah. And Ice Tea's police.

Pete: Scotty

Sidey: Yeah.

And there's some kind of deal going down. There's a bag full of cash.

15 K, something like that. And in the end, Pooky just snatches it and does a runner.

here's the kind of corner, boy

Pete: don't know immediately that the iced tea is a cop, but he's the one that's you know, providing the goods or whatever and, and Pooky is.

is you know, there, there's been some cash brought to the, to the party. I mean, but it's in, it's in broad daylight. This is like,

Sidey: It seemed like it was by a playground

Pete: or something. Yeah, it was by a playground at one point. They literally like run through a playground. So anyway, Pooky is like a, a, a chancellor seeming crackhead chancellor.

So he's he's, he's robbed the bag with the money in possibly the drugs as well, and sets off on.

an incredible car chase.

Um,

Cris: A bike chase, actually.

Pete: what I was gonna say, an incredible car chase, but it, the, the difference being that it's on a bmx, ah,

Reegs: Ah, the beginning of Grand Theft Auto, one of the grand theft auto games.

Is that, that same thing, isn't it? Where you're all getting away on a bike? You remember anyone?

Cris: I,

Pete: not really played

Cris: it's a long time ago.

Pete: remember, but

Sidey: was watching this though. Well, you're not gonna outrun anyone on a bmx. Yeah, they're not, it's not that kind of bike.

Pete: No. But they, they, they throw in quite a lot of obstacles.

So it's, it is probably, it's quicker to go down some really, really steep metal stairs on a BMX than it is to say, run down them. And that's exactly what does happen. So, so Pookie's like, yeah. Hot footed on the BMX and, and Scotty Appleton's chasing him, just waving his gun around. And then eventually they do come to a kid's playground where he thinks, oh, that's the best opportunity to take a shot at this.

But it's a good shot cuz it, it goes straight into Pookie's leg. Yeah. Brings him down and yeah, and Scott, he straight away, I think he, he's, he, he reveals straight away that he's a cop, obviously, cuz you know that by now. But that, you know, a little punk like him killed his mother all those years ago.

And that's what got it. That's why he wanted to be a policeman.

Cris: does it in broad daylight in front of pretty much everyone rather than, Trying to corner him somewhere, which is, is very obvious. I

Pete: think that was policing in the nineties in New York, Chris. I think that's just, they didn't really care about, I mean, it's America, so collateral damage is, is not really on their radar if a few kids get gunned down in the wake of, of catching the

Sidey: would've done

Reegs: an added bonus.

Pete: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So

Sidey: they would've done anyway. So it's fine. The cash goes flying and there's loads of people trying to like, scrap around and, and take the money while it's on the floor. But then I think it flips then to g money.

Yeah.

Find out his name. He's playing basketball, he's hustling on the court. He's gotta make a, a shot for a loaded dough. And he does. So he is, he's pretty cool. And then,

The Jeep pulls up with Derman

and Dudman.

Pete: the dudman named. So, because he's got a stutter. Yeah.

Sidey: if they really run that gag if it is a gag into the grounds, like in this movie.

And where's this sniper character? N Brown. Nino

Pete: Brown.

yeah. G Money is played by Alan Payne, who was also along with Chris Rock a couple years later. That was CB four, which we've

Sidey: right? yeah, Yeah.

Pete: Alan Payne is one of the guys in CB four as well,

Reegs: so, yeah.

Pete: But yeah, they're, they're the, the cash money brothers. Yeah. And they have got designs on being the, the sort of biggest players in town, but they're up against.

Like Puerto Rican mafia, obviously. Perian. Yeah, like a load. Yeah. All the, all the different guys that want a piece of the action in, in New York City at the time.

Sidey: But the plot kicks into overdrive like really, really quickly.

Yeah,

Pete: it does. It gets straight

Sidey: It just gmo. Just like this is the new stuff. He's got a vial of crack and they just come up with his pan to take the Carter building. Yeah. And run. I mean, it just like, so, so fast

Pete: at first they, they're calling it

Sidey: Yeah.

Pete: And cuz it's the base product from which cocaine is then derived. I don't, I dunno, you know more about it than me rigs cuz you're a student, years of, you're a student of class a na, narcotics. But , the one of the girls, the the crazy one.

Yeah. Who like

Sidey: she just gone

someone down, it's

Pete: like a prolific murder. S but she she says, oh, it looks like little cracks of soap. And I don't know if that is meant to kind of,

Sidey: that's

part of the lingo where,

Pete: you know, in um, entomology Yeah, that's exactly the word I was looking

Sidey: for.

There's already a gang in this apartment block that they're gonna take over. It's called the Carter. Yeah. And so straight away, take someone out. He's Nina Brown's dragging him along the street naked.

