Prime Time: The Pickup (2025)

There have been many movies made that show people trying to rob an armored truck full of cash. Some are very good, some are not. The Pickup makes use of the concept to give us a crime comedy that partners up Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson. I enjoyed it, but I tend to like Pete Davidson in most things anyway.

Murphy plays Russell Pierce, a man who just wants his workday done so that he can get to a dinner with his wife (Natalie, played by Eva Longoria) as they celebrate 25 years of marriage. Unfortunately, Pierce is saddled with the young and dumb Travis Stolly (Pete Davidson). Even more unfortunately, the armored truck that they're driving is targeted by robbers who seem to know what part of their route takes them through a dead zone that renders them isolated and helpless. Pierce and Stolly won't give up without a fight though, especially when they figure that the robbers will kill them when they get inside the truck anyway. Oh, there's also a woman named Zoe (Keke Palmer), someone Stolly had a very nice night with recently. She might be able to help our leads, but the whole situation is complicated by a lack of clearly-defined morality and some unexpected and messy emotions.

While I know director Tim Story better than I know writers Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider, I wouldn't say that I would rush to see any film just because his name was attached to it. This was a film that I was sold on by the cast, but I have to give it to Story, Burrows, and Mider for playing to the strengths of their cast in a way that makes it a lot easier to accept the predictable plotting and implausibilities while being amused by the many fun exchanges between the leads. 

Davidson does his goofy thing well enough, but his nervous energy works very well opposite a more relaxed and mature Murphy, who still gets a chance to utter one or two sentences that feel like the kind of thing you would hear from him during his peak movie years. Palmer remains a consistently brilliant and valuable addition to any film she graces with her presence, and there's a palpable feeling here of her loving every minute that she gets to interact with her comedic male co-stars, but particularly when she gets to be alongside Murphy (who, despite the many bumps in his career, remains a certified legend). Longoria does well in her much smaller role, Andrew Dice Clay is a horrible boss who you know cares much more about his trucks than any of his employees, and Marshawn Lynch makes a strong impression in his couple of scenes. Jack Kesy and Ismael Cruz Cordova are a convincing threat as two dangerous robbers, but they're also shown to have a main weakness when they consistently underestimate the people they're trying to rob.

Solid entertainment from start to finish, this has enough laughs and a few decent action beats. The laughs are executed better than the stunts, but the two are blended just about to perfection. You can take points off if you dislike any of the leads. Everyone else can go to this as an easy viewing choice when looking for some new comedy. The fact that the runtime is only 94 minutes is also a plus. It might just be the little pickup that you need.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)

It's easy to see how this film, the fourth feature in the Beverly Hills Cop series, came about, especially when you look at the entertainment landscape and see the money being made from the good old nostalgia train. There may be another new director behind the camera, Mark Molloy (making his feature debut), and the writing team of Will Beall, Tom Gornican, and Kevin Etten also adds plenty of Beverly Hills newcomers, but what matters most is Eddie Murphy being back in the title role, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot making themselves available to reprise their characters, and a soundtrack that tries to recreate every sonic beat from the original.

It's all very basic stuff. Axel Foley (Murphy) ends up returning to Beverly Hills when he is informed about his estranged daughter's life being in danger. His daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige), is a lawyer who is about to defend an alleged cop killer, but she suspects that there are some dirty cops trying to frame an innocent man. Billy Rosewood (Reinhold) is now a PI who also believes that there are some cops involved in this crime, John Taggart (Ashton) is now the Chief, and Captain Cade Grant is a main supporting character played by Kevin Bacon in a way that doesn't make his character completely obvious from his very first scene. Okay, it's obvious. This is the Columbo style of mystery story-telling, with the main satisfaction due to be derived from seeing how Foley catches the person he instinctively knows is the main villain. There's also a helpful detective named Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who has just as much interest in keeping Jane safe as they have a shared past as a couple.

Look, it's hard to go into this without knowing what you're letting yourself in for. In that regard, anyone coming away from it feeling short-changed or miserable only really has themselves to blame. That's not to say that this can still leave viewers feeling disappointed, and I was left sadly disappointed, but it basically delivers what it tells you it will deliver. Murphy slips back into his character with relative ease, older, but not necessarily a hell of a lot wiser, and the other series (semi-)regulars turn up to wave and remind you of what you enjoyed about the interactions of everyone the first time around. The structure of the plotting, various lines of dialogue, and the soundtrack choices all work together to ensure that you watch this wrapped up in a cosy glow. It's a shame that there's nothing else accompanying that glow though, and that glow alone just wasn't enough for me.

Murphy has had mixed success in recent years, and it's obvious why he has returned to some past glories (is he currently developing a belated sequel to Trading Places and another 48. Hrs movie? probably not, but I wouldn't be surprised), but he doesn't know how to star in an Eddie Murphy vehicle that also works as well for others around him. Paige is fantastic, and it's good to have someone who actually stands up to the antics of Foley nowadays, even if she has the benefit of being a blood relative, but Gordon-Levitt feels wasted, and sorely out of place, and most of the time watching Reinhold, Ashton, and Reiser is tinged with sadness as viewers are constantly reminded of how age has wearied them. Pinchot is a highlight, as he has been in his previous appearances in this series, and Bacon is very comfortable in a role that he could do in his sleep.

