Eddie Murphy

Actors and Directors Who Trashed the Remakes of Their Classic Movies

Last week, the great (and tragically absent from the screen) Gene Wilder made a rare public appearance at New York’s 92nd Street Y, discussing his retirement from the movies, his distaste for modern “dirty” movies (an odd comment, coming from the co-star of Blazing Saddles), and what Tim Burton and Johnny Depp had done to his most famous role. “I think it’s an insult,” he said of Burton’s 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. “Johnny Depp, I think, is a good actor, but I don’t care for that director. He’s a talented man, but I don’t care for him doing stuff like he did.” Wilder isn’t the only actor or director to speak out against remakes of their work; more on that story, and a few more examples, after the jump. … Read More

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The 10 Best “Credit Cookies” in Movie History

Iron Man 3 is out in theaters tomorrow, and it should come as no surprise that those who are willing to sit through the end credits — and seriously, they run something like ten minutes and include more names than a small-town phone book — will be rewarded with an extra (and very funny) bonus scene. Some call these little bonuses “credit cookies,” others call them “stingers.” In Roger Ebert’s Little Movie Glossary, Serdor Yegulalp dubs them the “Monk’s Reward,” defined thus: “A surprising final line or image, tagged on after the credits have finished rolling… so named because it usually takes monk-like devotion to sit through the credits to get to it.” The previous Marvel movies made a regular habit of including credit cookies, mostly as preparation for The Avengers, but they’re not the only movies to throw in a little something extra for those who stick around to find out who the unit accountant was. (Warning: minor spoilers ahead, but all for movies that have been out for a year or more.) … Read More

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The Most Notorious Feuds in Comedy History

Last night in Beverly Hills, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, and their Wayne’s World director Penelope Spheeris reunited for a screening of that 1992 classic, in what has been reported far and wide as a public “burying of the hatchet.” Great comedy doesn’t always come from harmony; Myers and Spheeris reportedly clashed over her directorial and editing choices (as a result, he demanded she not return for the sequel), while tension was high between Myers and Carvey on set, since Carvey — the bigger star on Saturday Night Live — was playing a decidedly supporting role. Their rift is rumored to have widened in the years after their Wayne’s World collaboration (the bone of contention is whether Myers stole his Dr. Evil character from Carvey). But it was all smiles and laughs and good times at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, and while their conflicts weren’t directly addressed, Spheeris recently shrugged off the feuds, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “We’re all getting too old to pissed.” True enough, but comedians have never exactly been known for their thick skin; here are a few of the most contentious feuds between funny people. … Read More

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Awesome ‘SNL’-Inspired Art From Gallery 1988

Gallery 1988, you’ve done it again. Our favorite pop culture-obsessed art gallery unveiled a new show last weekend, and it’s a doozy: Is This Thing On #2 Too, featuring art inspired by Saturday Night Live, with everyone from Matt Foley to the Blues Brothers to the Church Lady to Toonces the Driving Cat immortalized on canvas (and even in ceramic). After the jump, have a look at some of our favorites for the exhibit — and click on the title of each piece to grab a print of your own via Gallery 1988’s online store. … Read More

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Exclusive Supercut: Very Bad Santas

There’s no single figure more beloved during the Christmas season — and in Christmas movies — than good old Saint Nick. But as the years have passed and times have grown more cynical, the holly jolly Kris Kringles of Miracle on 34th Street have been joined in the cinematic Christmas canon by boozing, screwing, stealing Santas of the Bad Santa ilk. For this special Christmas supercut, we’ve assembled some of the sketchier Saint Nicks of cinematic history; check them all out after the jump. … Read More

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The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

1. Lindsay Lohan was actually pretty funny last night in the “Let Us Play With Your Look” segment on Jimmy Fallon — granted, she didn’t have to say anything. [via Pop Culture Brain]

2. “I just thought it was ridiculous. I mean, I’ve read reviews — there’s good and there’s bad in the… Read More

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Awesome Photos of Comedians Hanging Out Together

From a photo of George Carlin meeting Groucho Marx to a shot of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David (back when he had hair!), we’ve rounded up 25 pictures of our favorite funny people hanging… Read More

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10 Great Multi-Character Movie Performances

In Cloud Atlas, the ambitious adaptation of David Mitchell’s sprawling novel by the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer (out tomorrow), six interlocking but initially unrelated stories are told, decades or even centuries apart, and to further the film’s everything-is-connected theme, the filmmakers had most of their cast take roles — large and small — in each of the stories. Some do it more successfully than others (Hugo Weaving is as versatile as ever, but Tom Hanks’ Cockney gangster is, erm, a bit of a stretch), but it’s an endurance test that actors love to take, the kind of challenge that makes a thesp’s mouth water. Cloud Atlas marks one of the few occasions that multi-role performances (and by that we mean more than two) have been taken on in service of a serious film, however; it’s usually, but not always, a gimmick for character-based comedians. At any rate, we’ve assembled a few of our very favorite performances by actors who decided to flex their chameleon muscles; check them out after the jump. … Read More

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10 Movies That Make Us Miss the Twin Towers

It’s always a bit of a jolt to flip through a photo album or an old high school yearbook and to come upon a picture of someone who’s gone, a beloved relative or a classmate who left before their time — it hits you fast, and, for just a moment, it hurts again, the force of that loss compressed into a single moment of grief. It’s not the exact same feeling, but there’s something like that moment when you watch a movie shot in New York between the 1970s and 2001, and that inevitable shot of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center appears. The towers appeared in literally hundreds of films, sometimes as background, sometimes very active in the onscreen action, but its eventual fate always makes it the foreground object when those films are viewed now. On the eve of this sad anniversary, a look at ten movies that make us miss the World Trade Center even more. … Read More

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Flavorwire’s Guide to Movies You Need to Stream This Week

Welcome to Flavorwire’s streaming movie guide, in which we help you sift through the scores of movies streaming on Netflix, Hulu, and other services to find the best of the recently available, freshly relevant, or soon to expire. This week, we’ve got documentaries, indies, classics, and titles from Louis CK, Steven Soderbergh, Eddie Murphy, Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, Parker Posey, Jane Fonda, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Alicia Silverstone, and Chris Farley; check them all out after the jump, and follow the title links to watch them right now. … Read More

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