Blog Archives
Eddie Murphy To Host Academy Awards
Eddie Murphy is hosting the Oscars.
The actor and comedian will host the 84th annual Academy Awards, producers Brett Ratner and Don Mischer said Tuesday.
Ratner called the 50-year-old entertainer “a comedic genius; one of the greatest and most influential live performers ever.”
“With his love of movies, history of crafting unforgettable characters and his iconic performances — especially on stage — I know he will bring excitement, spontaneity and tremendous heart to the show Don and I want to produce in February,” Ratner said.
Mischer called Murphy “a truly groundbreaking performer” whose “quick wit and charisma will serve him very well as Oscar host.”
This will be Murphy’s first time hosting the Academy Awards. He said in a statement Tuesday that he is “enormously honored” to join the ranks of past Academy Awards hosts such as Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Billy Crystal, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg.
Murphy started his career as a standup comic when he was 15 and has gone on to amass dozens of film credits as a writer, actor and producer. He was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in 2006′s “Dreamgirls.”
His stint as Oscar host marks a return to the single-host format the show has employed most often since the mid-1980s. Pairs of actors hosted the two most recent Oscar shows: Anne Hathaway and James Franco helmed the 2011 telecast, and Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosted last year.
The 84th annual Academy Awards will be held Feb. 26, 2012 at the Kodak Theatre.
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Oscar Vault Monday – The Aviator, 2004 (dir. Martin Scorsese)
The Aviator is one of my favorites of director Martin Scorsese’s films (picking just one is just too hard, but if I were forced to choose I’d go with After Hours). It’s both a stirring biopic and a colorful look at Old Hollywood, an era Scorsese clearly respects and adores. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, winning five: Best Sound Mixing, Best Costume Design (won), Best Art Direction (won), Best Cinematography (won), Best Editing (won), Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor Alan Alda, Best Supporting Actress Cate Blanchett (won), Best Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Best Director and Best Picture. With its eleven nominations and five wins, The Aviator had both more nominations and more wins than the Best Picture winner (Million Dollar Baby, which had seven nominations and four wins). The other films nominated for Best Picture that year were Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways and winner Million Dollar Baby. I’m not going to say whether I think one film should have won over the other because I think both The Aviator and Million Dollar Baby have their merits and their detractors. I’m just glad Sideways didn’t win.
James Earl Jones, Oprah Winfrey To Receive Honorary Oscars
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith have been picked to receive honorary Oscars.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says the three will be honored with Oscar statuettes at the Governors Awards in November. The academy’s Board of Governors voted Tuesday to recognize the entertainment industry veterans.
AMPAS Rule Changes Could Mean Anywhere From 5 to 10 Best Picture Nominees For 2011
The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences has instituted all kinds of changes for the upcoming year, making predicting this year much more difficult than it has been in the last ten or so years. Full press release after the cut.
RIP Sidney Lumet, Master of Cinema
I am the first to admit I have not seen as many Lumet films as I would like; I’ve only seen six of his films. But I loved all six of those films. I also recently finished reading his book Making Movies and realized there were so many of his films that I need to see. I would recommend that book to anyone who just likes watching movies and especially to anyone who is thinking of going into filmmaking. He was a passionate filmmaker and if you couldn’t tell that from his films, that book removes any doubt. So I’m going to talk about those films that I have seen, as well as a few I have but that were nominated for Academy Awards. Lumet himself was nominated for Best Director four times and Best Original Screenplay once. Sadly, he never won a competitive Academy Award, although he received an Honorary Oscar in 2005.
Oscar Vault Monday – Ship Of Fools, 1965 (dir. Stanley Kramer)
This was a film I’d meant to watch for a while because it was Vivien Leigh’s last screen appearance. Then it disappeared off of Instant Netflix and I kind of forgot I wanted to watch it. Luckily for me, TCM showed the film last week as part of its 31 Days of Oscar and boy am I glad that they did. I absolutely loved it. I think it might be one of the finest examples of interlocking storylines I’ve ever seen. Plus, the set decoration and cinematography were to die for. Some of the crispest B&W cinematography I’ve seen in a while. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning two: Best B&W Art Direction (won), Best Cinematography (won), Best B&W Costume Design, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress Simone Signoret, Best Supporting Actor Michael Dunn, Best Actor Oskar Werner and Best Picture. The other films up for Best Picture that year were Darling, Doctor Zhivago, A Thousand Clowns and winner The Sound of Music.
Final Predictions for the 83rd Academy Awards
This year has been a hard one to cope with, mostly because the race seemed pretty set early on and then changed so drastically about a month ago. I’d like to say a change like that is refreshing, but I just can’t because I don’t like how it’s changed. I, for one, agreed with the critics and precursors with their choice of The Social Network for Best Picture. Then the guilds came and changed everything and gave their top honors to The King’s Speech. I think I’m still a bit in shock from it all (and maybe a little bit in denial). So now, the day before the awards, I’ve got to make my final predictions and I find myself unable. My head says, “look at the wind, it’s blowing towards The King’s Speech,” but my heart is saying, “The Social Network is better, stick with it til the bitter end.” Long story short, after the cut you’ll see if I decided to go with my heart or with my head.
Film Noir and the Academy Awards
As part of the For The Love of Film (Noir) blogathon, I thought I would take a look at some Film Noir that got a little love from the Academy. Although the bulk of films considered “Film Noir” were low-budget films and were often considered at the time “B-pictures,” there were a handful of films, mostly made by already established directors and stars, that were acknowledged by the Academy. After the cut I’ll do a breakdown of nine categories wherein Film Noir shined.
Site Update: Cinema Fanatic Guest Starred On A Podcast
Recently I recorded a podcast with The Dark of the Matinee‘s The Mad Hatter. You can find the podcast on the sidebar of their site, as well as on iTunes and various other podcast places on the vast interwebs.
Please take a listen. In it we discuss what we think about the Oscar nominations, as well as give some early predictions. There’s also a neat little intro wherein I answer questions like “What was the first movie you ever saw?” and “What essential film have you not seen?” My answer to that last one is rather shocking. Here’s the link again. Go take a listen. I swear you’ll enjoy it. Also, be sure to check back at The Dark of the Matinee tomorrow and leave feedback on their official post with your thoughts! And while you’re at it, check out their Facebook page as well.
Preview: How The Critics’ Choice Awards Align With Oscar
It’s important to note first off that both the Broadcast Film Critics Association (Critics’ Choice Awards) and Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globe Awards) do not have any membership overlap with The Academy. The only awards that have any overlap the guilds: The Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guilt, Producers Guild, etc. That being said, the Critics’ Choice Awards usually have quite a few overlap nominations in its categories with The Academy. In fact, the Critics’ Choice winner for Best Picture has gone on to win Best Picture at the Oscars for 4 out of the last 5 years; Best Director and Best Actor 5 out of the last 5 years.
