990 – Beverly Hills Cop | Tale of the Tape

Episode 990 – Beverly Hills Cop | Tale of the Tape

 

[START OF RECORDING]

 

SCOOTER:    Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and friends beyond the binary, it’s time for the podcaster who’s…I don’t know, patrons, I’m just here.  I’m a little bit warm because it’s a little bit warm outside, but I’m here to keep it…I guess I’m a little bit cozy.  I don’t know if anybody’s listened long enough, patrons…you remember when I met the dog Cozy.  I wonder…I’m wondering how Cozy’s doing.  Shout out to all pets named Cozy, anyone cozy, and cozies everywhere.  This is time for Sleep With Me, patrons, the podcast you make possible.  Let’s get on with the show.

 

INTRO:    [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing?  Trouble getting to sleep?  Trouble staying asleep?  Well, welcome.  This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep.  We do it with a bedtime story.  Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press play.  I’m gonna do the rest.  What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake, whether it’s thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, changes in time or temperature, maybe…so, things on your mind that you’re thinking about, obviously, ‘cause I just started thinking there literally while I was trying to talk to you, and I apologize.

 

That’s why I wanted to bring it up.  I’m sorry, my thoughts started thinking when I was trying to talk and pay attention to you, and it’s not…you know, it’s…it happened, so I wanted to acknowledge it and tell you what I was thinking of was…what I was…this thing said hey, by the way, what are we gonna record tomorrow?  I said, is that not a metaphor for everything in my entire life?  Then I said well, you’re right; what are we gonna record tomorrow?  It said well, we definitely gotta…and I said yeah, I know, I know.  I said well, I don’t…we don’t have it scheduled yet.  I know we have to record tomorrow but I don’t…and it said well, here’s what I’m thinking.  Then I started listening and then I realized…I said wait a second, I’m trying to record a podcast intro and I’m talking.

 

Excuse me, but I’ll have to…maybe later we could talk about this, future recording brain.  So, it happens to me not just at bedtime, but moreso at bedtime.  So, whether it’s something you’re thinking about that catches your attention, something you’re feeling emotionally you’re experiencing, or physically, or it could be something else.  It could be something temporary.  You could have just woke up.  Hey, what’s up?  I’m here to help, so, whatever time it is.  Whether you need a daytime break or extra noise, you’re working, you got the Zoom life going.  I heard that was the least-popular hashtag.  Well, there’s…in my opinion.  Imaginaryhashtagranker.com.  Don’t Google that because it’s imaginary.

 

But I just…it’s a very…I don’t have the whole list but the bottom two were #zoomlife, L-I-F-E, and #zoomlyfe with a Y.  That was out of a…it was only a ten-part list, nine and ten.  Believe it or not, not in that list; #zubalife, because it’s not relevant.  Zuba pants were a form of pants that I’ve talked about on the podcast before.  I think they were…I don’t know what the original…I don’t know their origin story, actually.  I didn’t see the prequel.  Zuba: The Prequel.  But when I was aware of Zuba pants, they were…what are those animals called?  Zebra-style pants but in colors of NFL teams, which would be interesting if you were the Broncos.  Maybe not, ‘cause I guess a bronco and a zebra…but if you were the Bengals, you’d say no, the Bengals, they have good colors, though.

 

Raiders…that was probably the most popular Zuba pant, but…’cause they were…if there was silver and black.  You know what would probably make a nice one, is the Chargers, because those are nice.  I find those soothing colors.  But so, oh boy, how did we get here?  So, whatever’s keeping you awake, whatever…I’m here to take your mind off of stuff and keep you company.  What I’m gonna do is I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night.  I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, superfluous tangents, so, I’m gonna go off-topic, I’m gonna get mixed up, I’m gonna use a lot of filler words, and I’m not gonna make a lot of sense.

 

I’m gonna…yeah, pop culture things from twenty years ago are gonna pop in my mind, and then I’m gonna forget what…forgetting what I was talking about, holy…backtracking, pre…inventing prequels and words and listicles.  I don’t know if that was a listicle.  Is a listicle a partial list?  ‘Cause that was listicle, ‘cause I said well, you only told us nine, ten, and thirty-two; #zubalife.  Also, #zootycoonlife; that one is…didn’t even make the list, so if you…’cause you say well, that game is…I say well, at least I’m getting pop…I’m trying to cover every decade with shout-outs.  So, if you’re new, welcome.  I do want to give you some extra information if you’re new and you’re here.  I really hope this podcast can help you, but I also understand if you’re having a reaction, ‘cause I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night and use creaky, dulcet tones.

 

You say well, I’m not sure about your voice or your personality, and…or this…what you’re…and I say yeah, that’s a very natural…how is this supposed to put me to sleep?  Those are very natural reactions.  Now, I have hundreds of thousands of people that are also listening that are regular listeners that are saying believe me, I felt that way, too.  So, everyone shares your skepticism or your unsurety.  I don’t know what the right word is.  Tentative feelings, I would say.  Usually they’re stronger than tentative because why wouldn’t you be skeptical or doubtful?  You say, a podcast to put me to sleep with creaky, dulcet tones and somebody talking about Zuba pants and whatever the other ones he said…Zoom life.

