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Chinatown /
Juice |
I got a little carried away and put together over 40 (possible) visual references for the movie Juice (there are a handful more that didn't make the initial cut which we'll look at in part two).
There’s nothing left to say about
Juice from an storyline standpoint. It’s been dissected up & down in every way possible for the last 30+ years.
Now…what often goes overlooked in these reviews are all the visual influences & cinematic homages. Just because something isn't Pulp Fiction, Ghost Dog, Drive or Baby Driver doesn't mean the movie isn't filled with references.
Juice is synonymous with hip-hop culture and I think that's what causes some folks to miss all the cinematic references & homages outside of the culture.
Ernest Dickerson
does borrow from two of the most famous hip-hop films in cinematic history…
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Wild Style / Juice
 | Style Wars /
Juice
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Ernest Dickerson is also one of the most important figures in modern Black cinema. Prior to his directorial debut he was Spike Lee’s cinematographer (he also shot
Brother From Another Planet and Eddie Murphy
Raw). The famous dolly shot that we all know from all of Lee’s films (that Dickerson helped to craft early on) can also be found in
Juice:
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Mo Better Blues /
Juice
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Mo Better Blues /
Juice |
But the cinematic references and visual homages don’t stop there...
Like a lot of filmmakers from Ernest Dickerson’s era, he was influenced by a lot of the classics which you can see throughout
Juice.
It should also be noted that a friend of mine worked with Dickerson on a television show a few years ago and he said that all Dickerson did on his downtime was watch movies in his trailer. This makes a lot of sense when you scroll through this post...
Hitchcock was a master visual storyteller. He believed in something that he called 'pure cinema' where the dialogue is almost superfluous. And I do try to tell the story as visually as I possibly can - Ernest Dickerson, dailydead.com
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Vertigo /
Juice |
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Vertigo /
Juice |
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Vertigo /
Juice |
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Vertigo /
Juice
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Dickerson returns to the Hitchcock suspense more than once in Juice...
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| Sabateur / Juice |
One of the great movies of the 70's. One of the greatest movies ever - Chinatown - Ernest Dickerson, trailers from hell
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| Chinatown / Juice |
It also can't be a coincidence that the final moments from Juice plays out like the final moments of Chinatown. Both films even end with the namedropping the title of the film...
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Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown /
You got you the Juice now... |
The filmmaker who stuck with me the most and really made me want to become a director was Stanley Kubrick - Ernest Dickerson, Complex
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The Shining /
Juice
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Full Metal Jacket /
Juice |
I think the first film that really got me thinking about directing was Clockwork Orange - Ernest Dickerson, Monsters, Madness & Magic podcast
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A Clockwork Orange /
Juice
 | A Clockwork Orange /
Juice
To be compared with Scorsese is an honor because he’s a hero of mine - Ernest Dickerson, Freshfiction.tv
 | Taxi Driver /
Juice |
 | Taxi Driver /
Juice |
 | Taxi Driver /
Juice
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Well, we were creating a thriller, so definitely movies like THE FRENCH CONNECTION were an influence - Ernest Dickerson, Flavorwire.com
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The French Connection /
Juice |
Dickerson even borrows from one of the most famous (and earliest) shots in cinema history…
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The Great Train Robbery /
Juice |
The biggest influence appears to be a smaller lesser known made-for-tv film from the 40’s about a group of troubled teens that get torn apart after they acquire a gun (sound familiar?)...
Another influence was an unknown film from back in the late 1940s called CITY ACROSS THE RIVER, which was an adaptation of a book called The Amboy Dukes - Ernest Dickerson, Flavor Wire
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City Across The River /
Juice |
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| City Across The River / Juice |
Juice also pays homage a lot of smaller films in a kind “blink and you’ll miss it” sort of way…
One night we were watching OLIVER TWIST, the 1948 version directed by David Lean. My uncle said, ‘God, the photography is amazing.’ That's when it hit me. Movies are photographs - Ernest Dickerson, Ebony
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| Oliver Twist /Juice |
KILLER OF SHEEP is an excellent film. Yeah, we knew of Charles Burnett's work - Ernest Dickerson, Shadow and Act
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| Killer Of Sheep / Juice |
He [Melvin Van Peebles] was one of our heroes - Ernest Dickerson, Cineaste
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Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song /
Juice |
The most influence on me was the films of [Orson] Wells, especially THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS - Ernest Dickerson, Ebony
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| The Magnificent Amberson / Juice |
Other unexpected sources of inspiration came from folks like Fritz Lang:
Movies like Fritz Lang's Metropolis, the look of Metropolis, had an effect on us - Ernest Dickerson, Flavorwire.com
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Metropolis /
Juice |
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Metropolis /
Juice |
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Metropolis /
Juice |
The German Expressionism seen in
Metropolis also played a major part in the horror elements found in
Juice. Outside of Dickerson’s legacy with
Juice and his connection to Spike Lee - he’s also a staple in the modern horror genre. In addition to his films like
Demon Knight &
Bones, Dickerson even worked on
Day Of The Dead with George Romero early on in his career.
we were looking at Expressionistic elements - elements from German Expressionist films - Ernest Dickerson, Flavorwire.com
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Nosferatu /
Juice |
Even when I directed my first film [Juice] there were elements I put in you could consider horror - Ernest Dickerson, Zavvi.com
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Halloween /
Juice |
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Halloween /
Juice |
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Halloween /
Juice |
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Halloween /
Juice
 | A Nightmare On Elm Street /
Juice |
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Repulsion /
Juice |
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