The director and writing team do what they're tasked with doing, but they sadly don't do any more. It doesn't help that everything looks and feels more like a Netflix film than a Beverly Hills Cop movie (a bit tricky to define, but you will know it when you see it . . . something polished that often feels like it has been filmed in front of a whole lot of unnecessary greenscreen). The laughs don't come thick and fast enough, the action is bigger, but not better, and many of the supporting characters feel like popular guest stars on a long-running sit-com. That doesn't make it the worst movie you could choose to watch this weekend, but it does make it the worst of the Beverly Hills Cop movies, despite the fact that it at least has Foley doing some proper detective work again.

4/10

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Netflix And Chill: Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)

I reviewed Beverly Hills Cop quite a few years ago now. I rewatched Beverly Hills Cop II a few times, but kept forgetting to do anything more than a capsule review for it. But the time was right to finally revisit the undercooked Beverly Hills Cop III, a film that I hadn't been brave enough to revisit since it first hit the home rental market back in the mid-'90s.

The plot is quite simple. Eddie Murphy is back in the role of Axel Foley. The death of Foley’s boss leads him to investigate a crime ring that he believes is operating out of a Los Angeles amusement park. He reunites with Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), and quickly gets himself into a whole heap of trouble while trying to gather evidence that will lead to the prosecution of a bad guy that he KNOWS is the bad guy (Timothy Carhart).

This should have been another great entry in a series that was already two for two. Heroes & villains confronting one another against the backdrop of various  amusement park rides. Writer Steven E. de Souza is someone who has delivered some great action movies, but he’s also written some that were not so great. This falls into the latter category. The action isn’t good enough, the comedy not funny enough, which just leaves the whole thing as another fairly limp star vehicle for Murphy at a time when every Murphy film inevitably felt like that.

Putting John Landis in the director’s chair just have seemed like a very good idea, considering his past glories with Murphy in a leading role, but he ultimately doesn’t have a handle on the tone and what is truly needed for the series. There are the expected cameos you expect from a Landis movie, but not enough care is given to the plot (and let’s not pretend that Foley does any decent detective work here).

Murphy is still good enough in this role to make it watchable, and Reinhold is fun (although he doesn’t get any of the interplay he previously had with John Ashton’s character, notably absent here and sorely missed). Hector Elizondo is okay, but not really good enough as a replacement for Ashton’s character, and Stephen McHattie gets to come along every once in a while to lay down the law as an angry Fed. Carhart is a bit of a weak villain, commanding a small army of bland henchmen, John Saxon is someone you know must be involved somehow (due to being John Saxon), and Theresa Randle tries her best in a role that makes her a potential love interest/damsel in distress. Oh, and it’s fun to see Bronson Pinchot return for a scene or two, having moved from the world of art to the world of heavy-duty self defence.

The cast help make this more fun than it otherwise would be. It’s a bad film, but it’s a bad film that remains watchable, for the most part, if you don’t mind spending time with a likable main character on one of his lesser adventures. And it would have been even better if it had felt more in line with the previous two movies.

5/10

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Prime Time: Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)

Although it seems to be largely forgotten nowadays, The Nutty Professor was a fun remake of a classic Jerry Lewis vehicle. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but it updated the story well and packed in a decent number of laughs. Tom Shadyac directed well enough, and Eddie Murphy was on good form when not in the scenes that had him playing multiple roles.

The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps doesn’t realise what worked in the first film though. We now have Peter Seagal directing (someone who has helmed a handful of decent comedies) and even more scenes allowing Eddie Murphy to act alongside his favourite scene partner, Eddie Murphy.

Murphy once again plays almost every member of his family, the Klumps, but this time around the plot sees Sherman thinking he has discovered a scientific fountain of youth. He also aims to remove any shred of Buddy Love from his genetic material, and he is in love with a colleague, Denise (Janet Jackson). Things start to go wrong, of course, once Buddy is separated from Sherman. Not only do the two end up competing over Sherman’s new scientific miracle, but Sherman starts to lose a significant amount of brain cells, meaning that he actually needs to incorporate Buddy back into his system if he wants to keep his intelligence and his career.

There isn’t really too much that needs said about this. It is another Eddie Murphy vehicle that ends up being both helped and hindered by the leading man. Segal directs competently enough, but he cannot overcome a script that relies on numerous fart gags, dream sequences to give Murphy more screentime (and more fart gags), and a number of sniggers at the idea of a man being sodomised by a giant hamster. I am sure Paul and Chris Weitz, two of the co-writers on this, don’t have this at the top of their CV.

Murphy does well enough in his various roles, and it’s hard to watch this even today and not appreciate the skill required to interlock his various performances, with the only major mis-step being Buddy Love, who is as annoying as he was the first time around, but also has some extra canine DNA mixed in this time. Jackson is very sweet and appealing, taking on a thankless role that is made even more thankless while she takes a backseat to the multiple Murphys. And then we have poor Larry Miller, a man who has to suffer the indignity of being the “punchline” in that aforementioned hamster sequence.

