NICK NOLTE TAKES EDDIE MURPHY FOR WALTER HILL'S '48 HRS.'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ev3qTYug4RyfGeI_p3tuCwu-UgXiGQSbBH9gBFyi1_gFTC04yYYazozFX2LX5bYYyFQdhzAQMR_DDVOBs2H6fCO4QF76sQ3NpYJPh3RNVs5eY55aVYJIy5v4BsL9sB7vjxt_UvC9IMq8vVn2YWwnOB70dkoD_MXBS5kkn3K5yMCA18PIeeLR9sIMUufN/s2248/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-22%20at%202.42.43%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1188" data-original-width="2248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ev3qTYug4RyfGeI_p3tuCwu-UgXiGQSbBH9gBFyi1_gFTC04yYYazozFX2LX5bYYyFQdhzAQMR_DDVOBs2H6fCO4QF76sQ3NpYJPh3RNVs5eY55aVYJIy5v4BsL9sB7vjxt_UvC9IMq8vVn2YWwnOB70dkoD_MXBS5kkn3K5yMCA18PIeeLR9sIMUufN/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-22%20at%202.42.43%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 HRS Year: 1982 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Following <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/09/HTIMES.html">HARD TIMES</a>, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/06/DRIVER.html">THE DRIVER</a>, THE WARRIORS, THE LONG RIDERS and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/10/walter-hills-weekend-warriors-trapped.html">SOUTHERN COMFORT</a>, most forget that 48 HRS was the peak of high-octane director Walter Hill's career, especially with the iconic novelty of being SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE breakout Eddie Murphy's first motion picture, more than proving his worth and successfully continuing with <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2023/11/TP.html">TRADING PLACES</a> and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2024/06/bhc.html">BEVERLY HILLS COP</a>...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But the real star is first-billed Nick Notle, whose gruff San Fransisco cop Jack Cates is the kind of flawed/ragged anti-hero that could've led his very own edgy cop thriller, making Murphy's Reggie Hammond... allowed the titular two-days to help find his former prison-breaking partner-in-crime... an essential bonus in what's already a terrific ride: perfectly combining action, drama and comedy...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

annette o'toole, brion james, buddy, cop, david patrick kelly, eddie murphy, eighties, greta blackburn, james remar, nick nolte, sonny landham, walter hill

NICK NOLTE TAKES EDDIE MURPHY FOR WALTER HILL'S '48 HRS.'

Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 HRS Year: 1982 Rating: ****1/2 Following HARD TIMES , THE DRIVER , THE WARRIORS, THE LONG RIDERS and SOUTH...

DAN AYKROYD & EDDIE MURPHY 'TRADING PLACES' FOR JOHN LANDIS

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6D6VAHhFibRNSnu7iv4_cWDfpRiR6IcFoHPWlRivkknplz8JQmA90ANZhvE1quZm0nteyKSo-uXvRfi4_CibixWr6LCDxCPIQfK6OHGM9BtM4gJQ4sAUCfeljBJSD8e5qxZlvihKHruPxBH-gHRCGXTfPYtw-aWtdQu7IX8AS7KB0RJLvhAmev8Jj-c5E/s2012/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-24%20at%203.18.20%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="988" data-original-width="2012" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6D6VAHhFibRNSnu7iv4_cWDfpRiR6IcFoHPWlRivkknplz8JQmA90ANZhvE1quZm0nteyKSo-uXvRfi4_CibixWr6LCDxCPIQfK6OHGM9BtM4gJQ4sAUCfeljBJSD8e5qxZlvihKHruPxBH-gHRCGXTfPYtw-aWtdQu7IX8AS7KB0RJLvhAmev8Jj-c5E/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-24%20at%203.18.20%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u> Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy in TRADING PLACES Year: 1983 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The comedy classic TRADING PLACES was an extremely important vehicle for both leading actors <i>and</i> director John Landis since Dan Aykroyd, after the death of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and three-picture-partner John Belushi, got a chance to pull-off a multi-layer character with Wall Street to Skid Row businessman Louis Winthorpe while the then-current SNL breakthrough Eddie Murphy was paving his own way... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Having succeeded with a semi-dramatic turn in Walter Hill's 48 HRS, his brash, foul-mouthed and fast-talking, street-smart humor now translated into what's possibly Landis's greatest mainstream venture, ironically released sixteen-days before the infamously tragic TWILIGHT ZONE movie...  </p><span></span>

comedy, dan aykroyd, denholm elliott, dom ameche, eddie murphy, jamie lee curtis, john bedford lloyd, john landis, nicholas guest, prostitute, ralph bellamy, wall street

DAN AYKROYD & EDDIE MURPHY 'TRADING PLACES' FOR JOHN LANDIS

Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy in TRADING PLACES Year: 1983 Rating: ****1/2 The comedy classic TRADING PLACES was an extremely important vehi...