 

Oh, what I was trying to make my point about Zoom life, was a lot of people are…have been using the podcast as background noise if you have multiple…to give you a layer…you say well, I’m not…I don’t want to listen to that chalkboard session in the other room.  Then the kids at those…in those families, their teachers say is that your male parental figure with those creaky, dulcet…is that a creaky door or a human chattering on and on and on?  Is that a…do you live…is that a drone going by?  No, just a droner, or…I’m a dronee.  So, okay, so, those are things.  Oh, so if you’re new, I want to…if you’re doubtful, of course.  A couple things to know — not right upfront ‘cause that’s too late — that can throw people off; one, this podcast is best consumed loosely.  Like, barely pay attention.

 

If you’re in a position where you’re waiting for me to get started or get to the point, I understand that natural…you say well, that’s how most things happen.  This one is a bit like…you may find yourself having stronger feelings.  Just kinda barely listen to me, a bit like…you’re like, wait a…like you already know me.  I could tell…you could already tell.  Your judgment’s right; this person is not really making a whole lot of sense.  You say well, let me just kinda barely listen to him.  I mean, I do kind of understand Zoom life and I understand…I like the sound of Zuba pants.  Actually, if there was ever a time for Zuba pants to come back…as long as they were at a discount, ‘cause I think when they were popular, they were probably like, twenty, thirty, forty bucks.

 

But you’d say…if they were like, $12, they’re kinda like lounge pants.  You say well, that’s perfect for my Zoom life.  Zuba pants and Zoom life.  I go from Zoom life to Zumba in my Zuba pants all day long.  Zuba pants; two for one.  So nice, Scoots said it more than twice.  Okay, so, if you’re new, just don’t…if you can, just barely pay attention to me.  Just kinda hold me like you were holding a handful of beach sand and let me slowly drift through your fingers.  The other thing is I’m not really here to put you to sleep.  I’m here to keep you company as you drift off.  That’s why the show is over an hour, is so you have plenty of time to fall asleep so there’s no pressure on you to be like okay, I gotta fall asleep soon.  If you can’t sleep, I’ll be here to the very end, so either [00:10:00] way, I’m gonna be talking.

 

Tonight I’ll be covering a 80s movie and trying to remember what I can remember about it.  But so, if you can’t sleep, I’ll be here to the very end.  But you say well, I don’t really need to hear you try to remember a movie plot.  So, yeah, so, those are a couple things to know.  The other thing is…for new people that can throw them off, is the structure of the show.  I’ll give you a…I’ll try to do a quick overview of our structure, then I’ll explain it.  The show starts off with a greeting; ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, friends beyond the binary so that you feel welcome and warm and seen, or cool.  You say well, I feel…it feels breezy in a good way.  I say, great.  Then there’s business.  That’s how we keep the show coming out for free twice a week instead of being behind a paywall.  Then there’s an intro.

 

The intro’s about twelve to twenty minutes long.  Between the business being up front and then the intro kinda feeling like it’s an intro that never…the never-ending intro, it can throw new listeners off, naturally.  But it all serves a purpose.  Then there’s business, then there’s our story or our recap or our misremembering of Eddie…a classic Eddie Murphy movie where, yeah, I guess I get into it in that movie and I say man, Eddie…where Eddie Murphy showed a lot of range in a non-dramatic role.  So, and then there will be thank-yous.  So, that’s the structure of the show.  Oh, so, why is the structure that way?  Well, the greeting’s there so you feel welcome.

 

The business is there so I don’t have to give it to another company, and then the intro…the reason the intro is around twelve to twenty minutes long instead of me just saying welcome to the sleep podcast, badda-bing, badda-boo, then saying thank you…brought to you by Zumba pants and Zoom and Zumba classes and zebras, is…and now you’re gonna go to sleep.  Like, that just doesn’t…has never worked for me or a lot of the listeners.  You say well, those kinda things maybe worked for me once but then as my…I got…I adapted to them and then they never worked again.  Then I was having trouble sleeping again.  What I’ve found with this show is that this…the intro kinda eases you into bedtime, so some listeners start it while they’re getting ready for bed.

 

Some listeners start it while they’re in bed, and then some start it after they’ve gotten comfortable, so that you get some distance from the day.  You could be unwinding or you could start it when you’re already unwound and ready to go to sleep.  Or, the podcasts are totally free, so you could…there’s 2% of people that start it at twenty, twenty-two minutes.  You could just kinda see how it goes and go from there.  So, that’s why the intro’s so long.  For a new listener, it’s like, I’m trying to greet you and give you an idea of what to expect, and you kinda get an honest idea of the kind of nonsense and non…I don’t know if it’s non sequiturs, but something like that that we’ll be dealing with.  So, hopefully that makes sense.  Yeah, and then we’ll talk about it.  I’ll try to remember this movie that meant so much to me.

 

Then the show ends with thank-yous because it’s very important for me to thank…I don’t know, I just like having that.  So, that’s the structure of the show.  The other thing to know is the reason I make the show.  The reason I make the show is twofold; one of the reasons is because I believe you deserve a good night’s sleep.  I believe you have…you deserve a safe place where you could drift off, and I believe that the world will be a better place if you’re rested.  That’s really important to me because it just will be.  It’s just a fact.  If you’re in a little bit better place, the world’s in a better place.  You can live your life fuller.  You say well, then I’m not as tired tomorrow.  That’s pretty good.  The other side of it is I’ve been there.