While it remains far from the worst Eddie Murphy vehicle, and that is a low bar indeed, this just isn’t very good. But, even worse, it’s a disappointingly huge step down from the previous film. That felt like an attempt to update an old film into something that would entertain comedy fans. This feels like an attempt to simply entertain Murphy.

4/10

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Prime Time: Candy Cane Lane (2023)

You know you're in trouble during the festive season when you start to focus on decorations and competition against what others deem to be the true value of Christmas. Well, maybe you don't know it, but you will soon enough. Especially if you're a character in a Christmas movie.

Eddie Murphy is Chris Carver, a man who decides to put all of his time and energy into winning a neighbourhood Christmas decorating contest in order to win a prize that will make him feel much more secure after recently being laid off from his work. Chris has a loving and supportive wife, Carol (Tracee Ellis Ross), an athletic daughter (Joy, played by Genneya Walton) who wants to keeps butting heads with her folks when it comes to deciding on the next venue for her further education, a musical son (Nick, played by Thaddeus J. Mixson) who isn't doing so well in his maths class, and young Holly (Madison Thomas), a little girl who just seems to want everyone to have the cheer and happiness that she has in her life. The whole family has to work together when Chris inadvertently signs himself up for a Christmas-themed challenge set by a mischievous elf named Pepper (Jillian Bell) that would see him turned into a small Christmas ornament if he loses.

Written by a relative newcomer, Kelly Younger (who, before this, only has a couple of muppet projects in his screenplay portfolio), this is a high-concept film that looks to have a bigger budget than your average Christmas movie, judging by the CGI used throughout. It’s just a shame that it doesn’t work better, with the highlights jostling alongside mediocrity in a narrative that never seems to flow or build any real sense of momentum.

Director Reginald Hudlin may have spent most of the last few decades working on various TV shows, but he’s a very capable pair of hands, and he shows good instincts in the main sequences that show the various members of the Carver family playing to their individual strengths.

Murphy does okay in a lead role that fails to let him shine, he has to be the dad/husband learning important lessons and he does well enough with that. Ross has less to do, but steps up to the mark when it is her turn to give everyone a supportive shake. As for the younger family members, each one is kept in their respective character trait pigeonhole. Thomas has to be sweet, and she is. Walton has to show her character is a fast runner, and determined to start becoming more independent, and she does. And Mixson gets to show off the musical talent that his parents don’t consider a serious endeavour worth focusing on. As for Bell, she is fun in a role that allows her to once again mix slight menace with her kookiness (there may be better words to use here, I don’t have the coffee or time to find them). Nick Offerman does a decent impression of a typically Dickensian character. And you get a cameo from Pentatonix, the a cappella group who seem to have made Christmas a firm fixture at the heart of their output.

While it has a polish and level of care trying to ensure that it supersedes the many films you get at this time of year from the likes of Hallmark and other companies who deliver annual servings of cosy comfort, Candy Cane Lane is actually on a par with a lot of them. It’s very tame stuff, very predictable, and very disposable. There are some other highlights, including a fun turn from Ken Marino, a couple of TV hosts who have very different styles, and an excellent cameo when we finally see a Santa, but they are not enough to make it worth rewatching. Like a lot of films you can find on almost every channel this month, this is an amusing distraction. Nothing more, nothing less.

6/10

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Netflix And Chill: You People (2023)

An updated version of Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner with some additional commentary on cultural appropriation and white privilege, You People is the kind of film you will know you should love or hate based on the trailer alone. I thought it looked fun, I watched the film, and I had fun with it.

Jonah Hill plays Ezra, a Jewish man who is working in a financial role that he doesn’t really enjoy. What really makes him happy is a podcast he co-hosts with his best friend, a woman named Mo (Sam Jay), all about the commonalities and differences between white and black culture. Ezra also really enjoys an encounter with Amira (Lauren London), a beautiful black woman, that leads to a serious relationship, but that emphasises the differences between them more than any chat on a podcast could. Ezra gets a hard time from Amira's parents, played by Eddie Murphy and Nia Long, while Amira finds herself made uncomfortable and unhappy by the oblivious stereotyping and insensitivity of Ezra's parents, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Duchovny.

Directed by Kenya Barris, who has written numerous features and directed some TV show episodes before this, You People is a fun mix of Meet The Parents and that classic movie I mentioned in the first sentence. It's not as good as Meet The Parents, which puts everything in place and escalates the comedy in a much better way, but it's certainly a lot better than Guess Who (the remake/update of Guess Who's Coming To Dinner that tried to mine the topic for laughs without giving enough time to the more serious side of the situation). The biggest problem seems to be that the script was co-written by Barris and Hill, with the latter feeling like some idealised version of a white ally who knows enough of the music and fashion, and can play basketball well enough, to be viewed as safe and cool when compared to other "tourists". Maybe that side of things came from Barris, but it doesn't feel that way.

