Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Essay 1771


Phat news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A miffed Eddie Murphy allegedly exited Sunday’s Oscar show shortly after Alan Arkin was named Best Supporting Actor. Maybe Murphy hoped to catch an early evening showing of Norbit.

• A new dog store targeting female pet owners opened in Seattle and is igniting controversy with its name: High Maintenance Bitch. The store’s founder wants to reclaim the word’s original meaning — a female dog. She said, “Our store is a dog store, but the concept and philosophy is directed specifically toward women.” Actually, High Maintenance Bitch sounds like Alan Arkin’s new nickname for Eddie Murphy.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh shit, here comes my Eddie rant.

Let him leave the Oscars. Did he think he'd actually win for that role? Yikes. It was obvious the awards this year were all about make-up calls.

It's his fault though. Eddie's fat suit roles are killing his chances. The Acadamy passes out awards based on a body of work, and looking at the shit he's done, he has work to do. If Spike can't get one after all the films he's made, how does Eddie expect to?

He needs to stop playing around. Three of his next upcoming roles are STILL as the voice of the donkey in Skrek, including Shrek 4, and 3's not even out yet. He's also going to be in his own Romeo and Juliet project.

Uggg.

Up to now, 48 Hours, although an action-comedy, (and maybe even Harlem Nights), may actually have been his most serious roles. Was there a better debut by a comedian than in 48 hours?

Nothing has matched that since. (Coming to America while funny, was more notable only in that his prosthetic work for the barber shop scenes was actually the only ones of his that ever felt real onscreen, plus the scenes were written well.)

Comedians have to work twice as hard to get respect in the eyes of voters though. Shit like Pluto Nash ain't helping that cause. The Will Farrel sketch wasn't far off the mark. They don't know how to award for comedy and Murphy still has a Dr. Doolittle stigma attached to him.

It's not that he can't be funny either–at one time you know he was one of the best and killing with his stand-up. But family Doolittle shit or films like Norbit just reinforce the notion he's a one-trick pony filmwise these days heading towards CHevy Chase territory.

There are very few comedic actors who can handle both drama and comedy like a Bill Murray or a Robin Williams and still get respect from both circles. Murphy could too–but he's not choosing to, save for the Dream Girls role. OR he should just focus on drama. Will Smith and Jamie Foxx are now the actors Murphy needs to be.

He's got two choices to be fix this: keep going down this road until he's a complete joke, then let Quentin put him in something and resurrect the career.

or...

He could gain weight for real and play MLK. Looking at pictures of both side by side, he could pull it off. It'd be a sure-fire Oscar nod no dount as playing historical figures are a no-brainer for the Academy.

Just gotta make sure the Bowfinger screenwriter stays far away.

Anonymous said...

I knew I'd get flack for suggesting it, lol, but I'm serious. I think he could pull it off.