EDDIE MURPHY AND MARTIN LAWRENCE SERVE TED DEMME'S 'LIFE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-6zFbBPQP6_detFxY5JNYSYxIYHbqmoZnLCymkqb2FRziWjeFtMB9RlSOQvMdnktjiMCyrJGfgqYTUXRL_m6fUgg15zWivbmZUOIKp82Iw5EbWMiLv9PicM_cihMem_-e8koqNDnzYa5mTNh7MMFSoUg-JmqxJxeutEtfLAnsbyc7-oeXYLTzqyArRIn/s1632/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-21%20at%2012.13.59%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="1632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-6zFbBPQP6_detFxY5JNYSYxIYHbqmoZnLCymkqb2FRziWjeFtMB9RlSOQvMdnktjiMCyrJGfgqYTUXRL_m6fUgg15zWivbmZUOIKp82Iw5EbWMiLv9PicM_cihMem_-e8koqNDnzYa5mTNh7MMFSoUg-JmqxJxeutEtfLAnsbyc7-oeXYLTzqyArRIn/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-21%20at%2012.13.59%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence in LIFE Year: 1999 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Eddie Murphy's final classic being COMING TO AMERICA is half true: it's his last quality vehicle that made a lot of money when in reality, the box-office disappointment LIFE has Murphy really proving himself within a quality central plot that, like his breakthrough 48 HRS., involves crime, prison, mixes comedy with drama and provides the SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE star an equal partner... there in Nick Nolte, and here in Martin Lawrence...<br><br>Who Murphy was as much a standup comedy-mentor as Richard Pryor was to Murphy... the latter having starred in HARLEM NIGHTS that, like LIFE, takes place during the Depression-era... and one of the best moments includes what seems a homage to the Murphy-directed misfire when, trapped in the fence-less, gun-surrounding, rural-southern chain-gang workcamp, he and the entire group of eclectic underdog prisoners (all intriguing despite befitting every prison-flick trope from STIR CRAZY to SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) dream of partying in Murphy's would-be nightclub... a one-minute fantasy-sequence more entertaining than the entire NIGHTS...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

comedy, depression-era, drama, eddie murphy, martin lawrence, ned beatty, nick cassavetes, nineties, prison, r. lee ermey, ted demme

EDDIE MURPHY AND MARTIN LAWRENCE SERVE TED DEMME'S 'LIFE'

Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence in LIFE Year: 1999 Rating: **** Eddie Murphy's final classic being COMING TO AMERICA is half true: it...

EDDIE MURPHY RETURNS FOR NETFLIX'S 'BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvnJqRG52UbPmbO2aHYbcUJWaq6u_y_4vuZPpvbJ7msbgm0EV8WeddCzVq0_DgMsVWOTaX2hlY1otJcmUOYZLahXn_c2kQ_NR77MWhIzUdhTU_nFYRnF3bEfAjr255_NW0TGhTRiqAR4puRlX11gNmW5IBnA0pKM3iscdaDkmghqNlrkhtQ3Qar_uWB_Z/s2144/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-03%20at%203.57.28%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="2144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvnJqRG52UbPmbO2aHYbcUJWaq6u_y_4vuZPpvbJ7msbgm0EV8WeddCzVq0_DgMsVWOTaX2hlY1otJcmUOYZLahXn_c2kQ_NR77MWhIzUdhTU_nFYRnF3bEfAjr255_NW0TGhTRiqAR4puRlX11gNmW5IBnA0pKM3iscdaDkmghqNlrkhtQ3Qar_uWB_Z/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-03%20at%203.57.28%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Beverly Hills Cop: Axl F from 2024 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Between a fan-service opening where Axel Foley winds up in a truck chase through Detroit, like the original... only orchestrated with the second movie's song and with <i>him</i> behind the wheel this time... and vignettes with Eddie Murphy doing various imitations to trick people within the comparably soft and gullible Beverly Hills... he's hanging around his idealistic lawyer daughter (Taylour Page), so severely uptight and painfully miscast it's never quite clear if BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F is the pilot for a Netflix series or a stand-alone feature...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Because there's no real character or story-arc to fit within an effective 2-hour mainframe while Murphy, no matter how hard he tries to be funny with those cute little voices, simply cannot play off this new smug sidekick the way he did Judge Reinhold and John Ashton... both seeming thrown in here at the last minute... who were his polar opposites, dead set against before inevitably joining into the original classic's infectiously entertaining revenge-plot misadventure — that should have been left alone in the first place.</p><span></span>

