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Visitors Review

firsttube99-1 2012-05-24 22:55:18

Singleton is a joke.

He is fine with an all black cast............but when he has to usewhite people......he loses all touch with reality.As a white male, I have never been more disrespected and the way hetreats gangstas as somewhat "good guys". I am amazed by this film,every storyline was pathetic and the racism is laughable.Every character was pompous and annoying. You wouldn't root for anyonein this mess, well maybe Banks. Omar Epps is terrible, Ice Cube andBusta, lol. The muscular nazi is terrible. Fishburne's overacting makeshis performance bad. Ahhhh, this whole film is bad.Connely's performance was creepy and annoying as well.

Steve Johnston 2012-05-24 18:40:39

powerful confronting underated drama.

I thought this was another greatly powerful john singleton[boyz n the hood] film that deserved more recognition seeing different races in an american college campus where a group of white supremists will eventually clash with others. While I saw some peoples comments saying it was unrealistic I dont think thats true as I have personally seem peoples personalities that are exposed similiar in this film and it is never not engaging.

Dorminante 2012-05-23 06:35:09

An awful mess

I don't understand why people would praise this garbage. Its wrong , stupid, unrealistic , awful , and just about everything else. The film is a viewon life , racial issues , prejudice , and everything else that strangelygoes on in College. This is where it fails. It has no grasps on reality.From many questionable non-sense scenes in the movie such as forexampleA black man chasing down a white man with a gun, the black man and stoppedby the security guards handcuffed and carried out while the gunman runsright past them.The same white man snipering down people from a roof topic which is stoppedand beaten down by the same black man is then stopped and given a RodneyKing style beating while the gun man runs free while a moment later beingchased back down by only one of the four guards.As one previous reviewer pointed outSeveral white 230lbs men being beaten down by several black men weighingaround 160lbs including the 105lbs Bust A RhymesAnother critical flaw in the film are the shallow uninteresting maincharacters. From the scared and confused white people and the mean , angry,and yet rightful (?) black people. Its almost as its an insult to bothblackand white people. I am a white male and I know many black and hispanicpeople who agree that this movie is wrong to portray characters and givingthem those characteristics exclusively due to their race.The storyline which I will explain now revolves around three characters.Onea black athlete , the other a confused scared white girl who questions hersexuality , and the third is a white man who is also confused and scared ,then blames his problems on black people in which he becomes a nazi laterinthe film. They all have their share of problems and adventures includingsex, rape , fights , love , hate , prejudice , racial war , and oh yeah don'tforget education. Which all comes down at the end for the fatal shoot out.In which after they go back to their boring lives and think "being white isbad". Does this sound alot like your college years? Didn't think so. Idon'tthink the director attended college especially if he were to make thisawfulmess.Overall this is a really bad , bad , ugly movie. If you want to see a moreaccurate view or racial issues go see American History X. If you want toseea more accurate view of college rent Porkys. Just avoid thismess.

2012-05-22 14:32:27

Wish I could've liked it more. . .

This could have been an excellent film, but it falls short by making some significant relationships one-dimensional. I'm mainly thinking of the 2 female roommate characters in the movie, (one white, one black) who could have demonstrated something other than the rather extreme, racially polarized aspects of race relations in college. These characters actually got along and found a way to live with eachother and even become friends despite the chaos around them.John Singleton, in trying to incoroporate every problem on college campuses today (date rape, drained financial resources) shortsights many of them. Instead, the movie principally becomes about Micheal Rappaport, and his journey from small-town insecure guy to violent racist. It's in this character that the movie is strongest. Rappaport's acting is suberb -- he captures Remy's insecurities and slide towards self-destruction wonderfully.In sum, this is worth catching, simply because it is one of the few movies to even try to capture racial unrest on college campuses.

