Top 10

Eddie Murphy is an arresting ‘Beverly Hills Cop’

BY JAY BOBBIN

An immediate breakout talent on “Saturday Night Live,” Eddie Murphy teamed with Nick Nolte and Dan Aykroyd for early movie successes, but “Beverly Hills Cop” rested squarely on his shoulders.

The 1984 action-comedy – which Cinemax shows along with the two sequels as a Thanksgiving feast Thursday, Nov. 25 – was an enormous hit that left no doubt that Murphy had arrived on the big screen. Envisioned earlier as a project for such performers as Mickey Rourke and Sylvester Stallone, the final version wisely left plenty of room for Murphy’s brand of improvisational humor. And even if it wasn’t really improvised, it sure felt that way, playing right into the Murphy style.

The actor-comedian plays fast-talking Detroit police detective Axel Foley, who goes AWOL to California to get to the bottom of a longtime friend’s murder. He’s very clearly a fish out of water, and his manner of playing by his own rules greatly worries the Beverly Hills lieutenant (Ronny Cox) and police partners (Judge Reinhold, John Ashton) who end up keeping an eye on Foley as he continually rocks the figurative boat.

Fortunately, the visitor has another friend (Lisa Eilbacher) who’s on the West Coast, but her employer is a gallery owner (Steven Berkoff) who may have something to do with the death in question. Jonathan Banks, more recently known for “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” makes his presence known with few words as the possible villain’s henchman.

In fact, though it’s a star vehicle for Murphy, “Beverly Hills Cop” is very generous in giving supporting players their moments under the direction of Martin Brest (“Midnight Run,” “Scent of a Woman”). Another great example of that is Bronson Pinchot, priceless in his moments as forked-tongue gallery worker Serge, who alternately confounds and amuses Foley.

Another strength of “Beverly Hills Cop” is its hitdriven soundtrack led by Glenn Frey’s theme song “The Heat Is On.” The Pointer Sisters had a huge success with “Neutron Dance,” and composer Harold Faltermeyer even scored on the charts with his “Axel F” instrumental.

While Murphy hasn’t blazed as brightly at the box office in a while, there’s been talk for some time of his returning in a “Beverly Hills Cop 4,” which currently is set up as a direct-to-streaming Netflix project. Whether or not that ultimately comes to be, he’ll always be able to count the original film as one of the top victories in his career ... and it hasn’t lost any of its sizable entertainment value over the better part of 40 years.

Eddie Murphy’s Top 10 Movies

BY JAY BOBBIN

“Dolemite Is My Name” (2019): Murphy earned raves for what many deemed his big-screen comeback, the biography of Rudy Ray Moore, who transformed his career in comedy and rap into that of a martial-artsmovie star.

“Dreamgirls” (2006): An Oscar nomination came Murphy’s way for his performance as an R&B music impresario in this screen version of the Supremes-inspired stage hit.

“Life” (1999): Reteamed from “Boomerang,” Murphy and Martin Lawrence sport plenty of makeup – but also convey aging effectively through their acting and mannerisms – as they play inmates on a prison farm over the span of a half-century.

“Doctor Dolittle” (1998): Another remake made it clear Murphy was no Rex Harrison, but he didn’t have to be as the updated medic who can talk to animals.

“The Nutty Professor” (1996): If anyone was going to try to recapture the Jerry Lewis spirit of multiple personalities, Murphy was the man for this remake, tackling no fewer than seven different roles.

“Boomerang” (1992): This underrated effort to remake Murphy as a romantic lead casts him as a suave advertising man who falls for the assistant (Halle Berry) of his heartless new boss (Robin Givens).

“Coming to America” (1988): As a pampered African prince who leaves home to find a bride in New York, Murphy is pure charm, assisted immensely by Arsenio Hall as his right-hand man. Originally intended for theaters, a Murphy-starring sequel premiered on Amazon earlier this year.

“Beverly Hills Cop” (1984): Murphy had it made in movies – for a while, anyway – after his undeniable star turn as Axel Foley, the fast-talking Detroit police detective who invades Los Angeles to find a friend’s killer.

“Trading Places” (1983): Terrific writing, casting and directing (by John Landis) aid Murphy and fellow “SNL” alum Dan Aykroyd in this modern “Prince and the Pauper” about a privileged stockbroker and a street hustler maneuvered into switching stations in life.

“48 HRS.” (1982): From the moment he’s first seen in a jail cell – crooning The Police’s “Roxanne” at the top of his lungs, as a convict sprung by a weary cop (Nick Nolte) to help find a fugitive – it’s clear Murphy is making a huge leap from “Saturday Night Live” to the big screen.

‘The Katie Button Project’ explores food and how it gets to market

BY GEORGE DICKIE

Katie Button has a deep and abiding appreciation for where food comes from and how it is produced, which is what drove her to make a food/ adventure series upcoming on discovery+.

In the currently streaming “The Katie Button Project,” the awardwinning chef and restaurateur traces how popular ingredients such as fish, beef, cheese and apples make it to market, from the moment they’re harvested through the production process. She also shares her knowledge of cooking techniques like searing or seasoning in the hopes of inspiring others to be more adventurous, curious and creative in the kitchen.

“My favorite thing about cooking,” the Asheville, N.C.-based Button explains, “is cooking something that I don’t usually cook, cooking something new because it’s an experience. ... You know, if it’s cooking rice a different way or trying a different variety or cooking with apples instead of just thinking of them for dessert or as a snack, or playing around with honey and different varieties, I just want to inspire people not only to learn about the passion behind the people producing food in this country – because that is an extremely interesting and important part – but the takeaway is jump in your kitchen and try it out.”

And try it out she does. In the show’s trailer, she’s seen on a commercial fishing vessel off the coast of South Carolina fishing for snowy grouper and golden tilefish. This was no charter boat with many of the comforts of home but a trip in Spartan conditions to the continental shelf 10 hours out in the Atlantic.

After hauling in her catch by rod and reel – “they do a catch-and-reel system because it’s super sustainable,” Button notes – she then prepared a traditional Spanish fisherman’s stew on board.

“My husband’s from Spain and I lived and worked in restaurants in Spain and also worked for (chef ) José Andrés here in the U.S. – that’s where I met my husband,” she says. “And so I made this ... stew made with fresh fish that you catch and some fish stock. And then I added to it – like traditionally you add to it fish liver, which is not something which you can usually get your hands on but since we were on this boat gutting the fish ... I was actually able to do that. It was so neat. (It was) something I never had the opportunity to do to make it in that authentic method using those ingredients. It only happens on a fishing boat.”