 

That’s the other reason I make this show, because I know how it feels in the deep, dark night, tossing, turning, Zoom…or during the day having Zoom life.  You say okay, what?  One second, I’m just in…I’m also on a Zoom thing.  You say wow, this is…it’s not easy, is what I’m saying.  If I can help, it’s my honor because I know how it feels after dark.  I don’t know…not the Cinemax kinda after dark; the kinda after dark where you’re tossing, turning, mind racing.  Not the kind that you say after dark.  I mean, maybe if they’re saying it about some sort of dessert product, I probably…you say well, no, I’ve tried that After Dark.  Ice cream after dark?

 

Yeah, I know that, but not after dark.  Our special programming…that’s how they used to do that in the 80s and the 90s, too.  So, that’s why I make the show.  You deserve a good night’s sleep.  I’d like to help because I know what it feels like in the deep, dark night.  I think that’s it.  I’m glad you’re here.  I really hope…I mean, I work really hard, I yearn and I strive.  I really want to help you fall asleep.  I appreciate you coming by and checking this shown out…show out, and here’s a couple ways I’m able to bring it to you twice a week.  Thanks.

 

Alright everybody, it’s Scoots, of course.  I’m here and I’m…tonight I’m gonna talk…it’s gonna be a Tale of the Tape and recently…well, it’s a few months ago for me; I recorded a episode about a movie theatre.  So, I guess you’ll be hearing this a few months after that, but I’m not positive when you’ll be hearing this.  But I talked about this second-run movie theatre that had a huge place in my life.  Maybe I’ve done this movie before, but I can’t picture it.  Now that I’ve done over 900 probably…recorded like, 930 episodes, maybe I have.  So maybe, I don’t know, maybe this will just be a bonus of me trying to remember…but this also happened with The Princess Bride where I said I thought I did this already, but then I said well, I kinda didn’t.  But this is one of the movies that really has a lot of meaning for me.

 

I really love this movie.  It’s been a few years since I rewatched it.  I’m pretty sure I rewatched it since I entered adulthood or sobriety in 2013, but maybe not.  I remember watching it pre-those days, but on a day when I was just kinda kicking back, I guess taking a break between wedding events for one of my brother’s weddings.  So, I don’t know if this was in the turn or the aughts but so, I remember watching this movie then, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it since then.  It is rated R, so I’m not…don’t worry though, if you’re a kid listening.  Oh boy, don’t worry.  But, I just love this movie and it is a movie that…I don’t know.  I guess I’ll get into it and see where things go.  The name of the movie…it’s the original Beverly Hills Cop.  As with most movies that I talk about, I have no idea when it came out.

 

Somewhere between 1987 or ‘6 and 1992, though I’m guessing at the end of the 80s; ‘88 or ‘89.  I do wonder how well this movie stands up.  I guess the movie is…there probably are problematic things that I’m not remembering, but the movie is a little bit about race and systemic racism, so I wonder…I don’t know, I wonder how that’s portrayed.  I just…’cause it’s been a long time.  So, we’ll have to see.  Hopefully…usually the last few times, I rewatched the movie after I’ve recorded these.  I would like to watch it with my daughter.  I don’t know where this lands and…’cause I’m not good with dates, but I would…if I had to say…my personal opinion is this is probably…and maybe, again, it’s just memory, but one of Eddie Murphy’s best performances and actually where he probably doesn’t get enough credit for the amount of range that he shows in a movie.

 

One of the main reasons is he’s a little bit…for most of this movie, I don’t know, I really…’cause I can picture it vividly in my mind.  He has to do a lot of…he has to have a lot more range, and it’s a comedic action role.  I guess for a lot of us, I mean, I know he did Metro.  I remember seeing that.  I don’t remember much about it but it was like…and I don’t know if there was two or three Beverly Hills Cops movies.  I think I was old enough to see 2 in the movie theatre, but 1, I was definitely not…maybe not even 2, or maybe 2 they made into a PG-13 movie.  Again, not sure on any of this stuff.  [00:20:00] But a couple reasons why this movie was a big deal; one, it was R, so I didn’t see it for a while.  Two, it was a very different Eddie Murphy than the Eddie Murphy of the late 80s and the 90s.

 

He was in 48 Hours which I think was before this, and it kinda started to show his range.  His character was similar and different in some ways in that movie.  It showed his confidence.  I guess maybe that’s part of it, is that…it was almost…you could say…you wouldn’t use understated Eddie Murphy, especially 80s, early 90s in a lot of things.  But this was almost an understated role, comparatively, because he was just playing a cop.  I don’t know, I just really think very, very highly of this film.  So, I’m hoping when I rewatch it, I retain that.  I guess you could check with me before you rewatch it and say Scoots, should we rewatch it?  Is it…especially those of you that are younger that have never seen it, or maybe you’re more familiar with the kind of over-the-top Eddie Murphy comedies of the aughts and then…where Eddie Murphy was playing more characters and makeup-based roles and CGI.

 

This was a very young Eddie Murphy but a very handsome, suave…but again, understated…casual-suave, I would say, role.  I don’t know, so, it’s almost like a softer leading man.  I don’t know, for me…you say this is the strangest thing you’ve ever…but very relatable, and I would say much more…I would put it up against a movie that was in a similar time frame of a cop…detective investigating which would be Fletch.  I wonder what…I know the Fletch source material we had at work, so I know that’s based on a book.  I don’t know if Beverly Hills Cop was.  But this one is much more straightforward and it’s very funny, but it…I don’t know.  It’s not forcing the humor forward, and it is a little bit of a social commentary for the 80s.