Tim 2012-05-14 03:28:18

awful message

This movie plays on every stereotype imaginable and plays it off like thishappens at every campus nationwide. This isn't a spoiler just a briefidentification of some characters. We have a lonely white guy from idahothat becomes a skinhead, frat guys that just do keg stands and prey on drunkwomen,and a lesbian feminist. This movie shows african-american males aseither athletes or pot heads that only move when it comes time to fight. The list goes on and on. Every character plays at least one stereotype thatstands out. Thus, it is very easy to guess what will happen leaving nosurprises. Yes, racism is an unfortunate problem that still lingers incertain aspects of our society, but this movie makes it almost seem as anall out race war is on the horizon. If you rent this film don't expect toget a deep message on racial issues on campuses. The lone pleasant aspectwas the large number of future stars in the film. Tyra Banks stood out mostI believe in her performance.

2012-05-13 15:18:37

some stars from boys n da hood went 2 college

this was a very acted movie with powerful performance from larry fishburn da teacher omar epps student ice cube college undergraduate da pretty kristy swason (top model) tyra banks (accomplish actress) regina king and last but not least michael rapaport with guess star appearance from da very attractive jennifer connelly and (1 of da best rappers) busta rhymes who adds comedy 2 da movie this movie was about omar epps a talented track and field performer struggling 2 keep up with his grades n skool and falls n love with his classmate tyra banks da other story is between da different lives from da blacks and whites on campus who r prejudice toward each other n da movie whenever da white party have a party da cops let them party on but when da black people have a fiesta da cops don't allowed because they r racist omar epps and michael rapaport both show great acting chemisty as they started out as regular classmate then begin 2 hate each other as da movie gets deeper and deeper larry fishburne plays omar's immigrant english teacher who guides and explains 2 omar about how da college is da preview of da realworld ice cube plays da guy who has been left back from yrs but has a lot of wisdom and experience who tries 2 guide omar 2 da correct path

anonymous 2012-05-12 16:07:00

A hatefull, ignorant, disgusting parade of stereotypes and bigotry

People with sharp and open minds should watch Higher Learning. Much of whatis wrong with contemporary America is evidenced in this bit of fascisttrash. It's frightening that so many people reflexively accept the premisesput forth in this homage to hate. The people who perpetrated this movie havecollaborated to make this world a little less humane.

2012-05-12 05:12:43

movie reflecting society

this movie covers alot of topics which are addressed in college orientation classes. Its a snap shot of what students may or may not encounter in college. I believe this is one of Singleon's better movies.

jon144k 2012-05-09 05:11:00

exaggerated... or is it?

*** SPOILERS *** this movie always seems very exaggerated, until i remember that mycollege campus had aformer-student-turned-Nazi-racist-killer-who-then-committed-suicide,too: his name was Benjamin Nathaniel Smith.look him up in the wikipedia- i added a few photos to their articleabout him.it's hard to believe, but this stuff really does happen.i'm not a big fan of Omar Epps or Ice Cube, but Larry Fishburne, KristySwanson, Jennifer Connelly & Mike Rappaport were good.

generationofswine 2012-05-08 12:20:42

The inspiration for PCU

I won't argue with the fact that this is a great movie about racialtension, but I will argue with the fact that the Black Panthers areportrayed as better or more sympathetically than the Skinheads. Anyonethat argues different is a victim of a false liberal bias. The fact is,for those of you who watch Higher Learning with an open mind to thefacts of life, both sides of the conflict are portrayed as equallyrepugnant. Higher Learning makes a serious effort to take no sides inits portrayal of racism in America and it is an effort that pays off inspades. It is a solid piece of honest cinema and one with a validpoint. Although, the film could have done without a half-hearted homageto the UT Austin tragedy. A movie of this caliber should have had amore original ending.

2012-05-03 07:26:29

everyone must see this to be AWARE of such injustices

I had no idea how powerful this movie was going to be for me. Of all the issues this film touched on, the injustices done to the African-Americans was very eye-opening to me. Coming from my perspective as a white college-age female, I had never considered that things went on such as in the movie. The injustice done especially by the campus security officers angered me so much because the movie was so real. After watching it I had a strange feeling inside and a strong urge to make everything better.. in the movie, there was no real closure to the situation but of course there is no definate solution. People are not going to change and the world will always be unfair in some ways and that's why the movie is very realistic. I feel strongly that this movie should be required in some way, maybe in college or something but the issues are such important ones that are overlooked by society and I think it would help if everyone could see this movie because it's very powerful and eye-opening. What I got from it was that I can't change people and can't work miracles, but being aware of things myself is what I can do, and I myself can change.

