Episode 83

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Published on:

16th Sep 2024

8 Mile (Rebroadcast)

Will B-Rabbit take his one shot - his one opportunity - to seize everything he ever wanted in one moment?

You can see for yourself on the big screen at the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas at SteelStacks in Bethlehem this Thursday Sept 19 at 7:30pm.

But wait, there's more: we will have a throwback DJ set from DJ ARM 18, a special performance from the Lehigh Valley's own Mac Vill and Maxamilly, and an exclusive video interview with Craig G of the legendary Juice Crew, who wrote the rhymes for and coached the rappers on-set who battled Eminem!

GET TICKETS

Many thanks to ArtsQuest for hosting our Hip Hop Movie Club film series!

Enjoy this encore presentation of our original episode on 8 Mile.

Transcript
Speaker:

Yo! Welcome to hip hop movie club

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where three old heads

put their old heads together to vibe on

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some of the most memorable or forgettable

hip hop themed movies of all time.

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And here's HHMC with your HH MCs Boogie.

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JB. Oh yeah, and DynoWright.

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Bring it.

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Come on. Season five, episode three.

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Eight mile.

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That adds up.

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It's nice.

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Written by Scott Silver

and directed by Curtis Hanson

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and produced by Curtis Hanson,

Brian Grazer and Jimmy Iovine.

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Released in 2002 and featuring

Eminem, Mekhi Phifer,

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Brittany Murphy,

Kim Basinger and Anthony Mackie.

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We'll answer the question will B-Rabbit

take his one shot, his one opportunity

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to seize everything

you ever wanted to one moment.

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Set in the gritty urban

backdrop of Detroit.

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Eight mile

is a semi-autobiographical tale of rap

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icon Eminem,

whose characters Jimmy B Rabbit Smith,

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his early struggles

ing into the hip hop scene in:

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against

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great odds, the cocky young white dude

living in the trailer

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park with his downtrodden

mom and toddler sister.

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The rabbit struggles

in finding his way in his voice and faces

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formidable foes

and the leaders of the Free World crew.

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Right.

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One more. One.

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One one and,

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So eight mile.

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This is classic film.

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Eminem, as we know,

has gone on to become a legend.

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What are some of the key points Boogie,

that you take away from from eight mile?

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Yeah I really I really enjoy eight mile.

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I'm an Eminem fan.

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You know, I like what he,

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what he's brought to the table

with his, his lyricism and his energy.

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So watching emo, for me, it's it's

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autobiographical movie for him,

but it's a very entertaining.

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And I do see some of the parallels

between the movie and his actual life

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coming up in the underground

and having to make a name for himself

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despite being a white rapper

in a predominantly black area

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and trying to gain the respect of everyone

and prove that, hey, listen,

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I got what it takes to to go toe to toe

with the heavyweights in the area.

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So it's an underdog story.

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You know, it says,

and I and I love underdog stories and

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he's a character like you kind of you root

from good form from the beginning

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because you see what he has to deal with

in the beginning because he's

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automatically nervous and he's he's

doesn't want to go out and perform.

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So you want to see where this character

is going to go.

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And you eventually do want to see him

make it to the to the stage in battle,

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which is where he was trying to do

in the beginning of the film.

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Do you have crews, that hero people?

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You know, there's the three world crew,

and they're pretty much like,

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you know, bullies to anyone who

who wants to to make

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a make a name

for themselves in the Detroit scene.

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So you don't like them and you know that

they're picking on him from the beginning.

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So it's a it's like I said,

you want to root for him.

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You want you want to see him succeed.

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You want to see him overcome

when he's dealing with you, you know, he's

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or, you know, single mom

reasonable for that.

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I mean, she's not all there.

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You know, she's dealing with it.

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Did you know Debbie? Boyfriend

who's not all there.

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And you want him to

to get the best out of things.

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So you follow him along the journey and,

you know,

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it all comes to a head at the end, and,

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you know, you cheer for him,

you're like, yeah, he did it, you know?

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So so it's it's one of those movies

where I always enjoy watching

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that, that, that overcome

overcoming those obstacles,

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and making it on that stage because

like I said, that's how he became famous.

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He became famous from battle rapping.

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And that's where we really how he made

a name for himself before getting inside.

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So yeah, it's it's a great movie.

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I highly, highly entertaining

and I highly recommend it.

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Dan alright, you want to

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add anything about your, you know,

initial impressions of the movie as well?

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Sure.

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I thought Eminem was really good

as an actor. Yes.

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You know, some people can't pull this off,

but you know,

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he's an elite performer

and so he can do this well, too.

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And he really plays a hero's journey.

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Well, you see him in his humble beginnings

and and adversity

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in the beginning,

choking in the at the shelter.

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But, you know, you get to see

his progression to recovering from that.

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And I think he played it really well.

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And, yeah, I really enjoyed this movie.

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I don't know, and I mean,

it was discography from front to back.

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Like I heard a lot of songs, but I didn't

really get into like, his album so much.

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And so I really enjoyed this aspect of his

and stuff, so really great.

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And yeah, there's a grittiness to this.

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And the portrayal was was very well done.

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You see a lot of East Coast story,

you see West Coast

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and now we're, you know, in the heartland

or, you know, Midwest, Detroit.