Pete: Yeah.

Sidey: this guy's obviously got a few scars on already, but he's just like, you're gonna fuck off. You're gonna leave us alone. And eventually the guy says Yes. And then that woman you're talking about, she just fucking guns him down.

Pete: Yes. I'm like, raster guy. He's just, you know, he's probably like the doorman type thing for this, this big like building. Yeah. Yeah. He just gets like executed. Yeah. G Money finds it quite funny.

Cris: Skipped a little bit because they, they actually, when, when they, when Gani show, when, sorry, when Gani shows the, the base, it's 1986. and then they jumped to 1990.

Sidey: a quick quick time

Cris: So it kind of goes in the past and then goes forward again. And that's when the Carter.

Pete: Because Nino brings the idea of taking over a building Yeah. To the party, to like, as like, listen. And we'll do like all the production and the sales and absolutely everything from this police won't want to come anywhere near us cuz we're gonna be heavily armed and there's gonna be loads of shit going down.

So, and that's exactly what happened. That in itself, this is not a true story, but

Sidey: it is inspired, by,

Pete: it is inspired by a similar thing. I think specifically there was a building called the Carter Building in Detroit, which was taken over by some

Reegs: and so the, these places were basically abandoned by local law enforcement and just left for criminal activity to

Sidey: kind of reminds you of the dread thing, you know, with the towers controlled by the Yeah.

The drug lords like, like that. Yeah.

Pete: Yeah.

So yeah, you're, you're absolutely right, Chris. It, then it forwards into the further into the plot where they've obviously built up enough of a production

Cris: and, and that's when I, I think that's when exactly this, the, the time where you're introduced to. Which is basically the, the computer genius of, of the time, let's say.

And you see him at the beginning when Pookie gets shot.

Pete: Yes. Which

Cris: is a that that which on.

relevant to later on. But then that's when you get introduced to Pretty Boy Kareem, let's say.

Pete: Yeah. So, yeah, so he's like, so they need some people that are kind of like legit businessman and stuff to, to come in on the, on the action here. I dunno exactly what it is that he sets up on the computers and what's on those floppy drives and stuff. Maybe it's the.

Sidey: it's just records. Yeah. It's just, let's definitely keep everything, hard copy of

Cris: they do

Reegs: back it up as much as

Sidey: yeah, that will

never,

Cris: say that. Why would you come and work for me when you have a job at the bank?

The bank pays me 22,000 pounds a week. You pay me 20,000 pounds a week.

Pete: Yeah. Yeah. Which is a decent career choice. I think in terms of,

Sidey: Yeah. Later, later on, he says, we're making a million bucks a week, The trade. Yeah. Which is. Decent turnover.

Pete: but you get sort of scenes of, of how they take over the building, how they kind of like appease the, the natives, cuz there are still families and stuff in the building, but they're just dishing out TVs and stuff like that to people so that they, they're, they're on

Reegs: Oh, so it's like a Robin Hood type element to it?

Pete: of. Yeah. In fact, that even gets that, that, that gets referenced.

Sidey: do like a,

Pete: a, in the film,

Sidey: you know, like food bank. Yeah. They're feeding everyone. Make sure everyone's looked after. Okay, I see. Sort of

Reegs: Right. but what you're saying, the pursuit of sort of social justice is nothing really compared to the fact that these guys just wanna make money and kill each other

Cris: Not, not only that is, is, is the fact that they, they, there was two ways of taking over. The Carter building was either they set your. Flat on fire. Yeah. Or you just get accustomed to living

Sidey: how it's gonna be.

Reegs: be,

Cris: and you're gonna be basically a prisoner in your own home and, and surrounded by these people. They, they close the, they put metal doors and, and everything around it.

And then obviously the story goes further and they try to push the Italian guys away. Yeah. And they get the Peruvian connection rather than dealing with the Italian mafia.

Reegs: Well, so these arrival gangs Yeah.

Cris: Yeah. Pretty much in, because the way the, the plot goes, let's say it looks like they're in, in business with the Don a mate or arm

Pete: yeah, yeah, yeah.

Something like

Cris: that. Something like that. And, and his number two guy, a very cool Italian guy with a ponytail, comes in and he discusses business. But then Nino Brown just says, we don't want to deal with

Pete: jo on mate. And you get quite a lot of typical for the time racial slurs going between the, either each other or referencing the other types of gangs and so on, whether, depending upon where they're from.

At this point you also get Scotty Appleton, I, Steve's character.

Decided he's taken a bit of pity on Pooky and thinks that if he can get Pooky clean and give him a reason to actually, because this, this kid's just like, you know, he's a street street urchin. And, and if he can give him a reason to get clean and, and do some, you know, give some give something back.