 

Though, I don’t know, again, since I haven’t seen it in a while, I don’t know how deep about racism and classism…so, if you haven’t watched it, it’s a movie called Beverly Hills Cop.  It came out in the 80s.  That’s kinda all I remember.  The reason it’s…I mean, so…oh, the reasons why it’s so important to me; so, in…so, I saw it in the…I don’t know when I saw it.  Maybe years after it came out, ‘cause it was R and I was a kid, so it was definitely a no-no.  Though now, thinking…remembering the movie, I’m wondering why it was R.  Maybe strong language.  I mean, it definitely had some action sequences, but nothing like what super…I mean, there’s…superhero movies probably have a lot more stuff going on.

 

I mean, I do know that a lot of super…or a lot of the 80s and 90s movies do have a lot stronger language ‘cause…then…I don’t know, I feel like I was just like, holy cow.  I don’t know, maybe there were some other adult sequences.  It’s tough for me to remember.  So, okay…so, the movie takes place…it opens in a very structural way, very similar to popular, really well-done movies today.  It opens very fast, and that’s a plus.  It opens getting to know our hero and putting him in a situation.  Again, what do they…I forgot what they call those.  I don’t know, is it a set piece?  But it opens very quickly.  So, Eddie Murphy is a police officer in Detroit, a detective.  I guess he’s a detective because I said well, let’s see, what is he detecting?

 

But in the beginning of the movie, what he’s detecting is people who would buy a truckload of…what do you call those?  Not counterfeit cigarettes.  Oh, this was…so, this was also a time where everybody smoked.  I don’t know if they smoked on-screen in this movie.  That was already starting to lose traction.  But cigarettes were a lot bigger deal, and they had…they still have a lot of taxes on them.  Back then they probably had less.  They don’t call them counterfeit.  What do you call it when you bring someone…smuggled; cigarette smugglers.  So, he was on…he was…I think he was posing as a cigarette smuggler.  Again, none of this may be accurate.  So, Eddie Murphy was on his own.  He was undercover, so he’s a undercover detective.  So, he’s pretending to…I think he was pretending to be the seller.

 

I’m sure he was working his way up an organization, right, because he was trying to get to the bottom of who was buying this or who was selling this.  I don’t know, I’m pretty sure he was a seller, but because he’s just so funny playing these kind of roles, I feel like he’s improving.  Like, that he’s really a detective and he’s improving being undercover.  So, he’s trying to set up a deal and he’s really close to making the deal happen and catching the smugglers or the smugglees.  It’s a whole truck of cigarettes, so…and why would you smuggle cigarettes, you say?  I say well, taxes, so…I would assume.  These were questions that probably came up as a kid that I had to figure out.  So, if they were in Michigan, maybe the cigarettes were from a state or from Canada where there was less taxes.

 

They said well, we could sell these for much lower.  So, I guess maybe…I don’t know, maybe there’s a tale…maybe there’s a message in there.  No representation without taxation, people.  Come on, no exhalation without some taxation.  But so, I don’t remember what goes wrong.  I can kinda remember…I think he was…maybe he wasn’t; maybe he was just observing, ‘cause I think he had a red…and also, talk about being ahead of times.  People say that the old Social Network was the one that invented wearing hoodies, like hooded sweatshirts, especially zip-up hoodies.  But holy cow, Eddie Murphy was rocking a hoodie sweatshirt through this whole movie.  I think in the beginning of the movie, a red one.

 

Then, I guess trading places is pretty big range, but trading places again is a little bit…that just popped in my head ‘cause I think that’s where he has a red hooded sweatshirt.  But he has a blue one or a black one through most of this film.  It also reminds me of Adam Sandler for some reason, ‘cause you know Adam Sandler’s constantly casually dressed and he kinda says yeah, this is…I get to…this is…I’m wearing what’s comfortable.  So, I don’t know if that was a big deal at the time, where as the lead of this film…I mean, I guess Eddie Murphy really looks stylish, especially in this film, in anything.  But so, so…oh, what I was saying is don’t let…don’t get it twisted that Zuckerberg was the first person to wear a hooded sweatshirt of that fame.  It was Eddie Murphy in…what’s this movie called?

 

Beverly Hills Cop.  Oh, I forgot to fill in…well, I talked about it in another episode, but why this movie was so important.  We’ll get back to the sequence.  We’ll be back to the movie soon.  But so, the reason it was so important; so, where…so, by my house was this theatre, the Genesee Theatre.  I think that’s what it was called.  Yeah, it was in the…yeah, it was the Genesee Theatre, and it showed second-run movies.  It was by my house.  It was also in a plaza where we would go a lot as…we would…we didn’t go grocery shopping at this plaza, but a couple things we would go to; there was a bakery there where you could buy individual-sized pizza doughs.  They were kinda like pizzas; they were half-baked and we would…for a lot of birthday parties, we would buy these little pizza rounds, then everybody would get to make their own pizza and you felt like you did something.

 

That was pretty cool.  Then there was a used bookstore and magazine store that we would go to, at least me and my brother, my dad, maybe my sister.  Me and my brother would go there and get old Mad magazines and Cracked magazines and we would…literally, I guess this is…I guess…maybe did I…I guess maybe I talked about that in the episode.  One of my happiest memories.  Then I think we went [00:30:00] there one time with somebody else who said look at…there’s adult…there’s magazines that kids aren’t supposed to look at right by these kids magazines.  That became a little bit distracting ‘cause I said…’cause you could go there…this was really a used book and…I don’t know if they had comics.  But we could buy Mad magazines from like, five to ten years earlier for nothing, including the specials.