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And you

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see, you know, a lot of folks, Detroit's

economy is

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historically been based, you know, auto

industry and factories and whatnot.

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And B rabbit work that the new Detroit

stamping factory.

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You remember when Eminem

first burst on the scene in real life,

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like in the late 90s

when you first heard him

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and he had this unique sound,

almost a little bit nasally

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and spitting fast, but also just kind of

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insulting everybody in his path.

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And you're like, what's up with this guy?

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Like,

why is he ripping on Pamela Anderson?

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And and saying, like,

why are you so angry?

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And this kind of gives you a glimpse

into what he had to deal with, right?

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He just comes from very little means,

like you said, his mother's really

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downtrodden.

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You know,

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not a great mother,

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and he's getting picked on and bullied,

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and he wants to be in this industry,

that he's an outsider.

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So you can kind of tell,

where does that anger come from?

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You can see it through this lens for sure.

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Absolutely.

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And I think from years

of being pushed around,

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he got to the point where he strikes

first.

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He doesn't give you a chance to

to get him.

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He's going to get you first.

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Right.

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I had a I had a different impression

of like at least from this first single.

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Right.

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My name is.

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Yeah.

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And but who is this guy

who sounds like Snoop Dogg?

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And when put together, like,

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I thought of it throughout that, that's

what's so funny to me.

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It's like, yeah,

but this isn't a Snoop Dogg song.

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Like a little there's more humor in

it to me and it's like, wow,

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this is really good.

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Who is this guy?

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He also fun fact

is that he goes by the moniker Slim Shady,

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as we all know, but that phrase

is not mentioned at all in the movie,

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right?

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It's interesting.

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Semi-autobiographical, exactly similar.

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To me, but I think.

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The cast around him in this movie really

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did a great job.

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Brittany Murphy I've always loved her.

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Yeah. She was. Terrific in. This. Yeah.

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With Klute from clueless,

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her days in clueless when she was the nerd

that they kind of spruced up, and

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I was kind of,

like, always sad to see her on stage

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be, you know, on the screen

because she died at such a young age.

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Oh, it's very bittersweet, you know?

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Yeah, it's always very bittersweet.

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Just kind of like

when you see Heath ledger

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and some of the younger, younger

actors and actresses that have gone in.

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But she was very charismatic

and enigmatic.

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She's always that perfect combination

of charismatic and enigmatic who was like,

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yeah, okay, but yeah, you really like her.

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Yeah.

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And you know, that is rabbit's

love interest in that in the movie.

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And they share a lot in common.

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She left home at 17 and he's, you know,

mostly on his own in a wayward state.

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And she's looking to break out

to the big city, New York City,

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to pursue a modeling career

and kind of make a book

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with the other cast is great, too.

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Anthony Mackie,

who's this megastar now in the MCU?

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Has Falcon,

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Falcon in Winter soldier and, you know,

the new Captain America and whatnot.

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He he has a big role as Papa Doc of.

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A duck.

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The leader of the,

leaders of the Free World crew.

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And he's got a nasty in there.

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And that's his role. Yeah.

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Rabbit beats the Falcon.

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But then it also

the other parts of the ensemble.

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Kim Basinger does a great convincing job

of playing the trashy mother.

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She plays that really well.

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Absolutely. Very good. Yeah.

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And cheddar Bob is my man.

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That Bob

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better, Bob better.

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Bob is like the.

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You know, I don't want to be insulting,

but kind of like, dimwitted,

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unintelligent, but funny, but super loyal.

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Friend of.

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Yeah. Of rabbit in the crew.

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And he has that

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very memorable

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scene where, you know,

there's a feud breaking,

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breaking out between their crew

and the Free World crew.

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And he has this gun, his mother's gun,

and he accidentally shoot himself

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in the leg.

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He goes full, Plaxico Burress.

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Plaxico Burress.

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Yeah, yeah, I forgot about that.

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Oh, no, this is seriously.

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Now, here's

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the thing with this,

you know, and he's bleeding profusely.

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And, you know,

they take him out driving to the hospital.

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And even during that hospital scene where

he's driving, he's just like blurts out

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Mick, Bob.

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And like, they're like,

what are you talking about, Mick?

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Cheddar? Bob? He's wondering

what his rap name is supposed to.

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Be, because.

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He wanted rabbit to teach him

how to write.

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Rhymes. That was a good scene.

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And, as D.J.

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is our eyes,

I couldn't remember what it was, but,

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But he was very enlightened,

and it reminded me of Sharif.

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From Menace to Society and another film

I can't remember now, but there's

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another type of character who was like

the conscience of this crew. Yes.

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Yeah, like preach, like preacher.

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That's it. Yeah.

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Preacher. Yeah.

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Exactly. Yeah. That's right.

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That's the same role.

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And they make fun of that in the don't

be a minister.

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Yes. Yeah,

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yeah.

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And they have

Michael Phifer playing future

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who I guess that that's a parallel

to, to Eminem's actual film.

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Proof.

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Yes. Right.

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Real late proof

who passed away from the crew.

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But yeah, he was,

you know, McCaffrey's McCaffrey.

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So he's going to give you what he got.

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And I

take it every time because he's great.

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Yeah yeah.

