Eddie Murphy Retiring? Dismisses Beverly Hills Cop 4
We all know that Eddie Murphy will end up on screen again—whether as a jivin’ animal, an obese person near a pool, in a third sequel to June ’09’s awful-sounding NowhereLand, or (hail mary) Inglorious Bastards. But the man who made Buckwheat even bunnier just announced to Extra (classy) that he’s throwing in the towel when it comes to feature films…
“I have close to 50 movies and it’s like, why am I in the movies?” he said, adding, “I’ve done that part now. I’ll go back to the stage and do standup.”
All for it. A (hypothetical) HBO-special with a rowdy blessing from Chris Rock is just what the guy needs. But what about Murphy’s planned Beverly Hills Cop 4 with Brett Ratner and a poor guy dressed up as “PG” who’s contractually obligated to wave and wave…
Murphy, 47, said that while a “Beverly Hills Cop 4″ flick was in the works, he didn’t want to do it, because “the movie wasn’t ready to be done.”
But will he still put on his Axel Foley body suit anyhow? Murphy’s tiny alien family comedy, Meet Dave (above), opens and possibly flops on July 11th, and he’s currently filming A Thousand Words with Brian Robbins, who directed Meet Dave and Norbit and, uh, Good Burger and The Show concert film with Biggie Smalls. Yeah, it’s probably hopeless, unless there’s a Rosetta Stone for the F-word. Oh yeah, it’s called Eddie Murphy Raw. Hopeless.
via FirstShowing
FTW: Eddie Murphy’s Head Entertains L.A. Commuters. Meet Dave to Out-Suck Love Guru?
Doc’s De Lorean. KITT. Tony Stark’s Audi R8. Eddie Murphy’s Head. Dream Vehicles. In a Hail Mary for the ages, 20th Century Fox has that thing above cruising around the West Coast in hopes that it will make people pay to see Murphy in next month’s mini-alien bonanza, Meet Dave. I saw the trailer for this $100 million movie a couple nights ago while sunburnt/drunk, and convinced myself without any trouble that it was the sequel to The Adventures of Pluto Nash. Potential Epic FAIL brewing: Love Guru, prepare to be the catcher. Sidenote: I’m not a fan of nightmarish car crashes, but the images filling my head right now are worthy of eight Shane Black clones.
A studio rep nicely justified its existence today to an elated Nikki Finke…
“Yeah, but it’s a lot cheaper and greener than flying Eddie around on a private jet for a press tour.”
Juliette Binoche Biography
This radiantly appealing lead of international films first gained American audiences’ attention as the sexually repressed Tereza in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” (1988), Philip Kaufman’s adaptation of Milan Kundera’s mediation on freedom, sex and love. The raven-haired Juliette Binoche provided the emotional center to that film, as she has with most of those in which she has appeared. Since winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1996 for “The English Patient”, she has divided her time between stage and screen, working predominantly in English in the former medium and in her native French in the latter.
The daughter of a theatrical director and an actress, Binoche first developed an interest in the stage while attending school. She began her career as a teenager, appearing in productions of Moliere, Ionesco and Pirandello before segueing to the big screen with a small role in the 1983 feature “Liberty Belle”. Although she did not win the lead role in Jean-Luc Godard’s “Hail Mary/Je vous salue, Marie” (1985), Binoche impressed the writer-director enough for him to create the role of Joseph’s jealous former lover especially for her. That same year, she landed her first starring part in Andre Techine’s erotic drama “Rendezvous” and went on to deliver a series of impressive performances, most notably in Leos Carax’s drama “Bad Blood/Mauvais Sang” (1986).