 

It was just the greatest thing.  Then we could read those all summer long or all break, and Cracked.  A lot of times we didn’t even know…we didn’t know what half the jokes meant.  Sometimes there would be National Lampoons in there, but those were definitely for older kids.  But they’d be like, TV shows that would already have been canceled or that we didn’t watch, like Magnum P.I.  But maybe something that’s canceled that we didn’t watch, I don’t know, like Falcon’s Crest.  But also, that’s where the theatre was, and so…and I’m positive about this but I’ve never looked it up to find out, but I’m pretty sure that at that movie theatre, Beverly Hills Cop was at that movie theatre.  It felt like for a year and to me, it’s however old I was.

 

I was like, this is the most…gotta be the most successful movie in second-run cinema of all time, because it kinda felt like it was always there.  Other movies would be playing, but they’d have a 10:00 showing on their sign out front and then on their newspaper ad every single week.  Of course, ‘cause I couldn’t see the movie, that…I guess that was…it’s just always…I said, this movie must be amazing.  How come not everybody’s talking about it?  This should be on the…they should be leading on the news.  For some of you, that might sound over-the-top, but I’m not kidding.  I would have thought they’d be like yeah, this is…who was that?  Dan Rather reporting.  We’ve got some stuff about oil and other stuff, but we wanted to lead again with the Beverly Hills Cop Watch.

 

It is still playing at the Genesee Theatre and second and first-run theatres worldwide.  It has generated billions of dollars and is the most beloved film, but it’s still rated R, so kids, you can’t see it.  One day when you’re old enough to see it, it won’t be in the theatres, but don’t worry; they’ll invent this thing called streaming.  So, I just watched a movie that was already the seed…the forbidden fruit, and when I actually tasted the fruit, it was not a let down.  I think it was a while.  Maybe it was that I saw Beverly Hills Cop 2 first and then saw this movie, and I was like holy mackerel.  I’m pretty sure on the poster it’s like…oh, and he also had a…kind of like a varsity jacket, I think, now that I’m picturing Eddie Murphy sitting on the hood of a car just looking cool.  I also accept the fact that all this could be wrong.

 

But so, okay, so, back to the film.  So, there Eddie Murphy is.  Oh, I almost had his name; I forgot the character’s name.  It’ll be interesting me trying to remember anybody’s name.  I can hear his…what do they call that?  His superintendent or whatever yelling at him.  Oh, I almost had it.  I think it’s three syllables.  Well, some of you are already saying Scoots, come on.  Billy?  Is that what it is?  Billy Ridel?  No, that can’t be it.  But so, no, Billy…is Billy the…well, anyway.  So, okay…so, he’s trying to make this deal and then something goes wrong.  Something alerts the non…the smugglers to the fact that he’s on the job.  I’m not sure what it is.  It wasn’t his slip-up, of course.  It was someone else.  Maybe they were listening in or maybe…and then he even tries to ham that up, like…and he says…almost pulls it off.

 

But then of course, there’s a action sequence.  Then we see okay, whoa, this movie’s funny and we have a hero, clearly, and our hero is very confident and skilled but also likeable, and there’s gonna be action.  So, there’s a action sequence with the truck, and he’s in the back of the truck.  I’m sure there’s a car chasing behind.  He’s trying to defuse the situation and eventually he does, and he succeeds.  But he has to do it, of course, in a way that…however he resolves things, a lot of times, is too over-the-top.  So, however he resolved it or whatever tactic…he uses some tactic, of course, that’s not okay with the authority figures.  I’m not exactly sure what it was but so, he goes back to the office.  Of course he’s in with the regular…other working officers and you can see that he’s popular and has a sense of humor or whatever.

 

They say wow, you’re really somebody we look up to.  But then his boss is very upset with him and his boss is very…uses loud words because, you know, this was I guess an 80’s trope, is the cop that can’t follow the rules but gets it done with style.  But this was just…I don’t know, like I said, this had a little bit more range than those tropey movies.  I think it was…personally, I think it was those softer moments which gets followed-up very quickly, and this inquisitiveness, I think with some other strong…of these detective comedy performances that I really like, there is no…it feels like a blank mask, where this character really felt like a human being.  It is ‘cause of those softer moments and it is…what happens is he…I think what happens…I don’t remember; he goes back to his apartment and his buddy’s there or his buddy calls him to get dinner or get some drinks, like his old friend he hasn’t seen in a while.

 

None of this could be correct…I mean, none of this may be correct, but the…at some point…I’m pretty sure he gets there with his friend.  Oh wow, I just remembered some…you know who’s in this movie, is…oh my gosh, holy cow, I just remembered one of the characters in the movie, I’m pretty sure, is one of our friends from Better Call Saul on Breaking Bad.  Now I’m 99.9% positive, but not 100% because there is two sets of villains and then there’s the villains…[inaudible] or whatever, who was…well, we’ll get to it.  I’ll look it up on Wikipedia to resolve some of these questions later.  Okay, so, sorry…I’m so distracted.  So, he meets up with his friend.  Or, yeah, he runs into his friend.