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He's great.

He's got the dreads in this one.

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And normally

he doesn't have a longer hair.

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So is it

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is cool to see him as a.

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You know convincing

you know trying to convince Brad Pitt to,

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to take his shot

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and it's just kind of sticking through him

even when, you know B rabbit

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has doubts and that kind of turns on him

a little bit.

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You know, when he goes to apologize,

the man at the end, he was like,

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yeah, you know, it's all good.

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You know, up here

I never, you know, I never left

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them. I'm here.

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And he convinces him me to go out there

and, and, do his thing.

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But yeah, he, he was a very loyal,

loyal friend to, b rabbit,

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you know,

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I mean, at first I was like,

yeah, that's definitely proof right there.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, he's based on him.

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I meant to go

look and see like any of the other D12

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like like characters

portrayed in this movie.

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I didn't really look.

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I'm thinking Bizarro is,

I can't think is who is his name?

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An eight mile big guy,

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kind of.

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Saul.

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Yeah.

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Well,

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I know Eminem's friend Obie Trice,

who's on some of his records.

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He was in this film also.

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Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.

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At the end of the battle.

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And did you catch exhibit?

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Was that the he he was the. Yeah.

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The lunch truck rapper that he did.

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And exhibit was in there.

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Here?

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Yeah.

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Exhibit was ripping on everybody.

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Instagram came and ripped on him.

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It's like he was like, it is Ryan pimps.

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Nope.

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It's good to see exhibit two, man.

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He's a he's a good kid. He's

a good kid. He's a good dude too.

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So he got a nice little part in there.

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Yeah.

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And there was a character of wink,

and he was shady.

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He was putting up with B rabbit and crew

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and trying

to promote them into the shelter,

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you know, rap battle.

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But he was also playing

the other side too.

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And he was hanging with the

The Free World crew.

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And then during the battle, wasn't I think

he actually ended up kicking P rabbit.

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Right.

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The catch that that was when he got jumped

after they jumped him.

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Yeah.

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After he got after he.

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Said after and yeah after he had a wink.

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His is.

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But in this radio station,

the radio station

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room upstairs,

he can call the funeral crew.

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And he ran out on B rabbit

outside of his trailer.

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Yeah. That was yeah.

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And that was tough to see

because there was Lilly,

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b rabbits, you know, very much

younger sister who was only like a toddler

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and B rather had removed her from the home

because his mom was drunk and

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took her next door.

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That's at the point where he's like,

go inside, go inside.

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Because the crew had pulled up

and she just sadly, she got to see her

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brother get beat to a pulp by that crew

and she was shouting, Jimmy!

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Yeah, but they, they spared his life.

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They had a gun to his head,

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but they just wanted to really intimidate

him, beat him up.

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But I think that really spurred him

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on and inspired him to

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finish writing and

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and then battle that final battle scene.

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Right.

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Spirit of rabbit.

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The rabbit's coming for you.

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And, he came for the whole

crew one by one.

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Speaking of which,

:

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You guys know that?

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I didn't know that, Lunar.

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New Year, and I'm a rabbit, actually.

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So, Need to know. There you go.

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Maybe put. Things

ahead. Hopefully we'll see.

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They built up a lot of drama in here.

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I see, like, almost every time

that the rabbit takes them, like,

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there's this long pause and it ends

is built in the very beginning scene,

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which actually inspires the lyrics

to lose yourself, which we'll get to.

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You know, he in that very opening scene,

he literally does

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throw up on his sweatshirt.

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So that's part of the lyrics.

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It's vomit on the sweater already.

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Mom. Spaghetti.

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But there's that long pause.

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And then almost every time he's actually

doing rap out, this is long pause.

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And you're you're almost holding your

breath like, is he going to choke again?

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Because the crowd starts

to egg them on a little bit.

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And then he does kind of start,

start flowing.

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And the amazing Joe.

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What's he confronts

lickety split in that battle,

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he gains his footing because now

the crowd kind of is kind of cheering him

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on a little bit because they're like,

oh, this guy really got a flow about them.

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I think he gains his footing

in that moment and say, okay,

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he broke the ice.

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Yeah, I think the challengers got

a little harder and harder in procession.

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It's just like you're moving up the ranks

in the heavyweight championship

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and then the next one is verse Lotto.

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And Lotto did a really nice job.

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And it was really, even with the amount

of applause and cheering

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from the crowd, he the one that hit that

Leave It to Beaver reference.

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And I think rabbit says to, future's

like, hey man, he almost got me with that.

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Leave It to Beaver.

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Kind of. Flipped it back on him. Yeah.

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Yeah, yeah.

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Ward, I think you're a little hard

on the Beaver.

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That's good.

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So good.

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And I like the way he ended

that bad attitude in my model was,

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oh, I get the dollar for me

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to get the, oh, man, who is.

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Finish him.

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Fell apart.

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Finish him.

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I get the. Dollar from. Your mother.

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I think I used to know that whole part.

That whole song.

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About getting seven numbers

for a dollar for.

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Tomorrow. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,

because his name was Lotto.

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That was.

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That was nice.

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From the mother.

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Tomorrow.

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Oh, man.

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And then the final battles was Papa Doc,

Anthony Mackie's character.