Am I saying that it hits a number of surprisingly similar beats to the much-maligned Soul Man? I might be. People will perhaps tell me off for that, but when you think of a few key scenes, they're either an inversion or recreation of moments from that movie. But I guess it's okay, because Barris is at the helm, and a number of transitions are given a funky, graffiti, style. And we get shown a lot of cool footwear. Seriously, WHAT is going on with the focus on the footwear here? Our two leads are defined by their footwear, they're used to show the passage of time in a relationship, and sneakers even tie in to the grand finale. Maybe finding true love is just meeting someone else who loves the same Nikes as you do and being brave enough to ask "shall we just do it?"

Hill and London are good in the lead roles, with the latter doing the important job of lighting up the screen and showing herself as a beautiful and strong young woman who has chosen someone that makes her happy. Despite the strand that allows him to be an ideal cool guy, Hill is a lot of fun when cringing at events unfolding around him, usually caused by one set of parents or another. That's where you get the real treats though. Long doesn't get as much to do, but Murphy enjoys another great role in what might yet be another resurgence in his lengthy film career. He's a stern figure for almost every minute, and enjoys trying to prove that Ezra isn't the right man for his daughter. Duchovny is hilarious with the way his character is always grasping for cultural references to use and rapper names to drop into conversation, but it's Louis-Dreyfus who gets more of the laughs, being the kind of person who doesn't realise how inappropriate they are being when trying to overcompensate for their ignorance of black culture. Both of the characters played by Louis-Dreyfus and Duchovny seem unable to view Amira as a strong and gorgeous woman without viewing her through an additional filter because of her skin colour. Jay is an extra shot of energy in her scenes, and there are a few effective bits of scene-stealing from Molly Gordon, in the role of Ezra's sister (a young lesbian who is already very used to their parents making them cringe).

You People is most interesting when showing people unaware of their own behavioural changes, or when Ezra is made to think more about his ability to comment on cultural aspects that he may never be fully immersed in. There are a good selection of laugh throughout, a number of decent soundtrack choices, and the runtime just manages to avoid feeling overlong, despite coming in at just under the two hour mark. It's a well-made comedy that allows some performers to remind you of why they have had such enduring careers. And I look forward to seeing more from London, who has had a decent film career already, but hopefully gets some more central parts after being such a star in this.

7/10

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The Adventures Of Pluto Nash (2002)

Famous for being a massive flop when it was released, The Adventures Of Pluto Nash is a film that you cannot help going into with low expectations. If you ever decided to watch it. So it's perhaps inevitable that it exceeds those expectations, but only does so by being generally watchable throughout. Not good. Watchable.

Eddie Murphy starts as Pluto Nash, an ex-prisoner who ends up owning the hottest nightclub on the moon. Having already been relatively famous for his criminal life, Nash is now a very big fish in the small pond that he swims around. He has a robot bodyguard, Bruno (Randy Quaid), and a buyer who really wants to buy his club for a lot of money. He also ends up with an employee named Dina Lake (Rosario Dawson) who ends up on the run with Nash when the lively nightclub is blown up. Someone really wants that club, and they also want Nash dead.

The last film written by Neil Cuthbert, I'd assume the phone stopped ringing after this was released, this is a comedy that isn't very funny, a sci-fi film that doesn't do enough for sci-fi fans, and a family film that won't satisfy any family who sits down to watch it. There's not enough of anything to make it of interest to any one demographic, and I struggle to think about who it was aimed at. There are no satisfying action beats, the jokes that feel more like adult humour feel out of place, and even the final sequence feels like something that just limps along to the end credits.

Director Ron Underwood does nothing to help, although I suspect that he was hampered by his star (Murphy seems to have a tendency to not listen to those who don't want to do things his way). He is at least helped by a supporting cast full of welcome faces, but that's about the only main positive. Don't even start me on the soundtrack, which put my back up from the very beginning with a horrible rendition of "Blue Moon".

Despite not being on top form, Murphy isn't terrible in the lead role. Make his character a bit more worthy of the attention that he receives and you could have a fun person you want to spend time with. A fast-talking hustler who made it big? Yes. And that's how the character is meant to be, but it doesn't really come across that way, certainly not after the first scenes. Dawson is a fine addition, because Dawson is a fine addition to most movies that she's involved with. It may be far from the best thing that Randy Quaid has ever done, but he has some mildly amusing moments throughout. Elsewhere, Jay Mohr is a club crooner, and annoying for almost every minute that he's onscreen, Joe Pantoliano and Victor Varnado are the main villains (both working for a mysterious boss figure), Peter Boyle and Pam Grier have a couple of good scenes, Illeana Douglas is a lot of fun as a doctor with shady ethics, and there are roles for Luis Guzmán, James Rebhorn, Burt Young, Miguel A. Núñez Jr, and John Cleese.

In much the same way that most films people rush to call the latest "best thing ever" don't actually end up being the best thing ever, most films that people rush to call the "worst of all time" aren't usually anywhere near as bad as the very worst of all time. The Adventures Of Pluto Nash isn't good, and it's not one I'd recommend anyone to watch, but it's not irredeemably bad. It's just bad, and mostly dull. The latter is quite an impressive feat, considering all of the stuff thrown around onscreen.