 

I think his friend is at his house or his apartment, or they go out to dinner, and his friend says…they said man, I haven’t seen you in a while.  What’d you show up for?  His friend says well, I miss you, man, and I love you.  Now, he’s Axel Foley…Axel Foley.  You know, Bronson Pinchot is in this movie; I just remembered.  Okay, so, he says…so, Axel’s the one that became a cop, made something of himself.  This is his childhood friend that couldn’t get anything right.  He’s always in trouble.  So, he says what do you got going on, Mikey?  So, he says, what do you got going on?  He says well, look, I found these things when I was working.  I think this is what happens.  He says, you can’t do that.  You gotta bring them back.

 

They’re like…this is the thing; I think they’re German bearer bonds or that’s what I thought they were, bearer bonds, which is I think the same thing that happens in the movie Die Hard.  But I’m not…I guess we’ll have to do that for the holidays.  Yeah, I think that’s what…I thought they were bearer bonds.  Bearer bonds, like the bearer of these bonds gets paid.  Actually, I think they take place in the Jason Bourne books when I was re-reading those.  But so, he says oh boy, and I don’t even know if it happens really fast or takes a while, but all of a sudden the door opens and they…the people that own the bearer bonds say hey, these are our bearer bonds.  They belong to our boss and Mikey shouldn’t have taken them.  It’s Jonathan Banks, beloved actor.  Though, you…I mean, you’d be surprised.  You say whoa, holy cow.

 

So, he…they say…they speak strongly to Mikey and Axel, and I think they get…[00:40:00] it happens fast, so Axel can’t really react or something, and then they say you’re gonna have to come with us, Mikey.  I think then Mikey goes to visit the…he goes…his bearer bond is checked…cashed.  He gets cashed as a bearer bond.  So, then Axel says well…and they just take off, so he says what is this…how did these tough guys just show up?  They sent my friend to cash his bond at the big bond bank in the sky.  They say holy mackerel, I can’t believe any of this.  He says that; he says…so, I think what happens is his interest is piqued and again, these are small moments; when he’s with his friend and then he just says something’s not right here in addition to the fact that he said well, my friend stole this stuff from…I don’t even know who these people are.

 

Maybe he can’t find his friend at first, but I’m pretty sure they say well, bringing this into the big farm.  So, basically he…I think he goes and meets with his boss and he says…his boss was already mad.  I don’t know if he asks for permission or he just says you know what?  My friend went to the big bank in the sky, so I gotta take a break.  I’m gonna take a vacation.  But his boss is already onto something.  He says well, just don’t go…do anything brash.  He says well, no, I’m gonna take a break; go to California.  He calls…I think he calls his friend Jenny, who I can’t think of the…it’ll come to me, but…and I don’t know if he calls her or just goes there.  But there’s a couple sequences, of course, that I’m gonna remember out of order.  But they’re so cool.

 

So basically, he…and the next thing you know, he’s in Beverly…Los Angeles and again, and this is the 80s, so if you think Hollywood and Los Angeles and Beverly Hills was La-La Land now in the post-aughts, back then it was a legend.  I don’t know, there’s just a lot of mystique, especially with Beverly Hills.  So, you…he goes to Beverly Hills.  That’s where his friend worked, at a warehouse of an art dealer where his friend Jenny works.  At first he’s just trying to figure out…he’s just trying to get to the bottom of it, right?  I don’t think he’s connected even all of those dots, other than his friend worked there.  So, he goes to Beverly Hills and he checks…he…I don’t know where he first gets the idea or how he pulls this off.

 

I’m also not sure where he gets his car from, but at some point…so, he goes and checks into the Hollywood Beverly…the Beverly Hills Hotel.  That’s what it’s called, right?  He checks in there and I don’t know, there’s…I’m missing some sequence.  He gets brought in and he goes into the police station and he’s like…first of all, he’s like telling…he gets…I think the first people that take him in are these…Taggart and Billy…Billy Taggart and…oh, man…but there’s two…there’s a young cop and an older, gruffer cop.  They go into the station and it’s like…he’s like holy cow, look how much funding you have and how fancy the station is.  Then he meets the head of the department there.  He basically…at first I think he tries…at first I think he pulls a fast one; he says yeah, I’m gonna help but I’m on a case, so I’m working.

 

But maybe he calls his boss and…yeah.  But immediately, within five minutes, the…two of the three main characters take a liking to him and the third character…still a little bit gruff ‘til he sees his…Axel has to win him over.  I guess it shows a lot of echoes of the current times because it’s like, kind of ingrained in the system, I guess.  Say well, shouldn’t you just treat me with respect?  Eventually he’s like…at first…maybe first he says he’s just on vacation.  They say oh, okay, well…okay, well, enjoy your time, then.  Sorry about the mix-up.  Also, we talked to your boss though and he says if you’re investigation anything, don’t bother coming home.

 

So, I guess what I would call that…so, there’s a couple sequences; there’s the shine of LA and then the fanciness of the hotel, and then there’s a lot of comedy with him checking into the hotel, and whatever, all the over-the-top Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Bel-Air stuff.  Then there’s him dealing with the problematic police department and overcoming that.  Then, of course, he becomes friends…I don’t know, pretty quickly, I think…I don’t know.  Trying to just think of what makes things…what shifts things.  But at first there’s some skepticism and they’re a very authoritative figure…problematic authority figures, I’d say.  Then there’s a sequence either before or after this where he’s looking, so he meets up with his friend Jenny.  That’s when he meets our comic genius Bronson, of course.