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And there's a beautiful symmetry

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in the movie where as be

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rabbit choked and really couldn't

perform at all in the beginning.

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So he lost the battle, was booed off stage

like the song says,

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and he just left him full, you know,

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in shame,

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whereas he is so more polished

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now in his strategy was really hype up

the crowd.

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He's got the crowd going, you know,

wave your hands for the three one, three.

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And he's really kind of

just spilling his guts

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saying almost like being self-deprecating,

saying, listen, I am a bum.

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I'm, I'm white.

I live in a trailer. I'm up.

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He's even said that my girl

slept with wink because that was it.

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Yeah.

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He's a like laying it all out there.

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Whatever.

But he makes it right, makes rhymes.

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So it's like,

what else more can you say about me?

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And then he starts dissing, Papa Doc

for having gone to private school is

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real name is Clarence and all this stuff,

and it just throws in the mic.

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What else

you know about me? And it was kind of like

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all right, that mic drop moment,

he didn't actually drop them, like.

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But he kind of just kind of throw in.

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It was like all right,

what more can you say after that?

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But I know something about you

with the Cranbrook.

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That's a private. School.

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Did his homework.

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I noticed that like a lot of these days,

he did his homework on these guys.

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You know,

who you're going to compete against.

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And that was smart.

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He really turned his vulnerability

into invincibility.

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And he was so good

that Papa Doc couldn't even

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couldn't even say anything.

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But I think that that epiphany came to him

because cheddar Bob

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kind of said, hey, you know,

are you worried that they're going to talk

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about what he's going to say about you?

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And then he was like,

oh, shoot, and shut up.

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Bob was just kind of like,

you know, spinning, like you

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spinning like, yeah, you know, you she's

going to say all these things about you.

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And he's like, wait a minute.

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He might say this.

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I could beat him to the punch.

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Yeah.

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You know, and I guess Papa Doc,

you know, trying to,

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you know, try to hold his cards

and tell him to put his cards.

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I say, you know, let him go first.

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Because he's gonna. Choke.

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He didn't choke.

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It. That's always. Gonna be.

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That's a good point, cheddar Bob.

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:

As kind of dimwitted as he was, he did.

408

:

He did come up with that statement.

409

:

And he he is a source of,

410

:

some strength for for rabbit.

411

:

Remember, he's

the one that says like, f the free world.

412

:

And then he kind of start the whole feud

and everything.

413

:

It's like, man,

what are you talking about?

414

:

The good point there.

415

:

And yeah, about going first

they would do heads or tails.

416

:

They would get

417

:

I think it

418

:

was just 45 seconds

normally to do the wrap.

419

:

And the final round was the 92nd.

420

:

But just like in a lot of sports,

you can choose.

421

:

Maybe you choose a defer or whatever,

422

:

which team goes first

or like an NFL overtime.

423

:

A lot of times you want to go second

because then you know what you need to do.

424

:

Do I need to get a field goal or to tie,

or do I need to get a touchdown?

425

:

So in most cases they were going

you would opt to go second,

426

:

because that way you can kind of

turn the words on.

427

:

In this last case,

the final battle was Papa Doc,

428

:

like you said, he have a doc said,

you know, you go first.

429

:

So he really had to go all out.

430

:

You can't hold back at all

when you going first.

431

:

You don't want to give them any ammunition

at all.

432

:

So he just kind of.

433

:

Checked off all of the punchlines.

434

:

Yeah he did.

435

:

He emptied it all out.

436

:

Rendered him speechless.

437

:

Yeah.

438

:

Literally. Yeah.

439

:

It made me beat the beat

and he still kept going.

440

:

I don't need to beat.

441

:

Hey, you know you're winning

when you don't even need the.

442

:

Yeah. He says, you know what I mean?

443

:

I think to it in that last statement

he said, you know what?

444

:

I don't even care

what y'all think about me

445

:

because I didn't already prove myself.

446

:

So it is what it is.

447

:

This is who I am, like me,

and not tell them something

448

:

they don't already know

because I told him everything.

449

:

Yeah. Very disarming.

450

:

Stole all of your punchlines.

451

:

What are you going to say now?

452

:

What are you going to rap about off

the top of your head?

453

:

Yeah.

454

:

It was funny when the very first was.

455

:

It was. It was lickety split.

456

:

Or was it a different rap battle

where he actually moon the guy?

457

:

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

458

:

That was, Yeah, I know,

I think that was the key.

459

:

That was lickety the.

460

:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

461

:

No, that was funny.

462

:

If you want to smile and welcome,

we had of course, the eight mile.

463

:

That was good.

464

:

Okay.

465

:

But yeah, the river.

466

:

He really got on for clearance, though.

467

:

Truth.

468

:

But it was funny because the funny

how he actually figured out

469

:

his name was when he was hanging out

with the girls,

470

:

and, and he said, oh, you know, Papa Doc

something said, oh, Clarence.

471

:

Yeah. Oh, he. Went to school.

472

:

My sister or brother

or something like that in there.

473

:

Okay.

474

:

And he wasn't

475

:

even a part of the conversation,

476

:

but he just registered in the back of the

file to stand back.

477

:

There.

478

:

Yeah.

479

:

Why is this. Just a funny name for me?