2024, action, comedy, eddie murphy, franchise, john ashton, joseph gordon-levitt, judge reinhold, kevin bacon, netflix, new, sequel

EDDIE MURPHY RETURNS FOR NETFLIX'S 'BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F'

Title: Beverly Hills Cop: Axl F from 2024 Rating: ** Between a fan-service opening where Axel Foley winds up in a truck chase through Detroi...

EDDIE MURPHY LEADS THE ACTION/COMEDY 'BEVERLY HILLS COP'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiflnzmpkDCNle3iGzpb3e-c9gfa0b-SOhnhjJAgAWwwsQBcKgmtOC_4YzyAfJxvkrlUEMcpHI8HxYA_kaIxCUcUkHHjUWYmE0VUZt2-gMyaQ_HyFnfb_xsI3Jvsim36srPjKY7Z5gmgzS6x7iWwyljpB-phZUkDZjX9DDD9lzGA5qmfyVYBYl8Uu-5-Kh5/s2062/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-28%20at%2010.59.05%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="2062" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiflnzmpkDCNle3iGzpb3e-c9gfa0b-SOhnhjJAgAWwwsQBcKgmtOC_4YzyAfJxvkrlUEMcpHI8HxYA_kaIxCUcUkHHjUWYmE0VUZt2-gMyaQ_HyFnfb_xsI3Jvsim36srPjKY7Z5gmgzS6x7iWwyljpB-phZUkDZjX9DDD9lzGA5qmfyVYBYl8Uu-5-Kh5/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-28%20at%2010.59.05%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Eddie Murphy in BEVERLY HILLS COP Year: 1984 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Eddie Murphy had one of the greatest trifectas in the history of hot young stars: while the breakout favorite of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, he co-starred opposite Nick Nolte in Walter Hill's action flick with comedy 48 HRS; then against Dan Aykroyd in John Landis's straight-out comedy <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2023/11/TP.html">TRADING PLACES</a>; followed by his first solo starring role in BEVERLY HILLS COP, both a full-blown comedy and deadly serious action flick... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The latter because his buddy's brutal death by Jonathan Banks is as grim as things get, leading Murphy's cocky yet misadventurous Detroit cop Axl Foley into Beverly Hills, California, where the contrast between the black former street kid and the plastic rich white man's land provides a sublime template for an edgy yet affable Murphy...<br></p>

action, bronson pinchot, comedy, cop, eddie murphy, eighties, frank pesce, john ashton, jonathan banks, judge reinhold, Lisa Eilbacher, martin brest, ronny cox, stephen elliott, steven berkoff

EDDIE MURPHY LEADS THE ACTION/COMEDY 'BEVERLY HILLS COP'

Eddie Murphy in BEVERLY HILLS COP Year: 1984 Rating: ****1/2 Eddie Murphy had one of the greatest trifectas in the history of hot young star...

EDDIE MURPHY 'COMING 2 AMERICA' (BACKPOSTED FROM 3/5/2021)

