Juice

Part of Loft Staff Selects, a monthly series showcasing film favorites chosen by our amazing Loft Cinema staff! This month’s film was chosen by Jaelin Eliason!

A spiral of violence engulfs a group of friends growing up in Harlem in this complex, neo-noir drama from Spike Lee cinematographer-turned-director Ernest P. Dickerson. Featuring an electrifying performance from Tupac in his first major film role.

Four Harlem friends – Bishop, Q, Steel and Raheem – dabble in petty crime, but they decide to go big by knocking off a convenience store. Bishop, the magnetic leader of the group, has the gun. But Q has different aspirations. He wants to be a DJ and happens to have a gig the night of the robbery. Unfortunately for him, Bishop isn’t willing to take no for answer in a game where everything’s for keeps.

Juice is one of the great hip-hop films of the ‘90s, with a soundtrack of classic cuts from Naughty by Nature, Eric B. & Rakim, Too Short and Cypress Hill and features cameo appearances by Queen Latifah, EPMD, Special Ed, Ed Lover, Doctor Dré, Flex Alexander, Fab Five Freddy, and Treach. Also starring Omar Epps, Khalil Kain, Jermaine Hopkins, Queen Latifah and Samuel L. Jackson. (Dir. by Ernest P. Dickerson, 1992, USA, 95 mins., Rated R)