 

Then…so, he goes to the art gallery, says hey, let’s just catch up.  He drinks an espresso ‘cause they have an espresso…I think Bronson runs the espresso counter at the art…at the cafe…at the art gallery.  His friend Jenny is the manager.  Then he meets the owner who’s this guy Victor Maitland which I still think is one of the best villain names, Victor Maitland.  He says oh, okay, this…you could tell just by the casting that this guy’s up to no good.  But he’s…acts all pleasant, and then Jenny says well, nothing’s…I love working here.  Nothing strange is going on at all.  Eddie says no, there’s something I can’t put my finger on.  Then he says, let me look around.  So, then he starts digging a little deeper and he gets into the warehouse.  That’s where he finds, again, smuggling or something.

 

Like, they’re smuggling bearer bonds and maybe other things in the art.  But he definitely doesn’t have any proof.  Also, they’re following him, so then he constantly has to work with…at some point he stops going against the authority figures.  He has enough fun with them that he just gets in the car.  Again, at first it’s like…he’s kind of trying to get them to buy in to what he’s discovered, even though he’s still on a hunch.  I guess it happens pretty fast, maybe.  We’ll see when I look up the plot.  Then I guess, yeah, there’s something…there’s a big hole because eventually he finds some clue that Victor Maitland…not only is Mikey, but there’s something else involved.  So, they start to come around on his police work, but they’re still doubtful and they don’t want him involved, and whatever.

 

Then there’s the big 80s action sequence at the end.  I guess there probably is one action sequence in the middle of the story.  There’s gotta be.  But at the end it’s like, the older cop, the gruffer cop with the moustache, the head of the department is like…he’s bought in.  He says wow, this is great detective work, but he’s not involved directly.  Then there’s…oh, so there’s Judge Reinhold…is one of…he’s…plays the younger…what do you call that?  Green or naive Beverly Hills Cop.  He’s an actual Beverly Hills Cop.  But he’s the one that’s kind of trying to soften the other ones to be like, I think this guy has a point.  He’s like…his name’s Billy.  Billy…I think the other guy’s Taggart and he’s Billy, but he could be Billy Taggart and the other guy could have a totally different name.

 

But so, eventually those three end up…there’s some sort of big chase or multiple chases, and then they end up at Victor Maitland’s mansion.  They have to get in there and get…so, I guess maybe in the 80s, smuggling and that kind of stuff was like, holy cow, it’s a real thing.  [00:50:00] Oh, but there’s also…yeah, now I’m remembering other stuff from the movie that I say, I can’t believe that.  So, it definitely exposes embedded problems in our culture.  Okay, so, let’s see what it says on Wikipedia ‘cause that’s all I can remember.  Oh, so, it was produced by Eddie Murphy Productions and Simpson and Bruckheimer.  Let’s see, Daniel Petrie Jr. wrote the screenplay.  Stories by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr., produced by Simpson and Bruckheimer, directed by Martin Brest.

 

I’m pretty correct on the poster and the hoodie.  Let’s see what it says.  Trying to see what the poster says, like the quote.  He’s been chased…he’s been chased, thrown, and busted.  Oh yeah, he gets thrown out of I think a bank or a…Eddie Murphy is a Detroit cop on vacation in Beverly Hills.  But I want to kinda figure out the stuff that I forgot.  John Ashton, Ronny Cox and Steve Berkoff are some of the…and Lisa Eilbacher.  Oh, I forgot about the music, and I don’t know if the music…the music is so good but that might be more Beverly Hills Cop 2.  We’ll see what it says.  It came out in 1984 for the holiday season.  Wow, it was released by…distributed by Paramount.  1984; I’m way off.  No wonder I never saw this movie.  It’s 105 minutes long, so it is a quick one, I mean, comparatively now.

 

$13 million to make, made $316 million.  So, I could be right.  $234 in North America, and it was the highest-grossing film released in 1984.  That would make sense if I saw it in ‘84 and it was still in the movie theatre in ‘85.  Let’s see, it was nominated for Favorite Motion Picture of People’s Choice Awards, Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Academy Award for Best Screenplay.  It was a blockbuster.  Okay, so yeah, let’s see, the plot goes…this is from Wikipedia; then he meets up with his buddy Micky Tandino.  Oh, then he ended up working…oh yeah, for Jenny Summers.  Shows him some German bearer bonds.  He wonders how he got them but chooses not to question him.  Oh yeah, they go to a bar, then they go to the big bank in the sky.

 

Axel asks for permission to look into it but Inspector Todd says don’t worry about it.  So, then he says you’re gonna take a vacation.  Oh, ‘cause it happened in Detroit, of course.  Yeah.  He finds Jenny working in a art gallery, learns Micky’s ties to Victor Maitland, the gallery’s owner.  Oh, he poses as a flower delivery person and that’s where he meets Victor Maitland.  That’s where…and then that’s where he meets Andrew Bogomil and Sergeant Taggart and Billy Rosewood.  Billy Rosewood; yeah, that’s another really great name.  John Taggart, Lieutenant Bogomil.  They follow him.  Taggart uses a banana to trick them.  Oh no; first he gets food delivered from room service.  It doesn’t say…I don’t know how he pulled off the…maybe he just put everything on a credit card.