After her initial impact in “Unbearable Lightness”, Binoche returned to France and committed three years to filming Carax’s operatic and visually stunning “Les Amants du Pont-Neuf/The Lovers on the Bridge” (1991). As a runaway artist slowly going blind, the actress turned in a beautifully rendered performance that meshed with Denis Levant’s work as her homeless lover. (Binoche also created several of the paintings used in the film.) In her first foray in American television, she turned in a heart-wrenching performance as a young Polish prostitute befriended by Scott Glenn (as a thinly veiled Henry Miller) in the Mike Figgis-directed segment of HBO’s “Women & Men II” (1991). Binoche further enhanced her reputation in the early 90s by appearing as a woman who begins a sexual relationship with a politician — who happens to be the father of her fiancé — in “Damage” (1992) and garnered raves, including a Best Actress trophy at the Venice Film Festival, for her work as a wife and mother coping with the aftermath of a tragic accident in “Blue” (1993), the first installment of Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski’s French trilogy “Trois Couleurs”, (The actress reprised the role in the other parts of the triptych, 1994’s “Red” and “White”.) In Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s sumptuous period drama “The Horseman on the Roof/Le Hussard sur le toit” (1995), Binoche was convincing as a restless married noblewoman and she and co-star Olivier Martinez created a palpable erotic tension without a love scene.
Binoche was Cathy to Ralph Fiennes’ Heathcliff in a remake of “Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights”, which was lambasted by European critics in its 1992 theatrical release but lauded by US critics in its premiere on TNT in 1994. She was again cast alongside Fiennes in Anthony Minghella’s beautifully realized adaptation of “The English Patient” Her Hana, a Canadian nurse tending to a wounded stranger during WWII, was another in the line of Binoche heroines that projected emotional vulnerability and formed the nucleus of the feature’s action.
Following her Oscar win, Binoche seemingly disappeared from American movie screens but the luminous actress remained occupied on stage (in London in “Naked” in 1997 and on Broadway in “Betrayal” in 2000) and films shot in France. She reunited with Andre Techine to portray a strong-willed musician who falls in love with a slightly disturbed younger man in “Alice et Martin” (1998). Binoche is one of the rare actresses who is capable of portraying contemporary or historical figures with equal aplomb. In most cases, she is also able to create a tangible chemistry with the men cast opposite her in romantic leads, and this ability helps to provide a more satisfying experience for the audience. A choice example is her turn opposite Daniel Auteuil in the period drama “La Veuve de St. Pierre/The Widow of St. Pierre” (2000), directed by Patrice Leconte. With a chameleonic grace, Binoche makes her character’s love for her husband (Auteuil) so plausible, one almost forgets one is watching a film. Similarly, in “Chocolat” (also 2000), she and Johnny Depp (as an Irish rover) create an appreciable adult relationship. “Chocolat” also marked her return to English-language films and her turn as an itinerant candy maker who has a magical effect on the residents of a sleepy village allowed her to demonstrate her gifts for comedy. Even those critics who were unimpressed with the film could not ignore this gifted performer’s incandescence.
Binoche then starred in the drama feature “Children Of The Century†(released in the U.S. in 2002), playing famed 19th century French author George Sand who smoked cigars and dressed as a man to get her novels sold—a performance that ranks among her best. She then appeared opposite Jean Reno in the charming romantic comedy, “Jet Lag†(2003), playing Rose, a beautician who summons the courage to leave her abusive boyfriend and take a seasonal job at a Mexican resort. While delayed at a Paris airport, the chatty and extroverted Rose meets mild-mannered Felix (Reno), an encounter that leads to an unexpected romance. Binoche then starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson in John Boorman’s romantic drama, “In My Country†(2005). Binoche played a South African poet who butts heads with a Washington Post reporter (Jackson) over his bitterness and racial agenda—though the two fall in love despite both being married. “In My Country†was dismissed by critics for being too pedantic, while Binoche’s French accent was cited as being distracting for someone portraying an Afrikaner. Binoche was roundly praised for the otherwise critically polarizing “Bee Season” (2005), as the dissatisfied scientist mother of a spelling be champ and wife of a Jewish religious studies professor (Richard Gere) who reacts to her daughter’s success by retreating further into herself, into the grip of a mysterious series of behaviors, and becomes more and more psychologically unstable.