3/10

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Prime Time: Coming 2 America (2021)

Coming along over thirty years after the original, Coming 2 America also comes after a lot of years that led to a decline in the star status of Eddie Murphy. And there's no John Landis here. So I can understand why fans would be wary.

Murphy once again plays Prince Akeem (as well as many other characters), based in his homeland with his family, a wife and three daughters. As his father (James Earl Jones) passes away, it comes to light that Akeem may well have a male child from his time in America. This was all thanks to his loyal manservant, Semmi (Arsenio Hall). And a male child is apparently required to take over the throne from Akeem, despite the strength and intelligence of his eldest daughter, Meeka (KiKi Layne). Under pressure from the neighbouring General Izzi (Wesley Snipes), Akeem finds his son, Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler), and brings him back, along with his mother (Mary, played by Leslie Jones), and his Uncle Reem (Tracy Morgan).

While it's not the funniest comedy film released in the past few years, not by a long shot, Coming 2 America manages to remain consistently amusing throughout, as well as taking moments to celebrate some of the popular art and culture of African Americans. Director Craig Brewer keeps everything moving along nicely enough, with the only main flaw being an unnecessary flashback or two that features a de-aged Murphy on a previously-unseen stage of his adventure that made up the first movie. Remember when movies had to use smart camera positioning, make-up, and stand-ins to do that kind of thing? New technology isn't always the best option. 

The script, by Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein, and David Sheffield, stays largely on point, with the focus this time around being on the need for old patriarchies to be shaken up in order for any real progress to be made. Akeem once again wrestles with traditions, wanting to move forward while remaining respectful, and his life is nicely juxtaposed with the life that his son has known, but this is a male-dominated film with a loud message about gender equality, and the casting of the supporting roles helps immensely with that.

Layne is superb, trying to keep her grace and her cool while justifiably angry at the old rules keeping her sidelined. Nomzamo Mbatha is equally wonderful as Mirember, the royal groomer who has some strong views on the way things should be run. You get cameos from En Vogue, Salt-N-Pepa, and it's nice that they didn't try to recast Shari Headley (Lisa, the love of Akeem's life). Although not always front and centre, Headley is the one person often influencing the way that Akeem thinks and acts. Then you have Jones, who is a lot of fun for pretty much every minute she's onscreen. Murphy and Hall are having a lot of fun, whether in their main roles or portraying some of the many faces familiar to fans of the first film (the barbers return, as well as one or two other firm favourites). Fowler is a worthy addition, and he often outshines a lively Morgan (the wide-eyed youth just plays a bit better than the loud-mouthed, cocky, uncle), but it's a huge treat to watch Snipes having so much role as the menacing-but-rictus-grinned General who looks set to wage war.

There are no major set-pieces, and very few BIG laughs throughout, unlike the first film, but this is a good way to do a belated comedy sequel. You get to spend some time re-acquanting yourself with some very likeable characters, and there are lots of call backs to keep you smiling. I've seen many people complain about it, which is just down to personal taste, but I've been struggling to wonder why some have warned others away from it so strongly. Personally, I'd tentatively recommend it. It's an easy one to enjoy in company for an evening's entertainment.

6/10

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Prime Time: Vampire In Brooklyn (1995)

It may have a bad reputation, as far as I'm aware, but Vampire In Brooklyn is one of those films I had been meaning to get around to for a decade or so now. It's one of the few Wes Craven movies I had somehow missed, and a starring vehicle for Eddie Murphy that intrigued me.

Murphy plays Maximillian (although, of course, he also plays some other characters onscreen), a vampire who arrives in Brooklyn in search of the woman he loves, Detective Rita Veder (Angela Bassett). He gets himself an assistant, Julius Jones (Kadeem Hardison), and starts his attempt to get Veder to fall in love with him almost immediately. That's really all there is to it.

I have to say that I expected the worst when I started watching this. I recall this period not giving us anywhere near the best from Murphy, and Craven was a year away from the film that would push him back up the horror strata and cement his reputation as a provider of quality pop culture content (Scream being that big hit).

This isn't all that bad. It's not fantastic, but it's not all that bad. The biggest problem with it, as you might suspect, is the tone. The comedy often works well enough, but only when everyone involved remembers it can be in the mix. Thankfully, Murphy works well enough while playing his character straight to make it worth your time. He's an excellent vampire, even if he's often just playing a more restrained and old-fashioned version of his usual confident persona.

The script, by Michael Lucker, Chris Parker, and Charlie Murphy, works best when twisting the familiar tropes. Highlights include Hardison's character going from zero to maximum Renfield in super-quick time, a sequence in which Murphy plays a preacher and then has to excuse himself from church, and an ending that actually feels like it belongs in a proper vampire movie. If a bit more of this could have been added, although I have gone blank on specifics (it's early, I need coffee), then the end result would have been even more enjoyable.