 

Billy and Taggart do not get along with Axel at first but then they develop a mutual respect.  Oh yeah, ‘cause they solve something else.  Oh, ‘cause one of the things that’s a contrast is that they try to make…some of the problematic behavior they show is a program that the Beverly Hills officers have to follow all these rules by the book and that they can’t think for themselves and that Axel is trying to teach them hey, you gotta think for yourself and trust your instincts sometimes and loosen up.  Okay, then…so, they foil something and then they say wait a second, especially Taggart; says oh wait, you’re…he says oh, cop to cop now.  Sorry I was problematic, which you say well, that behavior was not okay.  Okay, so then, yeah, that’s when he sneaks in.

 

He finds coffee grounds ‘cause he says okay, you know what you’re smuggling when…oh, and that they’re circumventing customs.  So then again, he goes to Bogomil who…Bogomil kinda buys into it, but then there’s another person, Chief Hubbard, who wants him out of town.  Oh yeah, so, he says something, something…the buffet at…the brunch at the Beverly Hills Hilton or something.  But then they say okay, we gotta go to Maitland’s warehouse where there’s a shipment.  That’s when they find the evidence.  Oh, then they…Maitland takes Jenny with him and they’re gonna deal with Axel.  So, Axel and Jenny get caught by Maitland.  Maitland’s gonna take Jenny, and Billy has to save the day.

 

Taggart had given up, but then they come to it, and that’s when they figure it out at the end and they get in, so I didn’t miss too much.  Then at the end, they say…Axel says can you smooth things over with my boss?  Oh, Paul Reiser’s in this one?  Jonathan Bank…Damon Wayans is…oh yeah, he…wow, yeah.  That’s funny; he’s…he plays a small role.  Bronson Pinchot…let’s see; 1977 was when they first started pitching the movie.  Luckily, it sounds like a couple of people they had lined up were…they were no…definitely not Eddie…I mean, famous actors, but only Eddie Murphy could have pulled this off, I think.  It did receive critical acclaim upon its release.  Janet Maslin of the New York Times said, Eddie Murphy doing what he does best.  I don’t know, no one says that he had range, though.

 

They say oh yeah, he’s fast-talking, hip, shrewd.  Eddie Murphy exudes the kind of cheeky, cocky charm that’s been missing from the screen since Cagney was a pup.  Axel became Murphy’s signature role.  Oh yeah, other people say yeah, this was a flawless masterpiece, though some people said…someone from The National Review said it was a contemptible film.  It’s got a 82% on Rotten Tomatoes.  Came out the holidays of ‘84, was in first place…it made 15 million in the first five days and it stayed at Number 1 for thirteen consecutive weeks, returned to Number 1 in its fifteenth week, and tied Tootsie for the most weeks at Number 1.  So yeah, fifteen weeks is half a year.  That’s at Number 1, so it could have been in the second-run theatre after it came out for almost a year.

 

Yeah, the soundtrack had this instrumental song that was really popular; Axel F for Axel Foley.  That was by Harold Faltermeyer.  Then Neutron Dance by the Pointer Sisters which are…holy cow, that was unbelievable song.  I think that’s it.  Legacy, let’s see what it says about legacy.  Oh, it was two sequels.  I don’t remember Beverly Hills Cop 3.  Reinhold was in both movies.  The second film had mixed reviews but was successful in the box office.  The third film; neither critically or commercially successful.  Shawn Ryan pitched a pilot in 2013 with Axel Foley’s son, but it was not picked up…Brandon T. Jackson.  In 2019, Netflix licensed an option for a fourth sequel, so we’ll see if that happens.  That would be interesting.  I mean, I think without Eddie Murphy, it’s really tough for me to think about it.

 

But yeah, so, that’s a little bit about a movie I barely remember.  Let me just…before I…I’ll slow it down even more before I let you go.  I’ll just check the [01:00:00] entry for the other two plots.  I know the first plot or the…of the first…second movie or whatever you call that, first sequel was a…that something…who’s…whoever was the lieutenant, he gets…he has to go to turn in a bearer bond.  But I don’t know what else is there.  It was 1987, so I still didn’t see this, either, in the theatre.  Directed by Tony Scott.  It has a pretty sweet poster; it’s sunset.  Let’s see if anybody else is in it.  Reinhold, Ronny Cox, John Aston, Dean Stockwell, Paul Reiser…oh, Paul Reiser’s his partner, I think, in Detroit.  Made less…movie than the first film but it still was successful; $157.

 

Oh, there’s…yeah, there’s…oh, like…oh wait, doesn’t this have…is this the same movie?  Yeah, Brigitte Nielsen’s in it.  Okay, so, I remember this one.  It’s like a couple mysteries within a mystery.  So, it wasn’t…yeah, I kinda…so, I guess I kind of…I kinda remember it.  Dean Stockwell?  Then, let’s see, I don’t remember Beverly Hills 3 at all.  So, Beverly Hills Cop 3 came out in 1994.  So, that’s a pretty long break.  It was directed by John Landis.  They had worked together.  Let’s see what they say.  Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills.  Counterfeiters this time who had dealt with his boss.  He teams up with Billy Rosewood.

 

They go to a amusement park known as Wonder World.  Has a lot of cameos including Robert B. Sherman, Arthur Hiller, John Singleton, Joe Dante, Barbet Schroeder, Peter Medak, Ray Harryhausen, and George Lucas.  Let’s see, a plot…let’s see.  Yeah, oh, they go…yeah, you know, same kinda thing; they’re on the trail.  So, maybe that’s another thing that didn’t work.  I don’t know.  But so, anyway, the first movie meant a lot to me and it still does.  So, I wanted to talk about it.  Thanks so much and goodnight.

 

[END OF RECORDING]

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