480

:

It reminds me, actually, of Beastie Boys.

481

:

Hey, ladies. Oh, yeah.

482

:

There's a. Line.

Where where? It was just ridiculous.

483

:

Someone I forget who says it might even be

someone outside the 3 to 3 main guys.

484

:

It's like, is your name Michael Diamond?

485

:

No, mine's Clarence.

486

:

It just gets me every time.

487

:

But then Drake cast it.

488

:

The guy who played Greg,

who was the deadbeat boyfriend,

489

:

Michael Shannon,

he's gone on to so much bigger and better.

490

:

What a great career. Yeah.

491

:

You wouldn't think.

492

:

He's a phenomenal actor.

He's so good. Oof!

493

:

So good.

494

:

Yeah, I've seen him.

I've seen him and some stuff.

495

:

And he's really, really good.

496

:

Even he was even good in this.

497

:

He was great in this.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

498

:

He was great.

499

:

And ironically in real well,

they were joking in the movie

500

:

that he went to the same school,

so he was almost around the same age,

501

:

which made it even that more awkward for,

for rabbit that he's with the mother.

502

:

But in real life,

he's, he's a couple years younger than

503

:

than Eminem.

504

:

Yeah.

505

:

He's something like 48 and Eminem

just turned 50 this year.

506

:

And Taryn Manning plays Janine, who was,

the rabbit's ex-girlfriend.

507

:

She was in Hustle and Flow

and a lot of a lot of things as well.

508

:

Yeah. It's a great cast.

509

:

Absolutely.

510

:

I enjoyed Michael Shannon and, Knives Out.

511

:

You guys see Knives Out?

512

:

I haven't seen it yet.

513

:

I guess I'll haven't seen it.

514

:

Oh, man.

515

:

He's he plays the son of the,

the the writer.

516

:

It's very good, very good.

517

:

And everything.

518

:

Yeah.

519

:

And eight mile, directed by Curtis Hanson,

who also did L.A.

520

:

confidential. You guys see that movie?

521

:

I had not.

522

:

Oh, it's a great movie.

523

:

1997, one of my favorites in that year.

524

:

And Kim Basinger was also in this movie.

525

:

She plays the. Lead.

526

:

I remember that

it was critically acclaimed. Yeah.

527

:

And he also did Wonder Boys.

528

:

If you ever seen that with Michael

Douglas.

529

:

Tobey Maguire, terrific movie.

530

:

Yeah, his range is great,

but he passed away a few years

531

:

back in 2016,

so maybe one of his last movies.

532

:

I have one question for you guys.

533

:

If you picked up on this rabbit's

crew goes and burns down an abandoned home

534

:

because that was a scene of,

a rape of a young girl,

535

:

and they thought it as a symbol

that they wanted to destroy.

536

:

And yeah,

I understand where they're coming from.

537

:

Well, during that scene of B, rabbit

538

:

finds a photo of a family like a

539

:

Polaroid.

540

:

I don't know if there's

any significance to that.

541

:

Or was he just like saying, wow,

this used to be an actual home

542

:

or was he just long

for like a traditional nuclear family?

543

:

I don't know,

544

:

I didn't I was

545

:

having trouble

like seeing the significance of that.

546

:

I wasn't sure what

547

:

that was like you,

but I think it was supposed to symbolize,

548

:

a more stable family or like,

here's a home that this should have.

549

:

This was a home. Yes.

550

:

But it right by the disrepair

became an attractive nuisance,

551

:

which is an actual thing.

552

:

Attractive nuisance.

553

:

Destructive nuisance. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

554

:

But, yeah, I, I picked up on that, too.

555

:

Yeah.

556

:

It was like, it was kind of like,

kind of thought, like.

557

:

Yeah, man, this was a,

this was once a home of love.

558

:

And like, things fall apart

and this is what it's become.

559

:

Yeah.

560

:

Because they were saying, you know,

if there was no abandoned home,

561

:

then this guy wouldn't have been able

to rape the girl.

562

:

And so let's destroy this,

destroy this area and it was symbolic.

563

:

But you're right.

564

:

I think

Robert made some sort of suggestion that

565

:

he either wished he had a home with that,

or it used to have substance up

566

:

to that effect

when he was talking to Alex.

567

:

Right.

568

:

To break to.

569

:

Anything else that you guys

570

:

kind of questioned or or,

you know, disliked or not the film?

571

:

I mean, one thing that I see

as a common theme, and I guess this comes

572

:

with the machismo and bravado, is, again,

there's this homophobia in it.

573

:

Yeah.

574

:

Yeah, the rabbit does befriend

the one gay man at his job.

575

:

Yeah, there's.

576

:

Still a lot of homophobia in his lyrics

577

:

and a lot of the the back and forth.

578

:

Yeah. And the rap battles and stuff.

579

:

Yeah.

580

:

I guess even in 1995,

we weren't we weren't that evolved yet.

581

:

Right?

582

:

Yeah.

583

:

And that was the one guy who actually,

584

:

you know, he actually

585

:

saved the day in a sense,

if you think about it, because

586

:

he held down the rabbit shift while he ran

off to to go compete in battle.

587

:

Exactly.

588

:

Yeah.