CJF 2012-05-03 07:05:41

Saved at the final hurdle

It seems like in this film that the Skinheads are idiots, the black menareidiots, and the police are idiots. The only semi-intelligent people arethewomen! True to life? I'll leave you to decide, but as much as I feltthatthe black men were made out to be the victims all the time, in certainscenes they too came off as morons. This film was a bunch of stereotypesstrung together, and I'm so glad that I'm not American if that's whatAmericans are like. I don't believe that they are though. The very endofthe film (I won't spoil it.....the bit which comes up on the screen) istheonly positive thing I took from this movie. It's a perfectending.

2012-05-01 02:19:55

Higher Learning....A Disappointment or Educational Message?

Ok, so we got the picture, racism, rape, homosexuality, basically ignorance in society. However, some of the issues were either too cliche' or should have been edited out. The lesbian relationship or lack thereof was way too A-B-C, the rape was obviously not emotionally constructed in certain points and then too emotionally constructed in others, the racial controversy was the same way. At a certain point in the movie which just seems to bounce from storyline to storyline; you just want to close your eyes and wish the credits were rolling...Sorry John but this one is one in which just didn't go in depth as I thought it would. There should have been more passion in this movie and I just didn't feel it...

2012-04-30 12:37:23

This pic is perfect for modern society.

I cried when i watched this movie it is sad and true. I think it is frightening in the faact the the shocking truth is this movie depicts how so many people are today.

bob the moo 2012-04-29 15:43:05

A muddled mix of stereotypes and paper thin characters in a filmthat mistakenly thinks it is deep and insightful

Columbus University is one of the finest in America. Into this place ofhigher learning comes a mix of students to join the already multiculturalpot. Malik is a black track star who feels he is disadvantaged as he hastorun and study, while others only have to run. Remy is a white teenagerwhois forced out of his dorm by his black roommate and finds friendship in anextreme group. Kristen is a young female who struggles to make friendsandis assaulted by a man before falling in with a women's group. Theirexperiences intertwine in the small campus.If anyone wonders why director John Singleton (he of Boyz n' the Hood) isnow making things like 2Fast2Furious, this is as good a place to startlooking as anywhere. After an assured start with Boyz, the director madeacouple of films that had potential but just came out muddled or lackingsomething to make them work. Poetic Justice was one of them and this wasanother. Higher Learning had potential and you can see that it's heart isin the right place but it doesn't come off at all. The plot tries to be amix of experiences but, because there are three or so characters up front,there is no time to develop them so their experiences are broad culturalbrush strokes - the white kid sucked into extremism, the raped girl takeninto lesbianism, the black man who has to work harder foreverything.As a result the plot never really engages and it all just goes where youexpect it to go - and is less impacting as a result of it's ploddingnature.This spills over into the characters too - they are all pretty muchstereotypes that fit into their scenario rather than real characters.Singleton shows is bias in his direction and character selection. My wifesaid something about me watching a lot of `black' films in the past weekandI said Higher Learning was not dominated by any one race - but I think Iwaswrong. Singleton clearly likes the characters played by Busta Rhymes, IceCube and Epps - they are cool and put upon where other characters (races)have fewer kind touches placed on them. Personally I thought everycharacter had huge chips on their shoulders about their identity - but theAfrican American characters are the only ones that are held up for praiseinrelation to their chips!Having said that I did think Epps did OK - he made a lifeless character alittle more interesting. Banks however is as one dimensional as I havegrown to expect from her. Rapaport looks very young indeed but he doeswell. His character is lazily drawn and developed, but he manages to makehim a little human - which took work looking at the film as a finishedproduct. Swanson is too dippy and light - but then all the lesbiancharacters seem to be painted in a weird sort of light. Ice Cube andBustaRhymes give extended cameos which require them to deliver their rappersonasof thugz - they are laughably clichéd! Fishburne adds gravitas as healwaysdoes, but he has little to do and is given not only a poor accent, butalsosome `deep' dialogue that just sounds pretentious or like a fortunecookie.Overall I saw what this film was trying to do but it didn't manage it. Itwas ambitious, but the wide spread meant that none of the plots orcharacters were allowed to develop and instead were left as hollow, broadstereotypes and scenarios. The film tries to go all deep and the finalshotof the word `unlearn' against an American flag just feels like Singletonmust have thought that he had been making incredibly profound points thewhole time - instead it felt that his original idea had had a deeperpoint,but it was totally lost in delivery.