Sidey: Well, there's a bit with the, the police and.

the, the captain or whatever the, of the unit's like, no, we can't do it like this. And they're like, no, no, we've gotta like infiltrate the gang. And it's like the begrudging, like, okay, do it your way, like the rogue police officers.

So it's it's ice tea and, and Judd Nelson's character, they don't get along, but they, you know, they'll, they'll work, you know, not even a good cop, bad cop thing. They're both

Reegs: united by a common cause

Sidey: something. Yeah. They then they're constantly bickering. And then they. Get Pooky involved to go undercover.

And they've got some sort of like, really crude nineties, like, you know, he's, he's got camera. He's not just Mike Duffey.

He's got, a

Cris: got yes, he's got a camera in his belt.

Sidey: Yeah,

Yeah. We've, and we've had load of stuff with Pooky being on like Skid Row. He's been on the, he's been getting high off their own supply.

And we know he is clean because he's brushed his teeth a bit later on. He's got Pearl Whites again. And he's, he's all bang up for like going undercover. I was getting real. Like wire vibes.

I

Reegs: was thinking this is Sounds a bit

Sidey: sense. He was so, he was so the bubble's character, like a hundred percent.

Yeah. And then he had like the McNulty and all that lot. It was, yeah.

Pete: and you get some quite amusing scenes of, of like pooky kind of aching and breaking in his bed whilst he's like trying to like kick the habit and, and ice tea just kind of like stood next to him.

But looking out the window were like just for seemingly weeks and weeks

Reegs: Yeah. Just looking

Pete: he, whilst he recovers, but. The point of it being that he, he gets him on side and then, and then uses it as leverage against him to say, listen, you owe people cuz we've saved your life here. And

Sidey: and now we're gonna throw you into a crackdown, whether it's like

temptation, whatever, the

Pete: the

Reegs: you've just kicked the habit. Let's, yeah.

Sidey: yeah.

Pete: The captain in, in the, in the police force is Mario Van Peebles. And he's the one who brings this

Reegs: oh, he's start, he's in it

Pete: Yeah, yeah,

Sidey: Like he's on the hook for Judd Nelson and ice tea working together. He's the one that's getting all the heat about this isn't gonna work, blah, blah,

Pete: Yeah.

Cris: I do have to say, obviously for, for that time, I know it's, it's a, a, a black director and. Pretty much all black cast, but it was, it was quite not funny, but interesting to see, especially for that time. How even the, the commissioner, the police the head of the police, everyone was black. Yeah, it was an all black cast and they had a couple of Italian guys and,

Reegs: but where are we? We're in the Bronx. Right. I mean, that's how it would be, I

Cris: I don't know if in the nineties the, the head of the police would've been, I, I don't know the, the

Reegs: that's, I don't know. yeah.

Cris: Obviously I'm not American, but, and I don't know that much, but I just found it obviously for that time to have that There was a, a call for justice, let's say.

So it was quite interesting to see that everyone had a, a character in, in the movie, not just

Sidey: a flavor. Flavors in there as well.

A couple of, couple of,

Pete: We, we, we, missed that one because this is where the go, where the guys meet and get together is at this club, which I should know the name of, but I don't

Sidey: oh, I didn't,

I did clock

Cris: with the Nest.

I can't

Sidey: remember. I clocked the name and I thought, we need a top five nightclubs in movies.

Pete: Okay. Yeah. That's a good shout. Yeah. We can't remember this, but like, flavor flavors like the mc. Yeah. And you get some, like, you get some really. Funky dancing in this place is this like, you know, guys dressed up in shell suits and, and doing like synchronized funking.

Reegs: All right,

Sidey: So there's some.

bang. But

Reegs: wait, do we get a full dance scene? Like, of, because Mario Van Peebles has done that before, hasn't

Sidey: He's done a few music vis as well.

Pete: No,

Cris: he doesn't dance. There's, there's a couple of people that

Sidey: there's,

there's some smooth moves, but it does, later on you get some like boys to men,

like, real shit.

Harmony, r b shit. Oh, it's awful. Hated it.

Pete: there was that like, because I remember like I, I like a, you know, music from that era, from New York especially and everything, but it did kind of like transition between like, you'd have like, like Black Street and stuff like that, which was not like out and out hip hop.

It was more kind of like r and b. But they seem to like perform on the same bill as like, you know, NWA and,

Well, not, not NWA in New York, but you know, it would be

Reegs: I think that is how things were

Pete: Yeah, I think so. And that's, so I think again, it. I think Yeah, exactly, exactly. Because you know, like you get later on in later scenes, like at the wedding, there's the guy that's like, you know, it's like doing some kind of like horrendous like sexual number that every, that all the old women are getting down to and stuff.