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32mM5rXOXw8VwAiZpfskDvgRjMX28l5rY3rlgCziyvuzvpJCW8pxR0wt9zRTrAQME5j-XAnVfaxYgAo0FQwzBd5PuV7wEKdL2c6WZK9JLwOLXxiH192L3vczznaCuyVfauTPyjsY9rh83/s1313/Screen+Shot+2021-03-05+at+10.48.20+PM+2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1313" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32mM5rXOXw8VwAiZpfskDvgRjMX28l5rY3rlgCziyvuzvpJCW8pxR0wt9zRTrAQME5j-XAnVfaxYgAo0FQwzBd5PuV7wEKdL2c6WZK9JLwOLXxiH192L3vczznaCuyVfauTPyjsY9rh83/w400-h300/Screen+Shot+2021-03-05+at+10.48.20+PM+2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>COMING 2 AMERICA Year: 2021 Rating: *1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The original COMING TO AMERICA was no accident. It took experienced filmmaker John Landis to pull off what he did for THE BLUES BROTHERS, which came out before working with Eddie Murphy in TRADING PLACES: That is, blending music into comedy without it being a musical-comedy, and very few directors could pull that off, and this sequel is proof... they still can't.<br /><br />It's understandable that the semi-retired Landis isn't on board, but in trying to recreate that same magic originally sparked by the collaboration of Landis and Murphy with only an older, overweight Murphy just doesn't feel or look right... </p><p>The biggest problem is his "bastard son" from Queens, Jermaine Fowler, with a loud, annoying mother. Then again, their Bad Sit-Com rhythm fits this contrived sequel more than the once-great Murphy, again alongside sidekick Arsenio Hall, who, like the other familiar faces, is going through the motions. The only new characters that kind of work, allowing Fowler's "young Prince" to stretch beyond the intentionally recycled plot, is KiKi Layne as his half-sister, reluctantly aiding in a semi-involving, dangerous task... And Nomzamo Mbatha as his royal hair-cutter and basically the new version of Sheri Headly: a free-thinking bride to change the age-old rules. Unfortunately, this love story is far too rushed to matter, inserted into the 11th hour what took the entire original movie to pan-out more naturally, and humorously. <br /></p><p></p>

2021, arsenio hall, comedy, eddie murphy, john amos, new, sequel, shari headley

EDDIE MURPHY 'COMING 2 AMERICA' (BACKPOSTED FROM 3/5/2021)

COMING 2 AMERICA Year: 2021 Rating: *1/2 The original COMING TO AMERICA was no accident. It took experienced filmmaker John Landis to pull o...

