Los Angeles Times - 04.10.2019

LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019E7

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“EVERYTHING YOU

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ENTERTAINING

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HARPER’SBAZAARFRANCES HEDGES

“DEVILISHLY DIFFICULT

TO RESIST”

KENNETH TURAN

© 2019 FOCUS FEATURES LLC.

FOCUS FEATURESPRESENTSIN ASSOCIATION WITHPERFECT WORLD PICTURESACARNIVAL FILMSPRODUCTION“DOWNTON ABBEY”HUGH BONNEVILLE

THEMATIC ELEMENTS, SOMESUGGESTIVE MATERIAL, ANDLANGUAGE DIRECTEDBYMICHAEL ENGLER

JIM CARTER MICHELLE DOCKERYELIZABETH MCGOVERNMAGGIE SMITH IMELDA STAUNTONPENELOPE WILTON MARK HUBBARD

CO-

PRODUCER JOHN LUNN

MUSIC

BY

BEN SMITHARD,BSC

DIRECTOR OF

ANNA MARY SCOTT ROBBINS PHOTOGRAPHY

COSTUME

DESIGNER DONAL WOODS

PRODUCTION

MARK DAY DESIGNER

EDITED

BY NIGEL MARCHANTBRIAN PERCIVAL

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CHECK DIRECTORIES FOR SHOWTIMES • NO PASSES ACCEPTED

AT THE MOVIES

Filling a vacancy at the
top of one of its most critical
ventures, the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sci-
ences announced Thursday
that Bill Kramer will take
the reins as the new director
of the organization’s long-
awaited film museum.
Kramer, who served as
managing director of devel-
opment and external rela-
tions of the Academy Muse-
um from 2012 to 2016, will be-
come the museum’s new
leader beginning Jan. 1 and
will oversee the final phase of
its completion toward its
planned opening some time
next year. He steps in for for-
mer museum director Kerry
Brougher, who unexpect-
edly stepped down after five
years steering the project to
return to his roots in the art
world.
“Bill’s experience and in-
fluence in the worlds of de-
sign, culture, and academia,
coupled with his institu-
tional knowledge of the mu-
seum, position him as an
ideal leader to guide the mu-
seum to its opening and be-
yond,” Ron Meyer, chair of
the Academy Museum
board of trustees and vice

chairman of NBCUniversal,

said in a statement.

Given the many hurdles

the $388-million, Renzo Pia-

no-designed museum at

Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire

Boulevard has faced over

the years — including cost

overruns, fundraising lags,

competing visions and nu-

merous delays — the selec-

tion of an insider who’s al-

ready deeply familiar with

its particular challenges

likely appealed to those in

the organization who are

looking for a steady hand.

During his earlier tenure

at the Academy Museum,

Kramer — who most re-

cently served as vice presi-

dent of development at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music

— served as the chief plan-

ning, public relations, ad-

vancement, exhibitions and

government relations officer

for the museum’s pre-con-

struction phase, raising $250

million for the project’s con-

struction and managing the

complex approvals process.

“We are all very enthusi-

astic about working with Bill

again,” Dawn Hudson, the

academy’s chief executive,

said in a statement. “He was

an early leader of this project

— a visionary who shep-

herded the initial design and

construction process, and

helped define the Academy

Museum’s identity... We’re

confident he will inspire our

creative teams and lead the

Academy Museum to suc-

cessful completion.”

“I have a deep connection

to the Academy Museum,”

Kramer offered in his own

statement. “I am so looking

forward to working again

with the museum’s creative

teams, staff, and partners as

we prepare to open the doors

of our spectacular campus.

As I felt when I helped to

launch this project, I am

confident that we are build-

ing the world’s greatest mu-

seum experience dedicated

to movies.”

The Academy Museum

brings in a familiar face

BILL KRAMERreturns

to lead the museum he

worked on 2012-2016.