Yeah, yeah. I've just, I've just looked up here. The guy, the, the, the mobster guy's. Frankie Needles. Yes. Yeah. What a name. So yeah, really like you can see that there's tension. So there's a, there's a, obviously they're, they're running a, a massive like drug cartel from a building. So tension is building on a few fronts with, with rival gangs and stuff,

Sidey: Well, he's supposed to be paying his Jews

to the Italians

Pete: he's, he's operating in territories that effectively belong to,

Sidey: it to

Pete: mafia and

Reegs: Presumably there's some higher level politics gonna come into this as well. Right. Because these guys

Sidey: can't this isn't like the wire level of nuance's.

it's not. minutes

Pete: no, yeah, I mean it's, it's more about like the action and then the infiltration and stuff that, than anything else. But yeah, like you say, Pooky he's, he sent sort of like deep undercover with his with his like belt.

that doesn't go with his outfit and sticks out a

Sidey: It's like a world

Pete: and, a big like, and a big like, like, you know,

Sidey: Jim Jimbo, Homer's hat.

It's like that

Pete: like tapes to him.

Sidey: But he's done really well for them. He's been getting all the other, like losers in and getting them on crack and they're really impressed with him. So, I think it's even might have been G Money is like,

Pete: he does,

Reegs: we,

Sidey: we need to re. This like, like a promotion. Yeah. And they, they take him up to what's his name, and they're like, right, he's done really well.

He needs to, you know, some more responsibility and like a bit more cash. And they're like, okay. And like as soon as that happens, I think he starts getting back on the

Pete: yeah, you, you see him like there's a couple of scenes where it like cuts to him in his bedroom and he's got, he's got the, the, the crack pipe and he's like about to light it and he puts it back. But he's like, he does that quite well. Like he looks like a, a, a tortured, broken

Sidey: I mean, I dunno about you, but I was just waiting for the moment. And he got discovered like you, when he is got this stupid bout and you're just like, well, it's

Pete: and then, and then there's this other, it cuts to other scenes where then he's, he's put in because they have this system.

Someone comes in with the money that goes in a tube and gets sent off and then they've got this, this room

Reegs: Oh, like Vision

Sidey: Yeah,

Pete: yeah, yeah. Exactly. Like . Exactly like that. It's the same. This is where they got the idea. And and then you've got you know, people that are actually handling and putting the drugs in these little vials and stuff. They're, they're, they're like naked apart from they've got like aprons on. Yeah.

Apart, apart from the blokes who you walking around in like,

Cris: what I was gonna say. That is very funny that the, the, the boys, the men have trouser shirt, nice, clean white or, or you know, gray outfit. And the girls are all with their boobs out and stuff. It's amazing. Really.

Pete: So you see Pookies, like he's gonna put the, he's gonna take the, the vials and put them in bags depending upon the order, and then stick them in another little, like, you know, wall thing that passes through the wall or whatever.

And you see 'em start kind of like push putting some of them and swallowing them himself so that he can take them home. And then one day he rocks up and he's, he's clearly. He's either had, you know, a few cans of Coke or something, or he's been on

Reegs: he hasn't brushed his teeth in a

Sidey: while.

Pete: Yeah.

And uh, now all of a sudden he's, he's really happy. He's dancing. He's commenting on the nice tits that are around him and like, you know, asking if he can get some extra cream with stuff. And yeah, they G Money smells a rat and they, they come in and they push. . And then when he pushes him, because of this massive

transmitter thing, they

Sidey: they see

they

Pete: that, open his shirt and realize that that

Sidey: 5 0

Reegs: Oh

no, he's

Pete: Oh. And, and he's been rumbled. And it, like the camera, I feel really bad for him. The camera like drops to the floor and he just like leans over the camera. He is like, help me, Scotty. I'm gonna die. And then yeah, he dies. Nice. Yeah. They, they execute. You

Cris: brutally. Really? You don't see them doing it, but. . It's not, it's, it's a, it's a pretty brutal scene where they show him and he's a little bit twisted and covered in blood and yeah, it's not a good

Reegs: what Do they kick him to death or

Pete: No, no. I think they've,

Cris: they don't, they don't show it

Pete: him cuz he's pretty bloodied. And he looks like a lot of blood has drained from

Sidey: Don't they have him tied up with a bomb

Pete: They, so, so, because obviously they've been infiltrated, they then like go into like, you know,

Sidey: the, they have time

Pete: Yeah. So they're pulling all the discs outta the computers, pouring petrol, everything setting out on fire. But they've put Pooky in a chair with a bomb attached.

