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KyleProhaska

KyleProhaska

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I don't understand. Why has Eddie Murphy been involved in all these crappy movies in the past 10 years. Does he just have a bad sense for what would sell? Or does he have a mindset that if they'll just pay him some millions to be part of garbage, he can buy another home? Its sad, he's got so much potential and let it sneak through in a lot of rolls but my goodness..........why these movies? WHY?
 
KyleProhaska said:
I don't understand. Why has Eddie Murphy been involved in all these crappy movies in the past 10 years. Does he just have a bad sense for what would sell? Or does he have a mindset that if they'll just pay him some millions to be part of garbage, he can buy another home? Its sad, he's got so much potential and let it sneak through in a lot of rolls but my goodness..........why these movies? WHY?
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With Eddie Murphy movies, you never know. Sometimes they are crap, but end up making 100 million at the box office. His career is strange one. He can act and has made many classics, yet, just dove head first into some really bad movies, Metro, Holy Man, Pluto Nash, BHCIII (one of the worst of all time). But then You have: Coming to America, BHC 1 and 2, Trading Places, The nutty Professor, 48 Hours, he did his thing in Dreamgirls as well. I saw him on ET yesterday and he said he will make movies for 2 more years and go back to Stand up. now that might be funny.
 
eddie murphy doing rated pg-13 stand up? i dont know about that one. he's been watered down ever since having kids, marriage, etc
 
KyleProhaska said:
I don't understand. Why has Eddie Murphy been involved in all these crappy movies in the past 10 years.
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10? I think its more like 20.

I was gonna start a thread about this. Some of the reviews for this movie aren't nearly as bad as I thought they would be. But, a 4.1 rating from IMDB…I'm convinced my initial reaction to this flick was correct. From the trailer...it honestly looks like one of the worst movies ever created. I am not exaggerating. My jaw dropped in horror and disgust the first time I saw this trailer a couple of weeks ago. It looks like its on par with Ed Wood or Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. But, I haven't seen it so I really should be fair and not bash it. No. I take that back. I will bash it. I refuse to waste my time on what I know will be one big steaming pile of cinematic turd. And now, he's in pre-production for a 2010 scheduled release of "The Incredible Shrinking Man." Oh God.

I have a theory about Eddie Murphy's career. Now hear me out...Comedy has no place for vanity and arrogance. You have GOT to be willing to laugh at yourself and be an open book. You need to be willing to be self-effacing and never forget your roots. When Eddie Murphy was at his best, it was in the 80's. In Trading Places, 48 hours, and Beverly Hills Cop 1 (and 2), he was brilliant. He was natural. He was also that skinny black kid who grew up in the projects who used to 'fart in the pool' to make like they had a hot tub. His stand up in Delirious and Raw was among the best routines ever and are emulated and copied all the time, to this day.

However, it was around RAW that I think his success and points of view and sense of self became pretty apparent. He became consumed with success, himself and his ego. Remember how he came out in RAW with that tight purple leather suit wearing black racing gloves? I mean, who else would seriously be arrogant enough to do a stand-up routine with black racing gloves and a skin tight suit? In Delirious he had a funny bit about how all you have to do is sing. If you can sing you can get any woman, etc. Well, that wasn't just a routine. That was his honest point of view and it carried over to his real life. Remember this?

I think it was about the time he did RAW we lost the old funny self-effacing Eddie Murphy and got the cocky vanity stricken one. He began to ONLY do movies that portrayed him as EDDIE MURPHY THE HANDSOME MAN not EDDIE MURPHY THE COMEDIAN. He only took parts where he could play a debonair man. Gone was that skinny black kid from the projects and gone was one of the most brilliant comedians ever.

In Coming to America...in my opinion, it was the last of some of the old Eddie Murphy...but even in that flick...he was a decked out prince who cared about looking very sharp on screen. That is a HUGE comedy killer and I think it’s affected his choices and his career from then on out.

He went on to do Harlem Nights, Boomerang, The Distinguished Gentleman, Vampire in Brooklyn etc...all roles that gave him the opportunity to be handsome Eddie, not funny Eddie. Even some of his more popular later movies...like Bowfinger or The Nutty Professor...those movies were not without his characters alter ego...again a chance for him to be handsome Eddie.

In Shrek hes funny. But, hes a voice. He didn't have to choose to between being the self-effacing comedian or the handsome lead. So, it was a good role for him...it allowed him to hide his enormous ego.

This is why I think his career has been pretty par for the past 20 years.