Having already praised Murphy for his performance as Maximillian, I'll just say that he's also good when portraying both the aforementioned preacher, and also portraying a low-level hood. The makeup works, as does the fact that he plays these characters for a few key scenes, and not throughout the entire movie in a way that indulges his seeming need to sometimes play everybody onscreen. Bassett is great (when is she not?), and Allen Payne does a solid job of being the Detective working alongside her, and also falling in love with her. Hardison is a lot of fun in his role, especially as soon as he starts to lose body parts, while both John Witherspoon and Zakes Mokae are welcome whenever they're onscreen in their supporting roles.

Maybe my low expectations factored in here, but Vampire In Brooklyn is a good attempt to mix the familiar and the new. The 100-minute runtime means it manages to not overstay its welcome, the cast play well together, and it certainly belongs at this part of Craven's career, when he was trying some different approaches to horror material.

6/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Netflix And Chill: Norbit (2007)

This is where my brain takes me, and I hate it as much as you do. I had seen Norbit many years ago, and I remembered not liking it. I couldn't find anywhere I had reviewed or rated it, however, since my reformed completist attitude to logging my movie viewings on both IMDb and Letterboxd. I saw it was on Netflix and figured I might as well give it a go.

Ouch.

The basic plot revolves around Norbit (Eddie Murphy), a timid young man who was abandoned as a baby and taken in by Mr. Wong (also, ummmmm, Eddie Murphy, in a bit of stunt casting more troubling than most of his multiple roles over the years). Norbit ends up in a relationship with Rasputia, an obnoxious and overpowering woman who doesn't really treat Norbit as he might deserve to be treated. And the adult Rasputia is played by, yes, Eddie Murphy. Things start to look different when an old flame, Kate (Thandie Newton), comes back to town.

The first of a few movies that Murphy starred in while being directed by Brian Robbins, this remains arguably the worst of their collaborations, despite the stiff competition from their other outings. Based on a story by Eddie and his brother, Charlie, the screenplay was then worked on by the two of them, with additional work from Jay Scherick and David Ronn, a writing duo who have a filmography most politely described as a bit hit and miss. Nobody involved can really make the material more palatable, which leaves the comedy falling flat at almost every turn.

Murphy is decidedly okay as Norbit, but only because he's more relatable and human in that incarnation than he is in either the role of Rasputia or Mr. Wong, with both of them being exaggerated caricatures designed to get easy laughs from the low-hanging fruit. Fortunately, although Murphy gets the lion's share of the screentime, there's some enjoyment to be had with the supporting cast. Terry Crews is as fun as ever, Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams have a couple of fun moments, Marlon Wayans is more amusing here than he has been in anything else from the last couple of decades, and Newton is an appealing romantic interest. You also have Cuba Gooding Jr. here, and he ends up being a LOT of fun as the man due to marry Newton, the fly in the ointment of Norbit's potential happiness.

Any fan of Murphy nowadays will know that they have to suffer through some real clunkers if they are completing a journey through his filmography. I've not seen EVERYTHING yet (that Pluto Nash movie has never felt like a high priority), but it's hard to think of anything he could do that is worse than this. It's not funny, it's full of characters you don't ever really care about, and it's just another excuse for Murphy to get made up and act in scenes alongside himself. And did I mention that it wasn't funny? Because it REALLY isn't.

2/10

https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Trading Places (1983)

John Landis is a great director. Well, he WAS. It's been a while since we saw him working at his prime, but Trading Places is one of his best movies. In fact, if Landis hadn't also given us a classic werewolf flick and The Blues Brothers then this could well have been his crowning achievement.

The story is quite simple. Two rich old men (the Duke brothers, played by Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) make a bet over the effects of nature vs. nurture. To test their theory, they take their shining employee Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) and ruin his life. Louis loses his job, his fiance, his money and most of his self-respect in a series of humiliating trials all set up by the Dukes. At the same time, Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) is plucked from his hustling, hand-to-mouth lifestyle and offered almost everything that Louis had. The two have traded places, hence the title of the movie. Will Billy Ray become a success, or will he abuse his position to make even more money for himself? And will Louis turn to crime as misfortune piles upon misfortune?

Although it runs for almost 2 hours, with editing never being a strong point for Landis, this zips along at a cracking pace, with quality gags written into every scene, some subtle and some front and centre. This is partly thanks to the script, by Herschel Weingrod and Timothy Harris, but equally thanks to the performances from everyone involved.

Murphy is at his best, the early '80s was arguably the peak of his career, and he delivers almost every line with confidence and sass. Aykroyd just about avoids making you hate him during the opening scenes of the movie, although it's a close call, and it gets easier to enjoy his company as things unravel for him at greater and greater speed. Ameche and Bellamy are delightfully horrid schemers, playing brilliantly off one another from start to finish. Denholm Elliott also does well as the butler who starts off attending to Aykroyd and is then told to take care of Murphy instead, and Jamie Lee Curtis set many hearts a-flutter as Ophelia, the "hooker with a heart" who takes pity on Aykroyd and tries to help him out of his current jam. Paul Gleason is as good as he always is, James Belushi monkeys around in the third act, Kristin Holby is the fiance ashamed of Aykroyd's downward mobility, and there are a couple of cameos worth keeping your eyes peeled for (as usual with a John Landis movie).