Reegs: it. Mm-hmm.

Pete: and

Sidey: classic, like l e d counter

Pete: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And and Scotty and, and Judd, I can't remember his name now in the, in the film, but they come running in Pookie's obviously gone, but they Judd says, right, pull that cable out, nothing happens. Then he just goes like, fuck it, and pulls another one out and it stops with one second on the clock.

Reegs: One second.

Maybe

Cris: two,

Sidey: two

Pete: It was two seconds. Yeah. Yeah. More realistic. Yeah, so obviously the, and then there's, there's a, you know, load of blow back in the, in the, in the force, because this is now not the, for the

Sidey: and in the gang because they've had, they've lost the whole building's

gone up and smoked

Reegs: They've lost their means of production.

Sidey: So we just basically press reset and this time Appleton infiltrates the gang.

Reegs: Right.

Sidey: To cut a long story short, and he, but he's more higher up. Okay. He's, he basically becomes very, very pally with Nino. And

Reegs: transmitter is slightly smaller or something.

Sidey: Yeah.

Cris: He's also coming through, through G Money.

That's how he gets infiltrated and, and he gets in, introduced differently. He also does it on, on the back of Nino Brown, stabbing Kareem in, in his, on his, in his hand. Yeah. Because that's, promoted Pooky. so it, it, it's a, it's a consequence of the fact that there's friction in the gang and, and Eino Brown is not just looked at as the untouchable people have start to resent him, and he's being a little bit of an asshole, really.

Reegs: So he's got a more legitimate root in, and he's exploiting existing or new beefs now that exist between the chain of command.

Pete: There's a,

There's a, couple of other things in here. First of all G Money's got this girlfriend who's like a complete slag and throwing herself a a

Cris: She's

got an amazing name though.

Pete: I've forgotten her. Oh look, something. Quisha

Cris: Luk.

Pete: Qua. It's a very unique name. Yeah, like, well remembered. And, but yeah, there's, there's, as, as you can, Ima like, Nino Brown starts banging G Money's girlfriend behind his back. But also you see scenes of now g Money's got hooked on the pipe as well.

He's he's not got to the stage where he hasn't brushed his teeth yet. But he's yeah, he's on the slippery side, so he's making, he's making mistakes along the way, but his kind of, you know, shot at redemption is, is Appleton's newest, kind of like undercover character. I don't think he wears any wires or whatever.

He's just looking to get to

Sidey: just gets

Pete: to a point at which they can all get them together for a big

Sidey: like, Yeah, There's

a, there's a scene. They, they're like, They've had video footage and stuff, but they've had nothing that implicates Nino Browns. They're like, we've gotta get him transacting.

You know, we need some fucking, like, hard evidence. So it doesn't, there's no point in him getting more like chat and video. They need to get a deal. So that's what they arrange as, you know, a big handover. Like, why would you send the top man to do the fucking, like, but anyway.

Pete: Yeah. But that, that is being set up in the, in the midst of this, you, you do have like the, the, there's this wedding, I can't remember who it's between, but there's a wedding and they're all there and like Scotty Appleton's been there.

He's getting

Sidey: like, G money, isn't

it?

Cris: No, it's someone's nephew or something.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's one of one of the

Sidey: the music thing was just, I was just like, I was watching it with my hand on my face. Got

Pete: yeah. But that like, right, right At the end of, of that scene, there's like a couple of the,

Sidey: the caterers

Pete: guys, the caterers of like, You know, because they know that Browns, Browns are one of man, so they like, they've obviously catered at the wedding, first of all.

So they've had to do a

Sidey: shit and they clearly look like Italian mobsters,

Pete: Yeah. Yeah, they do. They do. But they've obviously been thrown out. Canap pays all afternoon or whatever, but then they, they, as they're loading up their van at the end of the day, they put out some

Sidey: like but they could have just poisoned everyone.

Pete: Yeah. They get like some heavy artillery

Cris: Italians don't do that with food

Sidey: that's true.

Pete: start firing like the crazy girl Keisha or whatever. She gets killed. And it's all done in slow motion.

Sidey: And every, every action scene is done in slow motion. Every

single one?

Pete: Yeah. And you see, like Nino, he, he's like the, as soon as they start shooting, he like just picks up this like little flower girl and uses her as like a human shield.

Yeah.

Sidey: I think he also wore black to a wedding.

Pete: Yeah, he did. But he, he actually, I remember I was sat here going like, fuck, he looks

Sidey: cool. He did

Pete: look, he did look really cool.

Reegs: than wearing white though, isn't it? Probably.

Sidey: probably everyone know wearing like, like a kind of ivory color, weren't they? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He was

that Spice Boys Yeah.