589

:

I was wondering how

that was going to play out,

590

:

because you see a building up like,

he finally is doing better at work,

591

:

and he's earning

the trust of his boss, Manny.

592

:

And he's like, hey,

like, can you. Someone's out sick tonight.

593

:

Could you cover two?

Sure. I'll cover our cover.

594

:

And we know that's the same night

as right away.

595

:

He can't do it. Yeah.

596

:

For real?

597

:

Exactly.

598

:

Yeah.

599

:

No more privileges,

no more shift offerings.

600

:

And you can't be alone on that. Oh.

601

:

The one thing that I didn't quite sit

well or I didn't quite get

602

:

was I thought there'd be bigger

beef after between Alex and Jimmy.

603

:

After Jimmy caught the, in coitus and I.

604

:

They're not mad

or neither of them are mad, but it's.

605

:

I don't know, maybe.

606

:

I think Jimmy understood, like, okay,

this is sort of like what the game is.

607

:

And so he wasn't that mad.

608

:

But I think anyone would have been like,

if she comes to the plant

609

:

and they have a a very civil conversation.

610

:

And I thought, that's not how

I thought it was going to go.

611

:

Where did he.

612

:

Actually catch her?

Or was it mostly hearsay?

613

:

Like, I didn't know if he caught

wink with her or.

614

:

Like, oh, he did.

615

:

Oh yeah, that did.

616

:

Okay. I missed that.

617

:

Very, very much. Did okay.

618

:

He caught. Yeah.

619

:

He caught the meat act I gotcha.

620

:

Yeah but it is interruptus.

621

:

Yeah.

622

:

Beat week to a pulp a weeks.

623

:

Pants were half down.

624

:

And it precipitated his beat down

in front of Lily later.

625

:

I gotcha.

626

:

Yeah, yeah, I miss

I missed a misstep. Okay.

627

:

And you see it in the in the

in the background.

628

:

The next studio over do you mean.

629

:

Well, this so fisticuffs

going on in the next,

630

:

next to it, you're going to see it.

631

:

That made me laugh.

632

:

It kind of been a funny little twist on a

a serious situation, but

633

:

still I was like,

634

:

I would think Jimmy

635

:

be more mad,

but I guess he's a bigger fish to fry.

636

:

In that case.

637

:

I don't think he was as mad at her

638

:

because she wasn't really his girlfriend.

639

:

Yeah.

640

:

There's that.

641

:

There's a moment.

I wink for for for crossing the.

642

:

Line. Yeah, that that was.

643

:

You knew that I was interested in her.

644

:

You stepped on my toes and.

645

:

Yeah, you were supposed to do

that was her.

646

:

She was like, you know what? She's.

647

:

You know, he's not really my girl.

648

:

You know, we.

649

:

Yeah, we've had interesting we've we,

you know, fooled around a bit,

650

:

but we don't necessarily

have a relationship.

651

:

Relationship.

652

:

Yeah. Yeah.

653

:

The, the title or anything on it. Right.

654

:

Is it kind of like, hey

I see you in passing and I like you, but,

655

:

you know, we're not really together, but,

you know, in the sense of,

656

:

you know,

the crew still supposed to be off limits.

657

:

So the crew, you know, still supposed

to, you know, all of that

658

:

and just not even bother to wink violated

that that that aspect.

659

:

Yeah. And got violated in the process.

660

:

Yeah.

661

:

I was looking up some other like facts

about eight mile

662

:

because I know a lot

that happened around the filming.

663

:

And Brittany Murphy,

who plays Alex, actually

664

:

was romantically involved

with Eminem during the production.

665

:

She admitted that in an interview

with David Letterman back in

666

:

in the early 90s, as she was

667

:

fresh and there was rumors that,

668

:

Eminem was actually hitting on Kim

Bassinger during the filming as well.

669

:

Oh boy.

670

:

Oh boy, I don't know.

671

:

You know, they're not dying.

672

:

Anything happened. But.

673

:

Also be remiss

if we didn't mention Eight Mile for

674

:

those that are unaware, is an actual road

in Detroit, Eight Mile Road.

675

:

And it's kind of

like a line of demarcation and a color

676

:

barrier of sorts

for different portions of of the city.

677

:

Yeah, yeah.

678

:

The more affluent white

neighborhoods are north of Eight mile,

679

:

and the urban neighborhoods

are south of eight mile.

680

:

And the J Dilla book, has a really good

681

:

breakdown

of the whole geography of Detroit.

682

:

And, I recommend going through that

683

:

for more color

about the eight mile situation.

684

:

Yeah.

685

:

The song Lose Yourself was recorded

specifically for the movie,

686

:

and it was the first rap song to win

the Academy Award for Best Original Song,

687

:

which it did in 2003.

688

:

Yeah, I mean, that's become an anthem for

oh yeah, like

689

:

like kind of like a hip hop anthem.

690

:

Yeah.

691

:

It starts off real slow,

kind of like the piano melody.

692

:

And in it, it kind of like it's all about

693

:

not missing out on your,

your one shot, your one opportunity.

694

:

Yeah. In fact.

695

:

And go ahead to it.

696

:

And listen to it on the way it came

on, I think it was yesterday.

697

:

It was one of the day.

698

:

Yeah.

