James D. Brubaker Dies: Producer On ‘The Right Stuff’, Sylvester Stallone & Eddie Murphy Movies Was 85

How do you make the norm abnormal for the sake of comedy? Interracial/mixed-race families are so ordinary these days (I’m part of one as we speak), but comedy often has to exaggerate our differences to strike at deep laughs that speak to deeper, uncomfortable truths. That’s fair enough, and writer/director Kenya Barris’ (“Black-ish”) well-intentioned family comedy, “You People,” certainly seems to have the plan to use racial misunderstanding, misfires, and mis-intentions, to create a funny, insightful dialogue about families, love, and race in America today.

In a nutshell the brilliantly hilarious, pertinent, and wickedly smart new movie, You People is in some ways a new age Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, that landmark 1967 Tracy-Hepburn-Poitier Oscar winning comedy about the effect an interracial relationship has on the parents of the young couple. Of course back then it was a major social issue and even had trouble booking some southern theatres. The idea was switched in a Bernie Mac/Ashton Kutcher 2005 remake that all those years later did not have the same impact. With anti-semitism and racism back on the rise in 2023 America however the concept of an interracial/interfaith marriage, Black and White, Jew and Muslim, could not be more timely or needed, and in co-star Jonah Hill’s and director Kenya Barris’ whipsmart screenplay is also a knock-you-out-of- your-seat laugh riot. Ironically I saw it this week at its World Premiere at the same Westwood Village theatre where I saw Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner all those years ago. With a packed house the laughter was so continuous and loud for You People it was hard to hear a lot of the lines. When was the last time that happened?

Flavortown fanboy! Guy Fieri has cooked for plenty of famous names over the years, but one celebrity left him more starstruck than usual: Al Pacino.

Edward R. Pressman, the prolific Hollywood indie producer behind Wall Street, Badlands and The Crow, among dozens of others, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 79.

EXCLUSIVE: Ghosts standout Danielle Pinnock has landed a supporting role alongside Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross in the holiday comedy Candy Cane Lane from Prime Video.

Quite the clan! Eddie Murphy has welcomed 10 children over the years — and he’s spoken highly about each member of his blended brood.

Eddie Murphy received a well-earned lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes on Tuesday night — and the funny and charismatic star couldn’t resist using it as an opportunity to make a joke!

It’s not often that Cecil B. DeMille award recipients come backstage at the Golden Globes, but Eddie Murphy did for a brief three minutes.

Eddie Murphy was the recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes on Tuesday for his work in Hollywood. The actor ended his speech with the “blueprint” for up-and-coming actors to achieve success in the industry.

He went there! As Eddie Murphy was honored with the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 80th Golden Globe Awards, he addressed Will Smith’s now-infamous Oscars slap.

Can we finally talk about movies for a minute? I mean, those of us who aren’t full-blown, always on-it awards professionals.

Best known for the television comedies “Black-ish,” “Grown-ish,” and “Mixed-ish,” writer, producer, director, and actor Kenya Barris has had a strong run looking at Black and multiracial families through a comedic lens. He’s done that on the big screen before with the modern version of “Cheaper by the Dozen,” but he really pluses the entire idea with his latest comedy, “You People,” which features an all-star cast for Netflix.

EXCLUSIVE: Jillian Bell (Brittany Runs a Marathon) has been tapped to star alongside Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross in the holiday comedy Candy Cane Lane, which Reginald Hudlin is directing for Amazon.