I finally caught the first Eddie Murphy movie i've been excited about in a quite a while - Dolemite Is My Name.
I've been a fan of Rudy Ray Moore for a long time. Some may recall that when i did this blog's first Xmas Covers collection a few years back, i slipped Rudy's This Ain't No White Christmas album cover in with the comics and magazines of the Blue set.
Now, you may know that i see no television nor advertising in my hermit cave. I actively avoid trailers. So i hadn't seen Murphy in a fair bit of time. This turned out to be a good thing. Not necessarily the me-not-seeing-him part, the fair-bit-of-time part. The years have served him well, finally outgrowing the over-eager kid from SNL that was always present in the past.
A character like Rudy Ray Moore could easily have gotten lost in younger Eddie Murphy's animate personality and potentially similar energies. The older Murphy, with more miles on both face and bearing can go deeper and bring us more Moore. Which is not to say that his trademark boyishness is gone, he can still bring it up to the surface when called for.
As you might guess, i was rather pleased with the portrayal of RRM in Dolemite Is My Name. But, more than that, i was quite pleased with how they told his tale. Many might have measured him by what he wasn't - here we focus on what he was and what he accomplished with the people he gathered.
Besides being a fond look at a unique pioneer, the movie is also packed with familiar faces and names - right from the very first scene with Murphy's Rudy hawking his sides to a DJ played by Snoop Dogg (or has he evolved?) We get Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, Wesley Snipes, T.I., Chris Rock, Ron Cephas Jones, Luenell, Barry Shabaka Henley, and many more. And a sweet kiss to Da'Vine Joy Randolph, for much the same reason Lady Reed thanked Rudy.
Eddie Murphy gives a good look at Rudy Ray Moore, and Dolemite Is My Name gives a good look at why a hermit Voice Of ODD would be such a fan of the Man (not The Man).
And i enjoyed that they showed the real Rudy Ray/Dolemite footage in the end credits for comparison. And that they noted Rudy and his team went on to make over a half dozen more movies...
Now who's going to give me my Melvin Van Peebles flic?
I've been a fan of Rudy Ray Moore for a long time. Some may recall that when i did this blog's first Xmas Covers collection a few years back, i slipped Rudy's This Ain't No White Christmas album cover in with the comics and magazines of the Blue set.
Now, you may know that i see no television nor advertising in my hermit cave. I actively avoid trailers. So i hadn't seen Murphy in a fair bit of time. This turned out to be a good thing. Not necessarily the me-not-seeing-him part, the fair-bit-of-time part. The years have served him well, finally outgrowing the over-eager kid from SNL that was always present in the past.
A character like Rudy Ray Moore could easily have gotten lost in younger Eddie Murphy's animate personality and potentially similar energies. The older Murphy, with more miles on both face and bearing can go deeper and bring us more Moore. Which is not to say that his trademark boyishness is gone, he can still bring it up to the surface when called for.
As you might guess, i was rather pleased with the portrayal of RRM in Dolemite Is My Name. But, more than that, i was quite pleased with how they told his tale. Many might have measured him by what he wasn't - here we focus on what he was and what he accomplished with the people he gathered.
Besides being a fond look at a unique pioneer, the movie is also packed with familiar faces and names - right from the very first scene with Murphy's Rudy hawking his sides to a DJ played by Snoop Dogg (or has he evolved?) We get Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, Wesley Snipes, T.I., Chris Rock, Ron Cephas Jones, Luenell, Barry Shabaka Henley, and many more. And a sweet kiss to Da'Vine Joy Randolph, for much the same reason Lady Reed thanked Rudy.
Eddie Murphy gives a good look at Rudy Ray Moore, and Dolemite Is My Name gives a good look at why a hermit Voice Of ODD would be such a fan of the Man (not The Man).
And i enjoyed that they showed the real Rudy Ray/Dolemite footage in the end credits for comparison. And that they noted Rudy and his team went on to make over a half dozen more movies...
Now who's going to give me my Melvin Van Peebles flic?