FIRST CAUGHT-ON-CABLE TRIO OF NUMBER TWOS: COPS & APES

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABFcFqV3qFHPhZnpXI0YZzmrwmFYk8_nsNL1wv1S3BUjnYDHkkS896I4f829V48YyCcWUkvLODoRkk9SOqOBIyUKBlm4b82A7ZW7KlFmKlpp2bihx607Z3WYx5ZQRmLUJo0UrHObMU_A/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABFcFqV3qFHPhZnpXI0YZzmrwmFYk8_nsNL1wv1S3BUjnYDHkkS896I4f829V48YyCcWUkvLODoRkk9SOqOBIyUKBlm4b82A7ZW7KlFmKlpp2bihx607Z3WYx5ZQRmLUJo0UrHObMU_A/s1600/1.png" width="223" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1987 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>BEVERLY HILLS COP 2:</b> First sequel to Martin Brest's popular BEVERLY HILLS COP has Axel Foley returning to the plush So Cal playground from his gritty Detroit mainline. <b>DRIVE: </b>Again it’s personal, although not as severe… Ronny Cox’s Beverly Hills police chief is shot and almost killed by a gang of ruthless thugs who, working from a private gun club, cause high stake havoc. <b>HIGHS:</b> Wherein the first movie relied on Murphy’s resilient wit to get him in and out of situations by pretending to be someone else (like Chevy Chase in the following year’s FLETCH, also scored by Harold Faltermeyer), this time Axel is, for the most part, an intense rogue. Teamed with director Tony Scott, BEVERLY HILLS COP GUN is really an action flick with explosions and gunfights over laughs. And the villains are worthy to be sought and killed, including an Amazon woman and two surly creeps.<b> LOWS:</b> Several parts attempt humor but they’re simply… not that funny. Axel’s ruses are too complicated and farfetched. Judge Reinhold’s transition from the naïve Billy Rosewood into a gun freak infatuated with Rambo... Stallone was original cast in the first movie... is  downright awkward. Older grouchy partner John Ashton doesn’t have much to do this time but react to an extremely dated joke about dressing like Gerald Ford. And Paul Reiser's sarcastic Detroit detective has way too much screen time. <b>CLOSURE: </b>This second of three Axel Foley flicks works pretty well thanks to Tony Scott’s edgy high octane makeover. Perhaps this is what the Stallone BEVERLY HILLS COP would have been more like. <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6tJB0N89WjEVF2KAhAxv3ohzoqVxmsEvZln8hrohj1CP9F7TAnS6u-Jx9bqv1fzTZatgAZ2V62Qw__oyxGYxVM9gZzn_RB3LwmvjejD-7ODPIOOE-CqAJoz7WSUdAmwpUoLy4JPacvs/s1600/3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6tJB0N89WjEVF2KAhAxv3ohzoqVxmsEvZln8hrohj1CP9F7TAnS6u-Jx9bqv1fzTZatgAZ2V62Qw__oyxGYxVM9gZzn_RB3LwmvjejD-7ODPIOOE-CqAJoz7WSUdAmwpUoLy4JPacvs/s1600/3.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1993 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <b>ANOTHER STAKOUT:</b> Follow-up to John Badham’s STAKEOUT where Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez played Seattle cops who specialize in… take a wild guess. Rosie O’Donnell is added to the cast, giving the boys a partner who views their quirks that the audience enjoyed the first time around, and now we get everything spoon fed through her eyes. <b>DRIVE: </b>Richard and Rosie pose as a married couple with a mustache-less Emilio as their son, holed up in a mountain home next door to marrieds Dennis Farina and Marcia Strassman, who might know something about an escaped witness. <b>HIGHS: </b>This witness, played by RAGING BULL starlet Cathy Moriarty, is part of a suspenseful prologue seeming part of something more… serious, like the first film. We're introduced to worthy villain Miguel Ferrer... both intense characters are shown sporadically, resulting in a standard chase at the end where Dreyfuss becomes action hero and Badham, returned as director, is more in his element. <b>LOWS:</b> Too many to count, but the trio actually has decent chemistry despite the forced humor, which is not altogether Rosie’s fault… Richard Dreyfuss seems like he’s playing silly for a kindergarten class at times, and Estevez often acts like he’s just learned how. Meanwhile, Rosie tries too hard to compete with the boys – this can be said for both the actress and character. And Madeline Stowe literally phones in her useless appearances. <b>CLOSURE:</b> Plays out like the TV Movie for a STAKEOUT series, which would have surely been cancelled after this "pilot episode."   <br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8yd6lEe-wxOrrEcecwRPKDx73qIXsfU6kkmSsEchzpYw0CqBXoGTfkB2Ox-WY2gwlJYuGJ51wMzPZSqcweytMdkpd08vHxueeeICfGSGDhFoD9dt2OiVImCaVVKe3fVPzIhFuDA6G8yc/s1600/2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8yd6lEe-wxOrrEcecwRPKDx73qIXsfU6kkmSsEchzpYw0CqBXoGTfkB2Ox-WY2gwlJYuGJ51wMzPZSqcweytMdkpd08vHxueeeICfGSGDhFoD9dt2OiVImCaVVKe3fVPzIhFuDA6G8yc/s1600/2.jpg" width="163" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1970 rating: *1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>BENEATH PLANET OF THE APES: </b>The second of five of the original PLANET OF THE APES flicks. <b>DRIVE:</b> The restless gorillas are poised for war against a lurking danger in the Forbidden Zone, where a returning Chuck Heston rides with his sexy Jane in the form of Linda Harrison’s human hottie, Nova. <b>HIGHS:</b> Anytime we center on the restless army led by the nefarious General Urko played by Jeff Corey, and an intense James Franciscus is the new astronaut replacing Heston as new kid in town, and his mission is to find the missing American hero… But he hardly bonds with the friendly peace-seeking chimps (no Roddy McDowell, only Kim Hunter), and the ape’s story is merely peripheral to… <b>LOWS:</b> Possibly the worst antagonists in science-fiction history within an underground compound where a group of mutants worship an atomic bomb, a political agenda worn so brightly on the sleeve it becomes the entire costume, and this is no party. <b>CLOSURE:</b> Thankfully in the third and best outing, ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, the finale of this horrendous sequel is, ala time travel, completely abandoned.  

bagful, eddie murphy, eighties, emilio estevez, franchise, judge reinhold, nineties, richard dreyfuss, sequel, seventies

FIRST CAUGHT-ON-CABLE TRIO OF NUMBER TWOS: COPS & APES

1987 rating: *** BEVERLY HILLS COP 2: First sequel to Martin Brest's popular BEVERLY HILLS COP has Axel Foley returning to the plus...