Pete: looked like a cool motherfucker. So, so yeah. Fair play for using a kid as a human shield.

Sidey: Yeah. The woman that got killed, was that unique? No, wasn't her. But she does that thing where there's you. Bunch of people over that side, but, and she runs out into the middle, you know, and like, that was Ill

advice. Yeah,

Pete: she's,

Sidey: She was crazy. She's dead as well.

She got gone down real hard. dead

Pete: after that. Yeah. But anyway, Appleton has, has achieved his goal because he's kind of like divide and conquer. He is like driving a, we, you know, driving a wedge between G Money and Nino and moving into that space cuz Nino's like short of friends and people he can trust at that

Sidey: but isn't it, is it Ross Peebles who recognizes him?

Pete: That

Reegs: brother?

Sidey: Yeah.

He keeps looking at him like he's getting

Pete: Yeah. This is Kareem. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But so when we come to the final kind of, not the final of the film, but like the, you know, this, this heist that they Yeah. The sting that they, that they've set up. , you know, Appleton comes in and everyone's there and, and, and it, you know, there's even a bit of friction between Brown and, and Appleton.

And he's like, listen, this is business. Like friendships get left at the door and stuff. Cuz he's, he's wondering why he is being so hostile. And then that Kareem, the penny drops, he like, as, as Appleton bends down, he remembers that exact same pose when he was bent down over Pooky as a policeman right at the beginning.

Yeah. And he's like, I knew, I knew, I knew this dude. He's five. And then it all goes down. But luckily someone drives a car in through a window,

Cris: through the wall

Pete: through just straight,

Cris: the wall,

Pete: through the wall. Cuz that's the, presumably the quickest way to get into the building. And then like, you know, Judd Nelson comes in Yeah.

As well. And, and it is just like a, a bit of a blood bath going on.

Reegs: Johnny Malloy, did they, Joe, but he just forgot to turn the corner and

Sidey: I was

in the car. I was, yeah, I was in the car. Me, it was me, him and Gina. Yeah.

Pete: One character that we haven't mentioned at all is the old.

He, he is kind of relevant to the plot because, so

Sidey: it's the old guy from Dino, Dana.

I dunno if you were on the pod

when we

Pete: but I've,

Reegs: we've been watching that this

week. What? The dad,

Sidey: No, the old man who sits out that she gets really ped. And he's as old in this isn't like, he's this

exactly the same. Yeah,

Reegs: It's from New Jack City to Die. No, Dana, who'd have thought it,

Pete: I've seen him in a few things before, but he's in it early on cuz he's just like an old guy in the community.

And he's got

there, there's

Cris: he lives in the Carter

Sidey: Yeah.

At one point, at one point He busted in he busted into that meeting and actually pulls a

Pete: yeah, yeah. yeah. Cuz he's got a grandson who's, who's. Basically earning some money being a runner for like the, the, the, the drug lords and stuff. So, and he's like, he's the only one who's actually like, stood up to, to Nino Brown in the, in the whole film and kind of like saying like, you know, how dare you do this to your people.

And even like the, the reverend or whatever is in on it, he's been paid off to like keep his mouth shut. And he's in this meeting, this old guy's cropped up a couple of times, kind of, you know, calling out

Sidey: Yeah. They just let him off cuz he's old and they just like, well, whatever. Oh

Cris: He's also very, I find, I found it very strange because he kept saying, you, you, you're a idol, idolizer, or something like that.

So he's a very religious term. So, so he, he, he's a little bit out there.

Pete: I think he's maybe meaning he's putting himself up as an idol or something like

Cris: Something like that. But it's a very strange, it's a very strange way of approaching things. So I think the way they

Pete: there is religion.

Yeah. Cuz

Cris: they just probably think he's mental.

Leave him alone.

Pete: Like he's just a crazy old man. But yeah. Anyway, the, the, the sting goes wrong, but they've

Sidey: they get him in the end, they get

Pete: him out, they get him. In the end, they find out where he is been staying. They, they go to this, they get some intel, find some kid, and, and by now, even his own kind of people from the streets are selling him out.

There's like a kid going like, oh, a year after him. Killed my mate's brother

Sidey: something like that. Yeah,

Pete: He's a piece of shit. He's in this building. Judd Nelson comes in through the ceiling like a fucking, like Marine or whatever, , which is pretty fun. He's, he's weird in that film, like he's just, I, I kind of really liked him, even though

Sidey: Nick Pertti, I think his Charact is

Pete: Perretti.

That's right. Yeah. Even though he is like a, an odd character, he doesn't have many lines and he only opens up at one point when he is saying that. He like, he, when, when the, the sting goes wrong and him and Appleton are getting drunk, then they're chatting to each other. He says, listen, I'm, I'm like, you know, I'm like, these guys, I'm, I'm like, white trash.