699

:

Yesterday I was like, wow,

this is, my song right here.

700

:

Yeah.

I love this song. It's a great. Song.

701

:

I heard that song every Saturday

at Martial Arts because my

702

:

sifu would play that

703

:

because we used to train to music

and like, that was a favorite song.

704

:

So I heard it every Saturday.

705

:

I didn't need to listen anywhere.

706

:

Eminem songs after that.

707

:

Every Saturday night without fail.

708

:

Lose yourself.

709

:

As I was talking one.

710

:

Some special and unique about the like.

711

:

I think the cadence to me is unique,

where it's a little like

712

:

the staccato or choppiness is like

the clock comes up over.

713

:

But back to reality.

714

:

Oh, because gravity. Oh, that goes rabbit,

he choked.

715

:

He's so mad that, you know,

I really love how that flows.

716

:

It's something that is it seems unique

and I've never really heard

717

:

that kind of flow,

the way it breaks up like that.

718

:

And it kind of builds to a crescendo.

719

:

Yeah, he's a musical genius.

720

:

Yeah.

721

:

And the famous line in the beginning,

there's vomit on a sweater already.

722

:

Mom's spaghetti.

723

:

And you guys have seen that.

724

:

I believe Eminem has a chain

of restaurants called Mom's Spaghetti.

725

:

Yes. That he started, like, in the past

couple years.

726

:

Yeah.

727

:

I haven't been to

what are they in the Detroit area?

728

:

I think so. Yes.

729

:

I was watching the Hard Knocks on HBO.

730

:

They were doing the Detroit Lions

in the offseason in the training camp,

731

:

and Eminem made an appearance

because that's his team, obviously.

732

:

And he catered the one practice.

733

:

Session oh nice mama.

734

:

Spaghetti. And I was like,

oh, there it is.

735

:

Yeah.

736

:

I remember

when they had the grand opening,

737

:

he popped up at the at the restaurant

at the grand opening was actually,

738

:

you know,

serving people. I was like, Holy crap.

739

:

At Detroit, Bon bon, Jon Bon Jovi.

740

:

Yeah.

741

:

Serving people. Sure.

742

:

But he looks so tiny

next to those football players, obviously.

743

:

I mean, I don't know what his stature is,

but he's not a big guy.

744

:

And actually, I heard that

he for this movie, he he lost 24 pounds.

745

:

So he was kind of no,

746

:

he's always been kind of thin in my eyes,

but he was almost like real thin.

747

:

And in this movie.

748

:

He had to be more,

749

:

period accurate for that.

750

:

I guess he didn't have to drop down

to his:

751

:

Yeah, right.

752

:

And be able to do that.

753

:

I don't know how I could.

754

:

This.

755

:

I could do it. Yep.

756

:

Another interesting tidbit I've found

is that the role of cheddar Bob,

757

:

both Seth Rogen

and Jason Segel auditioned for that role.

758

:

That's kind of the genre.

759

:

It feels like that's the type of actor

they.

760

:

Yeah, exactly.

761

:

But I think they were joking

around the whole time

762

:

and they were goofing off,

and they didn't.

763

:

They're good friends in real life.

764

:

Seth Rogen and Jason Segel,

and they didn't get it.

765

:

And they're like, years later,

they're like, it went to some other guy.

766

:

And he was really good, and he did

a much better job than we would have,

767

:

which was Evan Jones.

768

:

I feel like those two guys, even, I guess

then they weren't as big as they are now.

769

:

But yeah, you're right.

770

:

Two. But

771

:

that would happen

if there's like a gravitational pull.

772

:

The big actors like Makai Phifer

and Kim Basinger.

773

:

But imagine those two guys, one of those

two guys in that role was kind of funny.

774

:

Oh. I actually watched this on DVD.

775

:

I had purchased it at a flea market

a while back, so I knew

776

:

that we'd be covering it for real cheap,

777

:

and it had some extra

778

:

special features,

and I was able to watch a couple of them.

779

:

What was neat

is they talked about rap battles

780

:

and how intense they are in,

781

:

like we were saying, Eminem.

782

:

I grew up doing this and he would be

so devastated if he were to lose one.

783

:

So in this scene,

like the final rap battle scene,

784

:

you see there's a big mob of people

there, like 300 folks,

785

:

and they all have their winter coats

and park is on

786

:

and there's been this kind of warehouse

type facility.

787

:

They were there for like 12 to 14 hours

a day for like 3 or 4 consecutive days.

788

:

And they were getting a

little antsy here and there.

789

:

So the director, Curtis Hanson,

had this great idea.

790

:

He saw that like in between cuts,

791

:

other little rap

battles were breaking out.

792

:

So he actually set up a rap

battle tournament amongst the extras.

793

:

He said, whoever wants to sign up

and show off their skills,

794

:

and it was like 130 for them signed up.

795

:

They thought that they could be an MC,

so he would give them only like 15 seconds

796

:

and they would, you know, both, Hanson

and Eminem's manager and, you know,

797

:

there were a couple judges

and they would kind of jot it down

798

:

and they whittled them down to like 20.

799

:

Then they did a little bracket tournament

800

:

and the Final four

got to go up against Eminem.

801

:

Like head to head. Nice. Cool. Well

802

:

imagine that.

