Splitsider

"Guys, I've got it. You know how we've been wondering whether it would be too strange to make a sequel to Twins, the 1988 comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito as experimentally conceived brothers? You know, since no one remembers that movie and Arnold hasn't done a movie since Terminator 3? Well, try this on for size: let's throw in a once-majorly-respected comedian who just did perhaps the worst movie of his career as the THIRD BROTHER. Is it just me, or did everything about this project suddenly fall perfectly into place?"

Eddie Murphy might finally be making good on that whole "I'm not gonna do dumb family movies anymore. Except for this one. (Also I'm hosting the Oscars, except that I'm not)" thing. He's going for a serious role this time, signing on to play disgraced former D.C. mayor Marion Barry in Spike Lee's biopic in development for HBO Films. Murphy hasn't had a big dramatic role in…ever, unless you count Dreamgirls, so this should be cool, especially if you're into smoking crack with prostitutes. I mean, watching movies about smoking crack with prostitutes. Right.

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. Eddie. This is the trailer for your new movie? Her? I thought you weren't going to do this stuff anymore! This movie is about a smooth-talking guy who discovers that for every word he says, a leaf falls off a certain tree, and when all the leaves are gone he will DIE. It's a textbook ten-years-too-late specimen of the "magical thing happens and teaches dickish protagonist a lesson" comedy (Bruce Almighty, Liar Liar, Yes Man, Shallow Hal). But with the plot mechanics stolen from Beauty and the Beast and then made more boring. On the microscopic bright side, it features Clark Duke doing an [...]

Following (completely rightful) outrage over his comment that "rehearsal's for fags," Brett Ratner announced this morning that he's resigned from producing the Academy Awards. So…is Eddie Murphy still gonna host, then? He's said in interviews that Ratner brought him in while they were working together on Tower Heist, but it remains to be seen whether he'll stick with the job. Either way, with Ratner out we'll truly never know if this dialogue would've happened.

Eddie Murphy was once the biggest name in comedy. In the 1980s, because of his four-season stint on Saturday Night Live and films like 48 Hrs., Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, and Coming to America, he was the householdiest of household names, the man with the Golden Laugh (I want it as my ringtone) and the quickest wit. He made an all-red leather suit cool and brought Buckwheat back to the public lexicon, 40 years after he made his last Little Rascals appearance.

Now, however, and to a whole new generation, Murphy is known as Donkey, or Pluto Nash, or Norbit, or Dr. Doolittle, or Meet Dave, or [...]

16 years ago last Friday, comedian Charlie Barnett's life was cut tragically short, the ends to a drug and doubt-fueled means that had reduced one of the most naturally gifted performers of a generation to an AIDS-stricken, debt-ridden smack addict.

Yet in spite of the sordid details of his demise, it is his Barnett's talent, fearlessness, and generosity — to his audience, his disciples, and his craft — which carry his legacy.

* * *

It took the Village to raise Charlie Barnett.

Born in 1954 to an alcoholic mother and mentally ill father, he lived with his grandmother in the coal mining town of Bluefield, West Virginia [...]

In the days leading up to the release of Tower Heist, one of the many, many stories I read about Eddie Murphy stated that from roughly 1982-1986, the actor had the greatest five-year stretch of any comedian, ever. The writer was including not only his gig as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, but also his stand-up routine and his films. That got me wondering whether, in fact, Murphy did have the best half-decade of all-time, with one exception: to only include movies. So, I looked at the filmography of every lauded, respected, and hilarious comedian (and I chose only people who we’d think of as comedians first, [...]

Producer/haircut Brian Grazer has stepped in to replace bearded bro-child Brett Ratner as producer of the Oscars. Ratner had stepped down from the job after speaking the way he normally speaks to friends about gay people and women, but this time did it in front of cameras and microphones. Duh, Brett! That's basic PR stuff: always pretend to not be as gross as you are when microphones are around.

Yesterday, Eddie Murphy also dropped out of hosting the awards, although Grazer is reportedly trying hard to get him back on board. Ratner directed Murphy in Tower Heist, a movie Grazer produced. Whatever happens, we've just [...]

Eddie Murphy made his return to 30 Rock after 25 years last night on Fallon. He talks about the time he hosted SNL while still a cast member (turns out the rest of the cast did not appreciate his saying "Live from New York, it's The Eddie Murphy Show!"), and the challenges of being typecast before the Internet. Plus, Jimmy Fallon basically reads a list of legendary Murphy sketches and geeks out over each of them. Parts two and three below, including James Brown's financial advice and whether Murphy will wear a leather suit to the Oscars.

Tower Heist might be kind of plot-heavy and toothless, but it sure is stylish! The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy called it "snappy, well cast and streetwise in a well-upholstered New York sort of way." Plus, "Murphy hasn't been this funny since Beverly Hills Cop, the first edition," according to Betsey Sharkey of the LA Times.

If you're hoping for some Occupy Wall Street-type political or economic statement, though, you're probably in the wrong theater. The New Yorker's Anthony Lane says the film "passes the buck" on any real issues, and its unrealistic plot demonstrates a "refusal of all known logic." A.O. Scott from The New [...]