I was going down a wrong path and then something happened, and now I got into the force

Sidey: they've been at each other's throat, him and I tea, and then they, they have the moment, yeah, where they, I see's gun someone down and he is standing there gloating like, eh, and the guy's like coming too and reaching for his gun.

Nick Pere, like guns him down from like right up and they look at each other like, ah, you know, we are lovers after

Reegs: we've rediscovered our friendship through this brutal act of

Sidey: violence.

Yeah. Through murder. Yeah.

Pete: So they so they, they take brown in and then it's, it's, it's been set up for this court case. They think that they've got enough to, to, to pin on him.

But halfway through the trial, Brown, like has the, you know, he has the speech and then basically says that he did everything under duress. And this Kareem is really like the, the head of the cash money brothers. And, and he goes, I'm willing to like, give all the names of everybody that's involved in this, like basically a plea bargain.

And they say he's gonna get like three years and he'll be out in one and a half or something. Which considering the, the the extremity, like the extreme nature of his crimes and so on, like doesn't seem

Sidey: Yeah, They're

beside themselves, aren't they? The,

the police

Pete: Well, Scott, Scott, he's like, ah, you know, I should have killed you myself, cuz he, he fucking roughs him up quite bad in the street.

You know, when he is bringing him in,

Cris: he throws him off the fire, exit of the fire.

Pete: does throw into some, into some garbage though, so it's a nice soft landing. But then

Sidey: nice symbolic

Pete: shit out of him and at one point he's gonna shoot him and they, they managed to pull him away. So anyway, this goes down in, in the court they arrest Kareem based on the fact that some guy on in the dark is gone.

No, it was him. So they immediately arrest that guy, cuz obviously he's gonna tell the truth. He's, he's a stand up bloke. And then you think, oh, he's, he's gonna get away with it. What a fucking bastard. And just as he gets to like the top of the, this like big staircase in, in the, in the court building

Dino, Donner Powell comes out and he shouts something about like, Hey, devil.

Or like, he could, he refers to him as a, or idol, like, or whatever. You've got a date with the devil and he just looks up the stairs and shoots Nino straight in the chest. Nino goes over the. Over the balcony and, and plummets to his death.

Cris: It's also very interesting that throughout the whole movie they have Uzis, they have M fifteens, whatever you call them, all this high technology weaponry, and the old man shoots him with a gun. That looks like as being in World War

Reegs: second

World

Cris: no one World War I this like the thin little barrel in a thick handle.

I dunno, maybe he survived some wars in the past or whatever, but it, it's, it's quite intriguing to see, but

Pete: the job.

And it gets, gets the job

Sidey: and That's it. And

Pete: that, that is it. And then, and then it even comes up with something at the end. So this is not a true story, but there are Nino Browns all over America and we, we need rid rid of them cuz they're, cuz they're naughty and stuff.

So, yeah. Did bring any flashbacks, anything that you can remember or picture? No, thanks. Do you remember liking the film when you

Reegs: I think so. Yeah,

I think

Pete: so. I, I was, that was basic. My experience of it was I, I think I remembered a bit more of it.

and then, and there's a, there's a couple of like references to it and I think culturally it kind of, you know, you know, there, there, there was some stuff I remember like some like drum

Reegs: bass, well, Chris,

Pete: in the day.

There were sample, like used samples from, from the film and stuff. And then CB four was made where

Reegs: character I think is probably the biggest. When you were talking about that, I was like, okay, that is one I really do remember and

Pete: Well, in CB four he even does like a, a takeoff of himself in Pooky As Pooky, sorry.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, but had you seen this

Sidey: before? No, this is my first time.

Pete: And how did you get on with it?

Sidey: It's okay, but it I enjoyed it. It's very obvious time, like stylistically, like every single thing that happens, like action-wise is in slow motion. Every, like when Chris rot, the first time he crashes, the BMX goes over at slow motion.

Every gun gunshot fight, they're jumping around in slow motion stuff. And now that just looks a bit dated. But I enjoyed the.

the,

most of the film. I was just thinking of the wire. Like every single scene almost could have been. Have you seen The Wire?

Pete: I've seen some of the way, yeah.

Sidey: So they have, you know, the Pooky is obviously bubbles and then even like cuz G Money and Nina know Brown have a heart to heart on the roof.

And it's exactly like

Pete: well this came

Reegs: stringer

Sidey: Oh wait way first it's like string

about Avon.

on the bear. Then

Pete: so that, that's what I'm saying. I think it, it, I think it inspired a lot of stuff. I've heard about this remakes and things like that, and I think that this really could be done better if, if Don again, at any point.

