Review: "Dolemite is My Name" Serves as One of the Best Comeback Narrative of the Decade

Scene from Dolemite is My Name

For several generations, there was nothing as reliable as a new Eddie Murphy movie. From his breakout roles post-Saturday Night Live to the 2000s, he was known for producing some of the most successful comedies, regardless of how well they were actually received. It's what has made the past eight years a bit of an odd period for him. After seemingly producing multiple hits a year, he has spent most of the decade in silence, producing only five films compared to triple that in the previous period. He hasn't had a major hit since 2011's Tower Heist and everything since has looked doubtful that he would ever have that return to power. 

That is exactly what makes director Craig Brewer's Dolemite is My Name such a fascinating project. Much like Dreamgirls before, Murphy has often been at his best when something feels personal about his work. In this case, it's easy to see what draws him to blaxploitation icon Rudy Ray Moore. Both were vulgar comedians who appealed to the masses with profane catchphrases and ignoring everything a conventional performer would. Murphy in some ways has come full circle in the process, managing to feel like Moore because of his recent fallow period. He's older, may be seen by some as irrelevant, and it's exactly now that he needs to prove himself to a new public. Much like Moore with the iconic Dolemite, Murphy uses the biopic to explore how artists strive when nobody believes in them, creating a vision that reminds us that it isn't about age or looks, but the passion to create art no matter what. It's what helps to make this one of the greatest comeback metaphors of the decade.

A24 A-to-Z: #39. "Morris from America" (2016)

Scene from Morris from America

In case you didn't know, A24 is one of the great purveyors of modern cinema. Since 2013, the studio has found a way to innovate independent cinema by turning each release into an event. As a result, A24 A-to-Z will be an ongoing series that looks at every release from the studio by analyzing its production history, release, criticisms, and any awards attention that it might've received. Join me on a quest to explore the modern heroes of cinema by exploring every hit and miss that comes with that magnificent logo. They may not all be great, but they more than make A24 what it is and what it will hopefully continue to be for ears to come.

Review: "Get on Up" Does James Brown Justice and Nobody Else

Chadwick Boseman

There are few figures in music history that are as pompous, exciting, and wild as James Brown was at the height of his career. He could dance, sing, and almost seemed to control the world with music that may have seemed lyrically banal, but was invigorating with passion and funk. It only makes sense that he would eventually join Ray Charles and Johnny Cash and get the biopic treatment. Director Tate Taylor manages to make a nice flashy package in which we get a sense of who Brown (Chadwick Boseman) was, but what does it all equal up to besides a scrapbook of memories? Get on Up, for better or worse, is a film that benefits from an interesting subject that is more interesting than he should be during the dull parts.

Will "Get on Up" Make Boseman One of This Year's First Oscar Contenders?

Chadwick Boseman

In terms of music icons, there are very few standards. The most notable ones were eccentric types with definitive personalities. They entertained not only through song, but influenced fashion, physicality, and helped to shape the pop culture landscape. One of the loudest and innocuous icons is James Brown, whose music may lyrically seem surface level, but unified nations during political turmoil in the 60's and set precedents for African Americans in music. There is a reason that he is The Godfather of Soul and is the most sampled artist in history. He had a universal appeal in his simplicity. So how do you capture the magic of a performer who was so vivacious and magnetic without coming up short? Director Tate Taylor's Get on Up at very least looks to attempt to do the flamboyant man some justice.