DUDLEY MOORE IN 'BEST DEFENSE' FEATURING EDDIE MURPHY

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2vQqK3s0Eb6ymFn8PAvNO9WIG75qQmvAfs7Sas8BcA0Bycft2kevi4LbPwI5csEbnQuY9JtOzTnuvmWR0ottAVU9hqgD05VIbQKZ5EzkLdON11MM1Tds3jImEr88nyQedc-_O4Yu8fk/s1600/photo-119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2vQqK3s0Eb6ymFn8PAvNO9WIG75qQmvAfs7Sas8BcA0Bycft2kevi4LbPwI5csEbnQuY9JtOzTnuvmWR0ottAVU9hqgD05VIbQKZ5EzkLdON11MM1Tds3jImEr88nyQedc-_O4Yu8fk/s1600/photo-119.JPG" width="194" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Great Book, actually... SCORE: **</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Starting with 48 HRS and following up with TRADING PLACES and then peaking with BEVERLY HILLS COP, Eddie Murphy was not only the man of the hour, he was the hour… A standout hero of the second incarnation of Saturday Night Live, the initial “Eddie Cinema Trilogy” covered a lot of ground, making the edgy black comic downright unbreakable... But that’s only if you forget about his “Strategic Guest Star” turn in a movie that’s not even his own…<br /> <br /> BEST DEFENSE was a Dudley Moore vehicle directed and co-written by Willard Huyck and wife Gloria Katz, who attempted romantic magic abroad with FRENCH POSTCARDS after collaborating with George Lucas in the timelessly brilliant AMERICAN GRAFFITI, as well as the disappointing but highly successful INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM followed by the abysmal career-killing HOWARD THE DUCK. <br /> And here, their DEFENSE has an obscure literary origin, based on the novel EASY AND HARD WAYS OUT, written by Robert Grossbach, which, in this reviewers' opinion, surpasses even Richard Hooker’s MASH...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6G-RwE3mnbt91nzZLcDF7dBar-z-691M56IvVfm2gCiYhIRs9vNOHSRRTPF_se_HVonD_QRovzbJEgxAPsbhza0OCTrCH4DHGpFserAkF_nX9T2NfR1Bx45SRXCkiyEzcGzYm5qLkUgQ/s1600/51717GCM3SL._SY300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6G-RwE3mnbt91nzZLcDF7dBar-z-691M56IvVfm2gCiYhIRs9vNOHSRRTPF_se_HVonD_QRovzbJEgxAPsbhza0OCTrCH4DHGpFserAkF_nX9T2NfR1Bx45SRXCkiyEzcGzYm5qLkUgQ/s1600/51717GCM3SL._SY300_.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1984</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In the book, Eddie Murphy’s character was a jet fighter pilot in Vietnam, and here he’s a tank driver in, of all places, the desert of Kuwait… in 1984! His part takes place two years after the mainline, in which Dudley Moore’s unoriginal tech inventor Wylie Cooper works in a fledgling laboratory base in Seal Beach, California. He has to perfect a “gyro” targeting system that will guide the tank that Murphy’s Lt. Landry uses in the b-story…<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigcpn1KaOhihoHSG0e3IS9CXCN_c4fVl4TGkxHAQgC3joH2V-560z7RjQFKEjSvto5vPKEgbFQaFyA43GqN3oqEccU79izWEPVe0d_dTJL60IzVXNij2m6vqiCf11N1Ng6f9KqbnQ4m1g/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-09-19+at+11.26.34+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigcpn1KaOhihoHSG0e3IS9CXCN_c4fVl4TGkxHAQgC3joH2V-560z7RjQFKEjSvto5vPKEgbFQaFyA43GqN3oqEccU79izWEPVe0d_dTJL60IzVXNij2m6vqiCf11N1Ng6f9KqbnQ4m1g/s200/Screen+Shot+2016-09-19+at+11.26.34+PM.png" width="145" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Eddie between funny films</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Basically, if Moore can't get the gyro to work, then Murphy, rolling into hostile enemy territory, won't have a prayer. While Eddie's the comic relief, scenes where he and two Israeli klutzes goof off in the tank are painfully unfunny. And Moore tries his frantic "best," running around in a prolonged hotel/convention sequence, avoiding both a lethal assassin and the flirtatious advances of workmate Helen Shaver. Plus he’s got his hands on a secret “McGuffin” device that he’s taken credit for, and the bad guys want it... at all costs. <br /> <br /> Sounds confusing; and it is, somewhat. But worst of all, DEFENSE is a sloppy uneven mess that runs around in circles – attempting political satire and lightweight comedy while sloppily juggling a tacked-on Cold War sideline… And completely failing on all counts.

comedy, dudley moore, dustin hoffman, eddie murphy, eighties, warren beatty

DUDLEY MOORE IN 'BEST DEFENSE' FEATURING EDDIE MURPHY

Great Book, actually... SCORE: ** Starting with 48 HRS and following up with TRADING PLACES and then peaking with BEVERLY HILLS COP, Edd...