How'd you, what do you think,

Cris: Chris? I've never watched it.

I've always heard about it. And obviously you have Chris Rock as a standup comedian, and he always makes a reference, at least in one of his specials. At least once about New Jack City. Oh, okay. Right. And and I think in, in one of the last ones, I can't remember which one of his specialists, he actually says I'm 53 or something like that.

And he's like, yeah, new Jack City was a long time ago. So, so it's, it was quite interesting to to watch it because I've never watched it. Yeah, I do know that there's. I understand what Sadie's saying, and I kind of agree with it. It could have been made a lot better, but at the same time, it's an iconic movie for the black community in America for 1990.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. 91. Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. So, so for the, for that time, obviously everybody's skinny and young. Yeah. When you see them who, especially whoever's like Chris Rock, whoever's still in the public eye, let's say. I, I did actually enjoy the fact that there was a young Vanessa Williams in that movie.

And she was one of the prettiest women and, and one of the famous pretty black women of the time. And she, she doesn't have too many lines. She just kind of sits there.

Pete: She one of the tennis players.

Cris: No, she is Kareem's, she's Kareem's girlfriend in the movie. So she's the prettiest one, obviously in the whole movie.

But she, she probably says once or twice. Yes. No, and something else

Reegs: She was in deep cover, which was the Larry Fishburn one that was a similar kind of infiltrating. It was Jeff Goldblum played the, and she was in that and she was really good

in

Cris: so, so again, that's, that's when she was very young and she was at the beginning.

But the movie itself was, I thought obviously I know when it was made. So I think for that time now, looking after all the movies I've. You kind of see through the whole plot and kind of know exactly what's gonna happen. And, and, and he is not really gonna

Sidey: work. Do you know how Mario Van Peebles got the gig?

Pete: Oh, someone someone like endorsed him for it. He, they weren't gonna give him the gig and I can't remember who it was.

It was a famous

Sidey: Eastwood.

Pete: it. Fucking hell. There we go. Yeah, yeah,

Reegs: pretty famous. Yeah.

Sidey: Yeah. Yeah. They made.

South. They made Heartbreak Ridge together in 1986 and were pally. Right. And so when he was

Reegs: heartbreak Ridge is really good,

Sidey: yeah, when they were being touted around, he's like, well, you should get, like,

Pete: take a chance on this guy.

Yeah. People are amazing. I mean, I think, I think at the box office it did okay.

Sidey: did do okay, Pete. It cost 8 million to make and it made nearly 48.

Pete: Right. So it's, it's done. Okay. I,

I

Reegs: It's got big cultural footprint

really,

Pete: that's what, that's what I was trying to say before. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think, I'm glad I revisited it.

I, I enjoyed it again, I completely agree with you side, obviously. So a lot of it is,

I Tea is

Sidey: just of, its time

Pete: up there with the worst acting performances I think I've ever seen. He's Wow. He

Sidey: crap I, I

think it's just like that guy did a song called Cop Killer. And then he's made this, and he's also been, he was, well he probably still is in Law and Order special victims unit.

So is he, it's like he's made a conscious decision to like try and rid

Reegs: atone.

Pete: Right? I, I, I mean, as an acting performance, I thought it was awful.

Sidey: You know, he's also, he's mates with Boise from 80 fours. Yes.

Pete: Although he's dead now, boy. See? Yes. Yeah, I did hear that as

Sidey: the weirdest thing

Pete: What I would, what I would say is, is I tried looking back at it, kind of with retrospect, excuse me. Wiley snips, fucking brilliant. He's so, so good in this film. And, and, and then obviously he kicked on

Sidey: the tax Dodge as well.

Pete: Yes.

Cris: And apparently

Pete: then he, he kicked on and became Matt. Like, do you remember there

Sidey: bigger than that? Yeah. Demolition man and all

Cris: Well, apparently he was

demolition

Pete: man's amazing, like money trains. It is not Money Train.

Cris: Yeah, it is a money

Reegs: train.

Pete: White men Can't Jump and

Cris: blade all

Pete: blade fucking

Cris: but apparently he's, he's an actual asshole in real

Pete: Yeah, I've

Cris: A proper, like a proper horrible man. So then I think these kind of roles come easy to him because he's not a nice man in real

Pete: He play, he plays it really fucking well. Yeah. I in terms of like acting in the film, like he stands out a mile for me. Like I, I don't think I'd rush back to anything unless Ju Nelson played that character in every film.

I quite, I just g like how much of a, like a fucking not give a shit dick head. He is. But I, I haven't seen him in anything else.

Sidey: So overall strong recommend?

Pete: Yeah. Why not?