2012-04-29 06:36:54

Higher Learning

This is the tragic tale of a group of high school students, that have been seperated by their beliefs and feelings. Excellent directing and acting from pro's such as Swanson, fishburne and John Singleton as the director make this film seem so close to reality. I saw it on Television but was still captivated by it's realistic style.

2012-04-26 18:43:18

I thought it was a realistic portrayal of modern society!

I really enjoyed this movie. It touched on the aspects of race and diversity on a college campus. unfortunately we live in a segregated world and so this movie portrays reality. My favorite character was tyra Banks because she restrained her frustations and fought back with her mental intellect. This movie not only addressed black/ white discrimination but also lesbian affairs. I really liked this film and I thought it was well put together. It's a sad thing that we see race as a separation factor. There should be no talk of white/black division, rather we should all work together and realize that we are part of the same race.... the human race.

Glacier571-3 2012-04-26 09:48:11

Singleton's insolent "Higher Learning" is dumbed down by kindergarten-level plot

Higher Learning (1995): This prejudiced and sanctimonious film, directed byJohn Singleton, focuses on the trials and tribulations of several collegestudents (Kristy Swanson, Omar Epps, and Michael Rapaport) who attendfictitious Columbus University. Ice Cube gives a shameless performance as astudent who serves no purpose to the story other than to smoke pot andconstantly whine about campus security and the school's racial tensionswhile not preaching to Epps about reading to "feed your brain," despite thefact he's been stuck at Columbus for over four years. Laurence Fishburnehasa pretentious role as a philosophy-spouting professor. A gratuitous rapescene is couched in with several unnecessary subplots, among themlesbianismand Nazi skinheads, all leading to a ridiculous, overwrought ending. Themessage in this hypocritical "social commentary" appears to be that anyraceoutside of African-American is inferior. Only Epps' and Swanson'sperformances prevent this from being a total disaster. 3/10

joseph eastmond 2012-04-25 04:58:09

Highest Marks!

A story that every twist and turn keeps you wanting more, and until each and every last moment is seen, the movie just blasts another suprise at you. With "Singletons'" film, you enjoy the movie cause the story keeps you intuned with all the racism, sexism, social blinder of college this film is a must see for anyone who has went to college where a shooting happened, or if they care for the reasons why sometimes that might happened.

labyrinth640 2012-04-25 01:41:31

what is some people's problem???!!!

I loved this movie. You watch this film, and think, oh, college was neverlike this when I was in it. True, however, John Singlton likes to makefilmsthat many other directors can not make, thus because their imagination ofthings needs to focus on the basics in life. What excaly does that mean?Well, the story is based on one very hard and evil thing:racism. It's intheworld, and some people go around there lives, the word racist doesn't evencross their mind. Singlton just makes films that are gut wrenching, and heso does not fail with Higher Learning. There are three main characters:Malik, Remy, and Kristen. Malik, is played by Omar Epps, (love andbasketball), he's on the school's running team, and if he doesn't startpaying, he can say bye, bye, bye, to the team. Remy, is a shy person, hetries to make good grades, like a normal person. About halfway through thefilm, he falls in with a bunch of skin-heads, and they decide to get evenwith the school. Kristen, is played by Kristy Swanson (Buffy the VampireSlayer),and she ends up raped about 20-30 minutes into the film. Her roomate, whomis black, finds out, and they turn to her friends, including Ice Cube, andthey of course, find the guy, and try to beat the living crap out of him,only to be stopped by police on the campus. The whole film is not based onblack verses white, it takes a look into people, their fears, hopes, anddreams. Kristen goes to a support group, run by a girl named Taryn(JenniferConnelly), whom finds herself, uh, attracted to Kristen. The story finallyends in a bang litterally above all great film great story great endingnineout of ten stars one of Singltons best do not miss the terrific film