- Born:
on 03/09/64 in Paris, France - Job Titles:
Actor, Cashier
Family
- Daughter: Hana Binoche Magimel. born on December 16, 1999; father, Benoit Magimel
- Father: Jean-Marie Binoche. separated from Binoche’s mother c. 1968
- Half-brother: Camille Humeau. born c. 1978
- Mother: Monique Stalens. of Polish-Flemish descent; separated from Binoche’s father c. 1968
- Sister: Marion Stalens. born c. 1962
- Son: Raphael Binoche Halle. born on September 2, 1993; father, Andre Halle
Significant Others
- Companion: Andre Halle. father of Raphael; lived together 1991-93
- Companion: Benoit Magimel. born in May 1974; co-starred in “Les Enfants du siecle” (1999); father of Hana
- Companion: Daniel Day-Lewis. had brief relationship during filming of “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”
- Companion: Leos Carax. born on November 22, 1960; together 1987-91; directed Binoche in “Bad Blood” (1986) and “Les Amants du Pont-Neuf” (1991); Binoche has stated the “intensity” of working together caused their relationship to end
- Companion: Olivier Martinez. born on January 12, 1966; met during filming of “Horseman on the Roof”; no longer together
Education
- Paris Conservatoire, Paris, France, 1981
Milestones
- 1979 Moved from the French countryside to Paris with her older sister at age 15 (date approximate)
- 1983 Film debut in small role in Pascal Kane’s “Liberty Belle”
- 1985 Appeared in “Hail Mary/Je vous salue, Marie” in a role specifically written for her by Jean-Luc Godard
- 1985 First leading role in features in “Rendez-vous”, directed by Andre Techine
- 1986 First collaboration with Leos Carax, “Mauvais sang/Bad Blood”
- 1988 English-language acting debut as Tereza in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”, helmed by Philip Kaufman
- 1991 American TV debut in Mike Figgis’ segment of the HBO production “Women & Men II”
- 1991 Starred in Carax’s “Les Amants du Pont-Neuf/The Lovers on the Bridge”; completed after three years of filming due to financing problems; not released theatrically in the USA until 1999
- 1992 Portrayed a woman who begins a sexual relationship with the father of her fiance in “Damage”
- 1992 Starred opposite Ralph Fiennes in remake of “Wuthering Heights”; film released theatrically in Europe to mostly negative reviews and low box-office; aired in USA on TNT in 1994 under the title “Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights”
- 1993 Cast as Julie, a woman coping with the aftermath of a tragic automobile accident in “Blue”, the first in a trilogy directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski; later reprised role in the second and third parts, “Red” and “White” (both 1994)
- 1995 Dropped out of filming Claude Berri’s “Ils partirant dans l’ivress/Lucie Aubrac” due to creative differences with the director; replaced by Carole Bouquet
- 1995 Named spokesmodel for Lancome
- 1996 Reteamed with Fiennes in Anthony Minghella’s “The English Patient”; earned Best Supporting Actress Oscar playing Hana, a Canadian nurse tending to the titular character, a burn victim played by Fiennes
- 1998 Made British stage acting debut in “Naked” by Luigi Pirandello
- 1998 Starred as a musician who embarks on an affair with a younger man in Andre Techine’s “Alice et Martin”; released in USA in 2000
- 1999 Portrayed George Sand in Diane Kurys’ “Les Enfants du siecle”
- 2000 Broadway debut in revival of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal”; acted alongside Liev Schreiber and John Slattery; earned Tony nomination
- 2000 Had lead role as an actres in “Code Unknown”
- 2000 Starred opposite Johnny Depp in “Chocolat”, directed by Lasse Hallstrom; received a Best Actress Oscar nomination
- 2000 Teamed on screen for the first time with Daniel Auteuil in the period drama “La Veuve de Saint Pierre/The Widow of St. Pierre”, directed by Patrice Leconte
- 2002 Starred in the drama “Children of The Century”
- 2003 Co-starred in the high-flying romantic comedy “Jet Lag”
- 2005 Co-starred with Richard Gere in the family drama “Bee Season”
- 2005 Starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson, as an Afrikaans poet in “Country of My Skull”
- 2005 Starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson, as an Afrikaans poet in “In My Country”
- Began acting in school productions
- Cast in Anthony Minghella’s ensemble “Breaking and Entering” (lensed 2005)
- Had early TV credits in the French productions “Dorothee ou la Danseuse de Fil” and “Fort Bloque”
- Worked onstage in France in productions including “Henry IV” and Moliere’s “The Imaginary Invalid”