AMPAS

By Josh Rottenberg

were well made but because
audiences enjoyed that they
weren’t.
Since Murphy continues
to command a large and
loyal show business follow-
ing, the top-flight talent
backing up the star includes
Keegan-Michael Key, Mike
Epps and Wesley Snipes,
with key cameos by Chris
Rock and Snoop Dogg.
Just like his fellow bar-
gain-basement movie-busi-
ness striver Ed Wood (Al-
exander and Karaszewski
were hired in part because
of their work on Tim Bur-
ton’s 1994 biopic), Moore be-
lieved himself destined for
greatness, trusting that his
tireless zeal would over-
come whatever he lacked in
ability and talent.
So in its own cracked
way, “Dolemite” is a tribute
to the American dream,
to never-say-die individuals
impervious to criticism who
end up bending the world to
their particular visions.
And, in the same way
that “Once Upon a Time ...
in Hollywood” is Quentin
Tarantino’s love letter to
late 1960s Hollywood,
“Dolemite” is an affection-
ate valentine to that 1970s
blaxploitation world, com-
plete with female nudity,
male gazing, dead-on cos-
tumes (by “Black Panther”
Oscar winner Ruth E. Cart-
er) and sharp production
design (Clay Griffith).
“Dolemite” is also a rare
opportunity for Murphy to
combine his dazzling comic
delivery of wave after wave
of hard-core cursing with
the desire he’s demon-
strated — most effectively
in his Oscar-nominated
role in “Dreamgirls” — to do
roles that include drama-
tic elements.
“Dolemite” begins with
Moore at a career cross-
roads, wondering “how’d
my life get so small?” de-
spite his big ambitions to be
a successful singer. Hadn’t
he worked side by side with
the legendary Redd Foxx?
Yes, it had been in a kitchen,
but still.
Currently the assistant
manager of Dolphin’s of
Hollywood, a celebrated
South-Central record store,
Moore can’t even persuade
the store’s in-house DJ
Roj (Snoop Dogg) to play
his records.
“Sometimes our dreams
don’t come true,” Roj tells
him, but Moore — though
he’s lost a step and begun
to develop a noticeable gut
— declares the film’s theme
when he insists “They still
can.”
Then fate, in the guise of
panhandler Ricco (an ex-
pert Ron Cephas Jones),
steps inside the store. Con-
sidering himself “a repos-
itory of African American
folklore, not a hobo,” Ricco
launches into a series of
profane rhyming mono-
logues, sometimes known
as toasts, a traditional ver-
bal style that influenced
everyone from Muhammad

Ali to early rappers.

While his friends think

“those old slave jokes” are

outmoded, Moore, believing

“funny is funny,” sees an

opportunity and crafts

the stand-up comedy char-

acter of a pimp named

Dolemite who talks that

particular talk.

When his routines prove

too raunchy for radio play or

conventional record stores,

Moore records a concert

in his apartment and sells

the plain brown wrapper-

clad discs from the trunk

of his car.

More than that, he takes

his show on the road to the

African American clubs

known collectively as the

Chitlin Circuit, where he

meets a kindred spirit

named Lady Reed (Da’Vine

Joy Randolph), who be-

comes his protégé.

But wait, there’s more.

Insisting, “I want the world

to know I exist,” Moore is

struck by the off-the-wall

notion that he should be a

movie star.

And despite the absence

of acting experience or

apparent ability, Moore en-

lists his closest friends

(Epps, Craig Robinson and

Tituss Burgess) to help

make the film he calls

“Dolemite” a reality.

The smoothest of talk-

ers, Moore also persuades

unlikely collaborators like

socially conscious play-

wright Jerry Jones (Key)

and established actor

D’Urville Martin (Snipes) to

help him realize his vision

of an audience-friendly

film filled with “pimps,

whores, cussing and an all-

girl kung fu army.”

Clearly, Rudy Ray Moore

was sui generis, and Mur-

phy, who became friends

with the man (who died in

2008), has been able to con-

vey everything from Moore’s

scalding humor to the poi-

gnant battles he had with

the memory of a father

who loved him not. As re-

turns to the comedy spot-

light go, they don’t get much

funnier than this.

‘Dolemite Is

My Name’

Rating:R for pervasive

language, crude sexual

content and graphic nudity

Running time:1 hour, 58

minutes

Playing: Laemmle Monica,

Santa Monica; iPic, West-

wood; Alamo Drafthouse,

Los Angeles; New Beverly,

Los Angeles. Streaming on

Netflix Oct. 25

Eddie Murphy’s back in comedic glory

“DOLEMITE IS MY NAME,”with Eddie Murphy, center, is a tribute to never-say-die individuals impervious to criticism, critic writes.

Photographs byFrançois DuhamelNetflix

WESLEY SNIPESis

among the top-flight

talent backing Murphy.

[‘Dolemite,’from E1]