ROBERT DE NIRO AND EDDIE MURPHY TEAM IN 'SHOWTIME'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOReZ9tQCeA6v2RwBm2cp5D553XOfXjN3fRzXCtytlbF0n5X0ZtGhtD4O4xOAvwkoZvslqCz5PiX3dtt0OtfDPtmelp_gdeOD9tqPMCbnu2NUKYLl0MwuW_ONl5ZY876zHbSJcon9agDSA/s1600/320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOReZ9tQCeA6v2RwBm2cp5D553XOfXjN3fRzXCtytlbF0n5X0ZtGhtD4O4xOAvwkoZvslqCz5PiX3dtt0OtfDPtmelp_gdeOD9tqPMCbnu2NUKYLl0MwuW_ONl5ZY876zHbSJcon9agDSA/s400/320.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2000 cast: Robert DeNiro, Eddie Murphy,William Shatner score: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> It’s good cop, bad cop. The good cop takes his job serious. Robert De Niro’s Mitch Preston plays by the book and from the very beginning lets us know the difference between fictional fuzz and real ones. The bad cop isn’t crooked, he’s just not very… good as his job. And he’s a bad actor...<br /> <br /> Not Eddie Murphy – but his character Trey Sellers wants to be part of a popular reality series TUFF COPS and doesn’t have the acting chops to make the cut. Till he foils an important bust led by DeNiro's Preston, which is captured on the local news – and the reality show, headed by producer Rene Russo, sees a rising star in the gruff veteran cop.<br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH0ITK9uySljR2wBvVu2CdT2Q38wxaHYbu1VCU5CGsjRHs10UBFndmS9AoUD-v_u4sXVkAZpi4HpAp4O0b2N4Mu3J4zFXoi1zkrC50ffbRu3e45MxjCdbLaahKB94Dk4pKfJB24DVkmGve/s1600/e.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH0ITK9uySljR2wBvVu2CdT2Q38wxaHYbu1VCU5CGsjRHs10UBFndmS9AoUD-v_u4sXVkAZpi4HpAp4O0b2N4Mu3J4zFXoi1zkrC50ffbRu3e45MxjCdbLaahKB94Dk4pKfJB24DVkmGve/s320/e.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>DeNiro and Sam Jackson in JACKIE BROWN </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Long story short, the two opposites team up as part of the reality series and, like Murphy’s screen debut 48 HRS (or any buddy flick) they don’t get along at first. Till they move in on the main villain… a Spanish nightclub owner with a giant gun that can shoot through anything (including bulletproof vests)… and both eventually learn to trust each other...<br /> <br /> Which all sounds more cliché and banal than it actually is. Despite the déjà vu – we’ve seen this template a million times – SHOWTIME is surprisingly involving despite the fact it’s not drop on the floor funny like Murphy's older movies, and we all know De Niro deserves better. But the characters, if anything else, will keep you invested in the outcome <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5poHHVn0_bdfzoSQE4p-MutfLrqAF4UnsUpnJ_e58x1oohcLrEZ4uY-j8Isbf12bBcezaTn5wxU4Gnu59hKksCEU7BSDIiSBfMUrEGHpYnlrgRwETeAj2_WtOPvdtDPT1Kjn7A_-U8fgJ/s1600/48-hrs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5poHHVn0_bdfzoSQE4p-MutfLrqAF4UnsUpnJ_e58x1oohcLrEZ4uY-j8Isbf12bBcezaTn5wxU4Gnu59hKksCEU7BSDIiSBfMUrEGHpYnlrgRwETeAj2_WtOPvdtDPT1Kjn7A_-U8fgJ/s1600/48-hrs.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Eddie Murphy starts a career with Nick Nolte in 48 HRS</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

action, comedy, cop, eddie murphy, rene russo, robert deniro, team-up, william shatner, zeroes

ROBERT DE NIRO AND EDDIE MURPHY TEAM IN 'SHOWTIME'

year: 2000 cast: Robert DeNiro, Eddie Murphy,William Shatner score: *** It’s good cop, bad cop. The good cop takes his job serious. Ro...

