can make a film with subtle plot nuances and originality, with plenty of details in the script which had never been done before in a movie (beverly hills cop 1)
and then make a movie which wasn't bad at all, but from a plot standpoint was full of mundane elements that have all been seen and done before in other movies (pluto nash)
Eddie - we want you to make funny AND original movies not one or the other
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but how can he not watch his own movie and see the difference in plot QUALITY between beverly hills cop 1 and pluto nash?
He's an actor, not a writer\director. He agrees to take a role based on what he thinks from reading the script. Things often change a great deal between the original script and the final product.
Prof. Farnsworth: Oh. A lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!
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That seems like a pretty pointless distinction. What does the fact that he gets paid have to do with anything? It wouldn't make sense for him to take a *beep* movie just for money, since that affects his potential earnings in the future.
Prof. Farnsworth: Oh. A lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!
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Are you kidding? Those days are absolutely NOT over. There are plenty of actors who get typecast or who just disappear after being in a bad movie. Being out of stories has nothing to do with anything.
Murphy HAD a name. But after all the stinkers he's produced in the recent past, he isn't getting nearly as many jobs as he once did.
Prof. Farnsworth: Oh. A lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!
Pretty much everything has been thought up and seen by now, originality is pretty dead this day and age, and even back then, most good "original" ideas were influenced from previous good ideas but just taken a slightly different path or a further step.
shareyou don't think those same slightly different steps can be created today?
share
Because Murphy cares first and foremostly about money and not quality.
okwong-e wrote:
"Because Murphy cares first and foremostly about money and not quality."
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Bingo. Murphy's celebrity induced him into laziness and he completely lost his edge. He isn't the only one to fall prey to this. It certainly happened to Chevy Chase (who didn't have quite the edge Murphy did, but he had a certain talent). It seems to have happened to Mike Myers. At intermittent stretches Bill Murray and Steve Martin have also lost it, but they're both creative enough and devoted enough to quality that every once in a while they emerge with a good film amidst the stinkers. I guess it just comes down to how much self-respect and respect for their trade that each individual actor has. Murphy obviously preferred to coast. The raw brilliance he exuded in Trading Places, 48 Hours, and Beverly Hills Cop proves he could've been the top comedy-film actor in the USA for the duration of his career, if he had the drive.
Yes it gets to me that Murphy, who was the top movie star of his era period never mind just in the comedy genre, never segued into finding better movies and material. Tom Cruise, whatever one says about him now (or even then), used his superstardom to work with Kubrick, Spielberg, Mann, Stone, PT Anderson etc. Murphy, by comparison, nearly pulled out of DREAMGIRLS because of money and pulled out of the upcoming Richard Pryor biopic...because of money.
@okwong-e: that is an interesting point
shareIronically, MUCH of BHC 1 & 2 were literally improvised. On the 20th Anniversary DVD Boxset, the director states in the directors' commentary that they hadn't even completed the script for BHC1 when Eddie signed on, and he was signed on about 1 week before the script was completed. He went on to say that Eddie, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton were damn good at improvising together and the director just let the camera roll as they did their thing. I would LOVE to see a BHC 1 & 2 blooper reel!
shareHe's not writing the scripts, and improvisation can only achieve so much.
"Your mother puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?!"
He doesn't care anymore.
shareAfter he'd started his family, he started making all these family-friendly films. He was great in Tower Heist. It was like the old Eddie that we know and love. I just wish there was more of him in it.
"Do you feel 'in charge'?"
I wish Eddie had done more "action-comedy" movies like BHC instead of the awful "family-friendly" movies and sequels that he churned out like "Imagine That", Meet Dave", Norbit", "Haunted Mansion", "Daddy Day Care" etc etc.
Maybe, just once, someone will call me 'Sir' without adding, 'You're making a scene.'
I think getting busted with a tranny hooker also influenced Eddie to do more family-friendly films.
It's okay, we can always watch the 80s films of him (and he showed this brilliance from time to time afterwards). He was amazing. So talented and so much screen presence.