For getting the best out of his cast, and treating the material so well, Landis has to be credited with doing a good job here. He certainly had a knack, at one point, of getting great scripts into the hands of the right people for the roles, which does half of his work for him, in my book. There's nothing spectacular here on the technical side, but it's all smooth and well put together. Most importantly, it's all constructed perfectly around the performances and the gags.

If you haven't yet seen this movie then I implore you to get to it as soon as you can. It's an enduring comedy that hasn't lost any of its power in the past few decades. And it then provides you with an extra laugh whenever you get around to watching Coming To America.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Trading-Places-Blu-ray-Eddie-Murphy/dp/B00AEBB8EM/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418340244&sr=8-1&keywords=trading+places

The Haunted Mansion (2003)

Based on the popular Disneyland attraction (Disneyland? Walt Disney World? Pardon me if I've picked the wrong park, I've not been to either and I bitterly regret the loss to my childhood), The Haunted Mansion is a fun family horror movie that will entertain children for the duration. Unfortunately, it's not enough fun for anyone older.

Eddie Murphy and Marsha Thomason play Jim and Sara Evers, a married couple who are also successful realtors. Work has been getting in the way of their married life lately, but they plan to make amends for that with a nice weekend away. Just the two of them, plus their two children (Marc John Jefferies and Aree Davis). The start of their weekend away is interrupted, however, when Sara is invited along to a mansion that the owner wishes to put up for sale. Determined to just make a quick stop en route to their weekend destination, the family soon find out that they may be stuck in the mansion for longer than planned. A LOT longer.

With plenty of little touches that will be recognisable to those who have experienced the real-life attraction (which doesn't include me . . . . hmmph . . . . sorry, I'll try to leave my bitterness here) and lots of spooky spectacles in every scene that occurs after the mansion reveals its true colours, this is an easy film to sit back and enjoy, from an aesthetic point of view. The quality of the production design here can't really be faulted, even if some viewers may be as disappointed as I was by the lack of actual kid-friendly scares. There are a few, especially during the initial sequence in which most of the Evers family discover that the mansion is haunted, but those are soon abandoned in favour of standard escapades that could take place in any Disney movie.

Director Rob Minkoff does an okay job, it's certainly all pitched perfectly towards younger viewers, and David Berenbaum's script draws everything together nicely in a way that gives everyone a decent part in the unfolding mystery (yes, of course there's a mystery). Yet, it's strange that the leading man isn't allowed to get more laughs, and it's even stranger that so many moments don't feel as if they make the most of the setting.

Murphy is fun in his role, and Thomason makes for a lovely leading lady, but the supporting cast provides the most enjoyment. Terence Stamp is a delight as a creepy butler, Dina Waters and Wallace Shawn are both wonderful as some deceased servants, and Jennifer Tilly has some fun in a small role, playing a character who simply appears as a head in a crystal ball. Nathaniel Parker has a bit of a thankless role, he's the master of the mansion (and mourning a lost love), but he does fine with it, I guess, and young Jefferies and Davies are both likable enough as young Michael and Megan, respectively, with both adapting surprisingly well to the ghostly activity.

Not really worth your time if you're an adult, but it's a perfectly fine choice if you want to introduce young kids to the pleasures of ghosts 'n' ghouls and things that can go bump in the night. Because it's not always advisable to sit them down in front of The Exorcist. Baby steps are required, baby steps.

4/10

http://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Mansion-Full-Screen-Edition/dp/B0001A79EO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413713646&sr=8-1&keywords=the+haunted+mansion

For another, more adult, movie choice for today (and most days in October) do get yourself over to this great blog written by Christianne Benedict. I am often bad at sharing the love for other writers, but Christianne is often very good at it, and it's about damn time I returned the favour. Even if she's a much better writer than I am.

Ani-MAY-tion Month: Shrek (2001)

The joy of Shrek may have been diluted slightly nowadays, after multiple sequels and spin-offs, but I'm still a fan of most things that feature the big green ogre at the centre of events, and the first film remains the best of the lot.

Based on a book by William Steig, Shrek is, for anyone who doesn't know, all about the titular ogre (voiced by Mike Myers). He likes to live alone in his swamp, but that isolated existence is threatened when a talking donkey (Eddie Murphy) bumps into him while fleeing from armed guards. That isolated existence is threatened even further when numerous fairytale creatures start to fill up his home, due to it being the one safe haven. The nasty Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) doesn't like fairytale creatures, and has been causing them no end of problems. When Shrek visits Farquaad to sort out getting his swamp back to himself, he ends up being tasked to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz). If he does that then Farquaad will ensure that the swamp is back to how Shrek likes it.

It took a lot of people to craft this script - including Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman and Roger S. H. Schulman - but the end result is a wealth of great gags and sly references, as opposed to a bloated mess. The twisted fairytale may be overdone nowadays, but it's rarely been utilised to better effect than it is here, with the whole premise of Prince Charming rescuing the trapped Princess turned gleefully on its head.

Directors Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson do a great job of keeping everything perfectly paced and perfectly balanced. There may be a number of audio and visual gags aimed more at adults than the younger viewers, but they stay just the right side of cheeky, and there's never anything done that spoils the experience for the target demographic.