PS Cary Grant was a brilliant comedian but was good looking and debonair. But he was self-effacing and wasn't as obviously self aware. That's the difference, in my opinion.
 
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LMAO! sorry i couldn't resist.

Rick Meyer said:
I think it was about the time he did RAW we lost the old funny self-effacing Eddie Murphy and got the cocky vanity stricken one. He began to ONLY do movies that portrayed him as EDDIE MURPHY THE HANDSOME MAN not EDDIE MURPHY THE COMEDIAN. He only took parts where he could play a debonair man. Gone was that skinny black kid from the projects and gone was one of the most brilliant comedians ever.
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um, yea, it's a little hard to be "the skinny black kid from the projects" when you're a millionaire in hollywood, you're at the peak of your career, tons of women want you and your future is so bright you need shades :)

in 1984 alone he made over $15 million dollars just after Trading Places....not to mention he wrote RAW 3 years later after he's been swimming in dough so yea, he probably was feeling a bit like a pimp daddy, lol. i remember females saying how "fine" he was before he started doing the GQ smooth roles though, so it's not as if he used these roles to portray himself as this sex symbol.

Rick Meyer said:
In Coming to America...in my opinion, it was the last of some of the old Eddie Murphy...but even in that flick...he was a decked out prince who cared about looking very sharp on screen. That is a HUGE comedy killer and I think it’s affected his choices and his career from then on out.
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huh? he was a prince, the son of a king, born into money and tons of pampering, he didn't even wash his own balls without an beautiful female assistant, lol. his whole purpose was to become regular and NOT be decked out in order to find true love remember? Coming to America was a classic and put him on the map even harder and couldn't have been that much of a comedy killer after grossing more than 3 times the production budget in theater sales alone not even including video sales and the million times it's been played on cable.

Rick Meyer said:
He went on to do Harlem Nights, Boomerang, The Distinguished Gentleman, Vampire in Brooklyn etc...all roles that gave him the opportunity to be handsome Eddie, not funny Eddie. Even some of his more popular later movies...like Bowfinger or The Nutty Professor...those movies were not without his characters alter ego...again a chance for him to be handsome Eddie.
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i see your point, but look at the movies that didnt use this formula - Life, Metro, Showtime, Holy Man - all flops. he's got some flicks like The Golden Child, daddy day care, dr dolittle, dreamgirls, where he's played something different, but bottom line, he did what worked for him and he's evolved over his career especially after getting married and having kids....that's when everything became water'd down and all the kiddie movies came out, but hey, he's still making movies and considered an A-lister so he must be doing something right :)
 
Saw a preview screening and it actually wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. The kid actor was really awful however. But the flick actually had some laughs. There are much worse movies this year.

And all the promotional stuff makes it look 10 times as bad.
 
Coming to America, Trading Places, old SNL, Beverly Hills Cop, and Bowfinger. Still some great movies. I love Eddie Murphy, and it really is a shame to see him in such poor rolls. I really hope he mans up and gets some solid roles, that would make my year.
 
filthrich said:
Wow.
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lol.

Hey Mick. I get your point that he is still a highly regarded A lister. I think that has to do with his insane comedic talent. In my opinion, I just think that since the 80's he hasn't been picking the right movies that showcase it and I think hes let his gi-nourmous ego get in the way.
 
whats funny is 48 hours came on today and nick nolte kept ragging him about how much he talks about girls and booty (since he had just got out of jail) and his character was almost stuck on getting laid the first half of the movie, lol.

he definately could pick better movies i agree, seems like recently he's been trying to do "safe" movies even if they're not all that great.
 
I loved 48hours. And Trading Places is my favorite Eddie Murphy movie of all time. Throw in Dan Aykroyd, Don Ameche, Ralph Bellamy, and Jamie lee curtis...what a classic.

I still think he is one of the funniest comedians ever. I just want him to do a good movie again. Ticks me off. Its such a waste of God given talent. He could read the phone book and be funny. But, when hes reading someone elses lines from a crappy script...not even he can save it...
 
The original script for this, "Starship Dave," was written by MST3K alum Bill Corbett (writer and voice of Crow in the Sci-Fi Channel years). I was interested until Eddie Murphy's name popped up, then I knew it would get Hollywood-ized and Murphy-ized until it was just another dumb Eddie Murphy movie...
 
Eddie chose to do Holyman over Rush Hour. Because Holyman was being filmed in Miami. That is crazy. There is no way he read both scripts and chose Holyman. well maybe.
 
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