A THOUSAND WORDS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNmBjKrQu1_ZMP8uUTDn2TayrbBqaf0ou53s0MojnzkIj-oCUBdaccNGK2TAiBIql6sVFsr2qfFxsVVfMFtuoJDGZsU55X4CLdPJEr0pckex5juf8p6oO2dk-7MFmteyBNYMprRSXMvWHf/s1600/eddie_murphy_thousand_words_a_l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNmBjKrQu1_ZMP8uUTDn2TayrbBqaf0ou53s0MojnzkIj-oCUBdaccNGK2TAiBIql6sVFsr2qfFxsVVfMFtuoJDGZsU55X4CLdPJEr0pckex5juf8p6oO2dk-7MFmteyBNYMprRSXMvWHf/s200/eddie_murphy_thousand_words_a_l.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He was so hilarious... long ago</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>title:</b> A THOUSAND WORDS<br /> <b>year: </b>2012<br /> <b>cast:</b> Eddie Murphy<br /> <b>rating:</b> *1/2<br /> <br /> Eddie Murphy’s back in form. Not to the grand days of TRADING PLACES and BEVERLY HILLS COP but the petrified 1990’s when he seemed to have lost his funny bone. Although the story is somewhat intriguing: a talkative, shallow agent acquires a tree where, with every word he speaks, a leaf falls – and he has only a thousand words until his inevitable death when the tree is bare. But this seems peripheral to Murphy’s annoying co-stars including a hen pecking wife and Clark Duke as Murphy’s personal assistant. Looking fifteen years old and trying way too hard for laughs, Duke makes particular scenes, where Murphy can’t speak in fear of losing all his leaves, not only unfunny but each drags on forever. One brief montage, as Murphy desperately attempts breaking the spell by becoming charitable, tries hard to revive the plot device yet nothing, including frantic attempts to mime each word, really works. Although a doomed Murphy displays worthy acting as he runs out of time and makes amends. But by the very end you’ll want to quickly<i> leave</i> the theater.

2012, comedy, eddie murphy

A THOUSAND WORDS

He was so hilarious... long ago title: A THOUSAND WORDS year: 2012 cast: Eddie Murphy rating: *1/2 Eddie Murphy’s back in form. ...

TOWER HEIST

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJK0XD4wEQdlp_ifU8YietU70hj_gZJxUBr68s-xUCG1QkC9nQxL1OxXB_tlL2HkAqq2Y5pWBNwkuehVj66AY5k4alosEXd0VgYfURmLtCf-DQA74wuyzKhhp7FMLGi_pDh1DiQUhLVX2D/s1600/Eddie-Murphy-and-Ben-Stiller-in-Tower-Heist-2011-Movie-Image-600x317.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671246896004527634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJK0XD4wEQdlp_ifU8YietU70hj_gZJxUBr68s-xUCG1QkC9nQxL1OxXB_tlL2HkAqq2Y5pWBNwkuehVj66AY5k4alosEXd0VgYfURmLtCf-DQA74wuyzKhhp7FMLGi_pDh1DiQUhLVX2D/s200/Eddie-Murphy-and-Ben-Stiller-in-Tower-Heist-2011-Movie-Image-600x317.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 112px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> TOWER HEIST<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Judd Hirsch<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>**1/2<br /><br />It’s tough not to feel for the employees of The Tower, a high rise harboring a crooked penthouse tycoon who’s swindled their pensions. And Ben Stiller, playing his usual likable everyman, gets caught in the middle – as the manager who suggested they invest in the first place. After getting fired for standing up to the Ponzi-scheming Arthur Shaw, played with cocky indifference by Alan Alda, Stiller decides to rob the penthouse suite along with Casey Affleck as a flaky concierge, Matthew Broderick as a whining has-been investor, Michael Pena as a sweet-natured elevator operator, and Eddie Murphy as Stiller’s convict neighbor called upon, thanks to his criminal record, to oversee the caper. On the surface it seems Murphy’s back to form, playing the jive-ass from his cinematic origins; but his frantic rants seem like a Reggie Hammond (48 HRS) and/or Billy Ray Valentine (TRADING PLACES) imitation more than an actual person. And the other characters, though partaking in a worthy cause, seem to have little motivation or risk. As a comedy, there aren’t many funny lines or moments; a large percentage of the film has our over-their-head heroes either planning, or executing, the heist while spouting pop trivia. And the heist itself happens much too breezily till a third-act twist catapults the plot to a new level. It’s here – when the mission seems (and is) thoroughly implausible – that the best moments occur, including nail-biting scenes that'll keep you on edge while the characters, who sort of slept-walked through the first half, become a team to root for.

ben stiller, caper, comedy, eddie murphy, ensemble, team-up, tens

TOWER HEIST

title: TOWER HEIST year: 2011 cast: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Judd Hirsch rating: **1/2 It’s tough not to feel ...