Myers, putting on a sorta-Scottish accent, makes Shrek an ogre that it's fun to hang around with. He's very childish, which obviously makes him appealing to children, and as the movie progresses we get to learn that ogres can be layered (like an onion, but not necessarily like a parfait). Murphy has his best role in years, as the cute, chatterbox Donkey, Diaz is a good match to play Princess Fiona, and Lithgow is a lot of fun as the diminutive Lord Farquaad.

There's a lot in this movie that people could choose to either love or hate - the accent that Myers uses, the standard selection of child-friendly tunes (All Star by Smash Mouth again??), the ending that rounds up some characters for a bit of a song and dance sequence. I loved it when I saw it at the cinema, and I still love it now.

9/10

http://www.amazon.com/Shrek-Whole-Story-Forever-Blu-ray/dp/B0046A9RMC/ref=sr_1_6?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1399983784&sr=1-6&keywords=shrek

Don't forget, every copy of my book sold gets a few pounds in my pocket, and gets you a good read (if I say so myself).

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.

Bowfinger (1999)

Frank Oz directs this great little comedy that sees Steve Martin (who also wrote the screenplay) starring as the titular wannabe Hollywood player.

Robert Bowfinger has a dream and that dream is to make a major, hit movie. Impressed by the script for sci-fi actioner "Chubby Rain", he decides to get his cast and crew together and finally make something happen. It helps that his movie is going to star the hottest leading man of the moment, Kit Ramsey (played by Eddie Murphy). The big problem, however, is that Kit has no idea he is in the movie, which forces Bowfinger to . . . . . . . . . get creative.

Upon its initial release, many people hailed this as a return to comedy form for both Martin and Murphy and, somehow, I disagreed with them. Well, time has passed and now, finally, I see what everyone else saw back then. A hilarious, sharp, brilliant comedy featuring two men who would never again be quite this funny ( at least, that's my opinion as of today's date).

The script is full of great one-liners (such as my personal favourite: "let's try it one more time Slater, this time without the erection") and digs at the quagmire of modern movie-making with all that entails, including temperamental stars, young actresses doing whatever it takes to get ahead, the reach and influence of Scie . . . ummm any modern system of religious belief and the power of a beautiful lie.

Thankfully, we have a great cast delivering these points. Martin is on the same kind of hilarious, smoothly lying form that saw him entertain so much in the likes of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels while Murphy gets to show more than one side, as he usually does, without overdoing things, as he usually does. Then we have Heather Graham playing a not-so innocent . . . . innocent, Christine Baranski as a leading lady wanting her one shot at true stardom, Jamie Kennedy as a very resourceful car valet and, well, everybody else who gets screen time. The whole cast is great, even the smaller roles are filled by the likes of Terence Stamp and Robert Downey Jr.

Maybe you felt the same way as I did, that Bowfinger received far more praise than it deserved at the time, but if that's the case then I hope you revisit it some time. And I hope you also find that Bowfinger actually received just as much praise as it deserved. Because it's a fantastic comedy.

8/10

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steve-Martin-Collection-DVD/dp/B000QJMSFA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373823371&sr=8-1&keywords=steve+martin+box+set

I Spy (2002)

An action comedy that puts laid back Owen Wilson alongside fast-talking Eddie Murphy should be fairly enjoyable, right? Well, I Spy IS fairly enjoyable. It's just, sadly, not much more than that. And be warned, fans of the old TV series will find very little connection to it beyond the title.

Wilson is a U.S. government agent named Alex, and his latest mission is to find a top secret jet that can be rendered practically invisible. It has been stolen and will be sold to the higthest bidder, which will probably be someone who wants to use it as a highly effective bomb delivery system. To get close to the man (Malcolm McDowell) most likely to have the jet, Alex has to work alongside a civilian, a cocky boxer named Kelly Robinson, who doesn't like to be told what to do. Can the pair manage to get along long enough to complete the mission?

Director Betty Thomas, who has at least three much better movies in her past filmography (Doctor Dolittle, Private Parts and The Brady Bunch Movie), does competent enough work, but the movie is really undermined by the writing. Four people worked together on this screenplay, so I guess it's a limited success that they at least managed to contribute one laugh each.

Murphy may not be on top form, but he doesn't do a bad job. Owen Wilson also doesn't do a bad job, necessarily. It's just a shame that Wilson has somehow overplayed his schtick more than Murphy, as hard to believe as that is. McDowell does fine in the standard bad guy role, Famke Janssen is always a welcome addition to any cast, in my view, and Gary Cole occasionally swoops in to steal the movie as Carlos, the agent who actually looks and acts like someone who could be entrusted with top secret missions full of danger.

There are better buddy action comedies (I could name a dozen off the top of my head), there are better spy comedies (Get Smart is one of the best) and there are better movies you could pick starring any of the leads or supporting players. That doesn't necessarily mean that I Spy is a BAD film. It creeps just above average, but it should never be your top priority.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Spy-DVD-Eddie-Murphy/dp/B00009B0QA/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1370935276&sr=1-1&keywords=I+spy