The second part of our look at John Landis-directed Eddie Murphy starring vehicles focuses on a film whose orignal story was also written by Eddie! Join Chad, Buddy, and Jeff, as they look back at 1988's "Coming to America," the first romantic comedy starring Eddie Murphy, and the first film to feature Murphy (and co-star Arsenio Hall) in multiple roles within the same film. Backed up by greats James Earl Jones, Madge Sinclair, and John Amos, and co-starring Shari Headley, Eriq La Salle, Louis Anderson, Allison Dean, and featuring a very early appearance by none other than Samual L. Jackson, this was the movie that proved that Eddie Murphy could handle more than broad comedy. Indeed, he's practically regal as an African prince, in New York, looking for love! Plus, find out what "millennial anxiety" produced at the end of the 90s, and which examples the guys will be reviewing in episodes 54 and 55!
This week, Jeff, Buddy, and Chad look at the first of two Eddie Murphy/John Landis films, 1983's "Trading Places!" This was the second movie that featured young comedian Eddie Murphy in a leading role, after his first film "48 Hours." Teaming him with SNL alumnus Dan Aykroyd, and putting him alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, Denholm Elliott, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, and Paul Gleason, created one of the best comedies to come out that decade, and demonstrated why Eddie Murphy would go on to become one of the top stars of the 80s. Also featuring cameos by Bill Cobbs, Bo Diddley, Jim Belushi, Tom Davis, and Al Franken (yes, Senator Al Franken), this modern twist on the Prince and Pauper stands still as one of the top comedies of all times!
Episode 51 is the second in the sequence of disaster films, this time from the 1990s. Directed by Jan de Bont, and written by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin, 1996's "Twister" is a disaster film set in the heartland of America, in what is commonly called "Tornado Alley!" Starrring Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, Cary Elwes, Jamie Gertz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lois Smith, and Alan Ruck, the story centers on Jo (Hunt) and Bill (Paxton), a former couple and storm-chasers both, coming back together so that Bill can get Jo to sign his divorce papers. She, and her crew, are still traveling the roads of America, trying desperately to learn more about these disasters and how to predict them. And while the trio have radically different attitudes on the quality of the film, the majority agree that it's a fun popcorn-movie of the disaster genre! Plus, at the end Buddy, Chad, and Jeff discuss which two films made the cut for episodes 52 and 53 from the catalog of Eddie Murphy!
Episode 50! This episode begins our look at disaster movies with one of the few (perhaps the only) to ever be nominated for best picture, 1974's "The Towering Inferno!" Written by Stirling Silliphant, based on two different novels, and film also featured two directors: John Guillermin and Irwin Allen himself (who directed all of the action sequences in the film)! Starring Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Jennifer Jones, O.J. Simpson, Robert Vaughn, and Robert Wagner, this story explores what happens to a 130+ story building when fire breaks out and the sprinkler systems don't work! At over two-and-a-half hours, this is truly one of the most epic disaster films made to date, and with this cast, you know there are great stories from the production as well!
Episode 49 is the second half of our look at later Disney films, this time with the truly ground-breaking animated film "Lilo and Stitch" from 2002! Although it was almost entirely traditional cell animation, the storyline and depictions in this film took Disney places none of their films had explored before. From having a broken, dysfunctional family at the center of the story, to its theme of "ohana," to its more realistic (and completely non-traditional for Disney) depictions of its characters, this is a moving story with unusual depth. Directed and written by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, and starring the voices of Daveigh Chase, Chris Sanders, Tia Carerre, David Ogden Stiers, Kevin McDonald, Ving Rhames, Zoe Caldwell, Jason Scott Lee, and Kevin Michael Richardson, this film delivers all the fun and sentiment we've come to expect from "the mouse!" And at the end, Buddy, Chad, and Jeff reveal which films in the "Disaster" genre they'll be tackling for episodes 50 and 51!
The second part of our look at John Landis-directed Eddie Murphy starring vehicles focuses on a film whose orignal story was also written by Eddie! Join Chad, Buddy, and Jeff, as they look back at 1988's "Coming to America," the first romantic comedy starring Eddie Murphy, and the first film to feature Murphy (and co-star Arsenio Hall) in multiple roles within the same film. Backed up by greats James Earl Jones, Madge Sinclair, and John Amos, and co-starring Shari Headley, Eriq La Salle, Louis Anderson, Allison Dean, and featuring a very early appearance by none other than Samual L. Jackson, this was the movie that proved that Eddie Murphy could handle more than broad comedy. Indeed, he's practically regal as an African prince, in New York, looking for love! Plus, find out what "millennial anxiety" produced at the end of the 90s, and which examples the guys will be reviewing in episodes 54 and 55! 
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