I can’t think of the last time I had so much of a purely enjoyable cinematic experience as seeing Dolemite is my Name with a huge crowd. There won’t be a funnier movie released this year. Unfortunately, you probably won’t be seeing it in a theater because it is not even playing in many theaters here in Los Angeles. It’s in just one theater.
It’s funny that people say why certain films should be seen on the big screen because of they are Cinematic. I would argue that the only film I’ve seen this year that MUST be seen in a theater is Dolemite. Why, because it’s a movie about movies and a movie about movie audiences – and that makes it, ultimately, a movie about shared experiences AT the movies. There is nothing better for the soul than sitting in the dark, in a room full of people laughing their asses off. Go, if you can, to see it with a lot of people.
Anyway – what a drag. I’m sure it will be just as good at home, on TV, but it is built for a big audience, that’s all I know. Oh well, for now we’ll just pretend you’ll have a chance to see it on the big screen SOMEDAY.
Here’s David Edelstein writing for Vulture:
Everything clicks in the comedy Dolemite Is My Name — it’s almost alarming how easily, breezily, larkishly the film goes down. Eddie Murphy plays the comedian and singer Rudy Ray Moore, who arrested a mid-career fade-out in the 1960s by developing an alter ego called “Dolemite,” a pimp, libertine, and fabulist with roots in black American folklore. The movie, directed by Craig Brewer from a script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, connects Moore’s obscurity in early scenes to the passing of an era. The old-style vaudeville houses have closed and are decaying along with the cities surrounding them. What turns people on now are outlaws. Heroes aren’t just hustlers but resplendent hustlers, colorfully flouting the old, accommodationist ways. If the system is crooked, they’ll be crookeder — joyously, filthily, libidinously so. So, Dolemite is commercial dynamite.
And here is Stephanie Zacharek for TIME:
Dolemite Is My Name, starring Eddie Murphy as real-life comedian, proto-rapper and Blaxploitation star Rudy Ray Moore, is one of the great movies about entrepreneurship, a story about making something happen even when everyone tells you it’s impossible. More specifically, it’s a story of black entrepreneurship, about ownership and creativity blossoming even in a society determined to hold certain people back. The title itself, declarative and definitive, is a shout of confidence. Dolemite Is My Name leaves you wanting to go out and make something—a poem, a painting, a piece of music—even just for yourself, to leave your mark on the world.
And she closes her review this way:
Dolemite Is My Name is a splendid entertainment, but it’s wrapped around a very serious idea. How does anything of worth—a book or a business, a piece of music or a movie—ever get made? Writer, director and actor Robert Townsend financed his sharp 1987 satire Hollywood Shuffle largely using his own credit cards. Ava DuVernay was a film publicist and maker of documentary and microbudget films before she was tapped to direct Selma. Rudy Rae Moore put everything on the line to make a movie that might never have seen the light of day. But Dolemite lives. You can watch it today, laughing at its brazen, ultra-fake violence, at Moore’s shaky amateur karate kicks, at the almost quaint obviousness of its gratuitous female nudity—it’s a given that its sexual politics are outmoded. But Dolemite’s “Hey, guys, let’s make a movie!” spirit should never go out of fashion. Dolemite Is My Name and Eddie Murphy’s performance in it are a celebration of that powerhouse vibe. Now go out and make something.
In the film, much is made of how you either got the joke of Dolemite or you didn’t (mostly black audiences did, white audiences didn’t) and with this film, I figure, you either get why it’s a big deal or you don’t. These two critics definitely got it.
So yeah, we all checked out you LOVE Eddie Murphy and it seems clear that you are rooting for him to win… still…
… this kind of actors, win in Supporting (Robin Williams, look no further).
… Netflix is going to go for De Niro, really quite obviously, given that The Irishman is scoring raves as Marty’s best, and the narrative to make good ol’ Bobby join the 3 Oscars club along Jack and Meryl and Daniel, is too good to dismiss
I still think it is Phoenix vs Banderas, then De Niro. Murphy nominated would be a surprise to me. A win, at this point of the race, before any precursor beyond the film festivals, seems an extreme longshot.
In many ways this is the best movie of the year! Just saying…
Just saw it in Memphis. Craig Brewer was in the mothefucking house. Dope atmosphere. Eddie Murphy gave his best performance ever. Just fun and inspiring material.
Don’t underestimate the significance of Murphy burying the hatchet with SNL and agreeing to host in December (right before the nominating ballots go out). He goes out and blows the roof off that nomination is his
I 100% agree!!!
It’s not in Chicago, at least not at my neighborhood. Somebody slap Netflix.
It’s like someone has completely missed the point of the film. What is Netflix playing at? out of all their awards contenders, this is film the one that will have the largest appeal at the cinema. I wasn’t sure before but now I am desperate to see it. But, sadly, it won’t be at the cinema.
I don’t — and won’t– have Netflix. And I can’t rent it on AMZ Prime, like I can all the cable shows.
Now I’m more excited to see this movie. I’ve got a ticket to see it at the film fest 919 next week.
People say all of Netflix’s good films should be seen on the big screen, especially the ones featuring action sequences (The Irishman, The King, etc.) But I’m not sure if Netflix wants people to rush out to cinemas to see their films, even if that is best for the films.
The line “you either get why it’s a big deal or you don’t” is also true of some other Netflix films this year. I’m looking forward to seeing all six of them, although sadly I won’t get to see all of them on the big screen. I hope I can “get why” in this case.
Edit: The first film to be released on Netflix will be The Laundromat, on Oct 18th.
The Laundroma is getting bad reviews from our local critic. I hate Netflix.
Their distribution model is a subject of big debate. I find Netflix convenient, and you say you have Amazon Prime, which is pretty much the same thing, but from a rival company.
Whatever you feel about Netflix, it’s a fact that some of the strongest films this year are going to be released on Netflix soon. The Laundromat may be getting mixed reviews, but it will be followed in chronological order by Dolemite Is My Name, The King, The Irishman, Marriage Story and finally The Two Popes. I wouldn’t want to miss all of those.