803

:

It's like in in the ring with Tyson.

804

:

I know I wouldn't. Want to do that.

805

:

Yeah.

806

:

They didn't

want to wear out Eminem's voice,

807

:

so he actually pantomimed to his stuff.

808

:

And then when he got to the final four,

they were kind of really

809

:

blasting him an insult again,

because that's what it is.

810

:

It's a verbal tirade.

811

:

He's like, I can't do this anymore.

812

:

So he actually got on the bike and he just

ripped them and he was like, no contest.

813

:

But that was kind of cool.

814

:

And these guys were married in forever.

815

:

On film here because they're in this

special scene here.

816

:

Oh, that was a good idea.

817

:

Yeah, that sounds really cool.

818

:

I wonder what happened to this.

819

:

If this was final for finalists.

820

:

Yeah.

821

:

Where are they now.

822

:

Exactly? Eight mile.

823

:

Final finalists.

824

:

There was one woman, but he tore apart.

825

:

And was merciless on the mic.

826

:

You know, you don't mess with him.

827

:

Yeah, that's like getting into the ring

with Mike Tyson.

828

:

That's.

829

:

It's exactly even playing Gary Kasparov.

830

:

Chess. Like.

831

:

Yeah.

832

:

It was like, not for me.

833

:

Like me.

834

:

Me trying to take LeBron one on one.

835

:

Yeah.

836

:

So what do you guys think?

837

:

Did you enjoy the music overall

in the film.

838

:

Absolutely.

839

:

Obviously the star was shook

once. Part two.

840

:

Oh I was in I was already in.

841

:

The I mean this is like pretty much

my favorite

842

:

era of hip hop, hip hop from the late 80s

into the mid 90s.

843

:

Like that's my

844

:

sweet spot in my heyday.

845

:

So like even the non Eminem tracks

I heard, like

846

:

I heard insane in the Membrane

by Cypress Hill, I heard some biggie,

847

:

I heard Naughty by Nature.

848

:

Pharcyde was, yeah, every song.

849

:

I was like, yes,

I remember, this is great, this is great.

850

:

Very much enjoying the music.

851

:

Yeah, music is classic. Oh,

852

:

and this was a box office smash.

853

:

Budget was 41 million

and it made 243 million

854

:

in the box office.

855

:

It was one of the most sought after DVDs

856

:

when it was released of all time.

857

:

I remember when it came out and I was,

858

:

working retail and, BestBuy.

859

:

Yeah, it was

it was flying off the shelves.

860

:

We just passed the 20th anniversary.

861

:

It was released November 8th, 2002. Oh.

862

:

No. No. No,

863

:

the Universal Pictures put it out.

864

:

Had a lot of backing.

865

:

I don't think I need to be made again.

Made today.

866

:

There's no. This is a.

867

:

It was the first time.

868

:

It's kind of like a icon

869

:

origin story

or a superhero origin story, right?

870

:

Yeah. Really.

871

:

You got Anthony Mackie

and it's like a superhero story.

872

:

That's true. Yeah.

873

:

Right.

874

:

Three.

875

:

Three. Three. Three. Three.

876

:

Six. Big.

877

:

So we'll go around,

give us give our ratings.

878

:

On the film.

879

:

So boogie bring that funky flick back.

880

:

Bring that funky flip

back or leave it in the vault.

881

:

Oh man.

882

:

Bring that funky flick back.

883

:

Yeah. To down. All right.

884

:

Bring that funky flick back.

885

:

Of course.

886

:

Bring that funky flick. Back

887

:

right on. Okay. It's a classic.

888

:

Yeah.

889

:

Yeah.

890

:

Bring it.

891

:

Come on.

892

:

Hip Hop

893

:

Movie Club is produced by your HMCs, JB

Boogie and Dino.

894

:

Right? Theme music by Boogie.

895

:

And check us out on TikTok and Instagram

at hip

896

:

hop movie club.

897

:

On the next episode of the Hip Hop

Boogie Club podcast,

898

:

your eight emcees will review

notorious drops in two weeks.

899

:

Subscribe today on your favorite podcast

app and you won't miss it.

900

:

Tick tock, tick tock.

901

:

Come on.

902

:

Shout out to your listeners.

903

:

Thanks for tuning in.

904

:

And remember, don't hate.

905

:

Resonate as it may.

906

:

Yes. Yes.

907

:

Shout out to brain

freeze trivia in the Lehigh Valley.

908

:

Check out the Instagram brain underscore.

909

:

Freeze. Underscore trivia.

910

:

Double underscore time.

911

:

That's brain

freeze trivia time on Instagram.

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About the Podcast

Hip Hop Movie Club
Harmonizing the rhythm of hip hop with the magic of movies
Upcoming Hip Hop Movie Club events:

Feb 5 - Breakin' screening
https://www.steelstacks.org/event/16710/breakin/

HHMC is brought to you by a trio of longtime hip hop fans: JB, an 80s and 90s nostalgia junkie, BooGie, a veteran DJ and graffiti artist, and DynoWright, podcaster and filmmaker.

Buy some merch: https://meteorwright.one/shop

More events to be announced! Subscribe to our newsletter and get updated on events: https://hiphopmovieclub.substack.com/