Author Archives: Marya E. Gates

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.

[source]

Movie Quote of the Day – American Graffiti, 1973 (dir. George Lucas)

Debbie: You know, Terry, I had a pretty good time.
Toad: Oh, come on, you’re just. . .
Debbie: No, no, really. I really had a good time. I mean, you picked me up and we got some hard stuff and saw a hold-up and then we went to the Canal and you got your car stolen and then I got to watch you gettin’ sick and then you got in this really bitchin’ fight. . .I really had a good time.

Oscar Vault Monday – Three Coins In The Fountain, 1954 (dir. Jean Negulesco)

I simply adore this movie. It is Old Hollywood charm at its best. But it also slyly dances around certain taboo subjects (promiscuity, etc.) in quite a remarkable way, though not quite as blatantly as Otto Preminger’s 1953 film The Moon Is Blue (also starring Maggie McNamara). Three Coins In The Fountain contains some truly breathtaking color cinematography by Milton R. Krasner of Italy – and in Cinemascope, too! I would just love to see this film on the big screen. It was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning two: Best Color Cinematography (won), Best Original Song (won) and Best Picture. The other films nominated for Best Picture that year were The Cain Mutiny, The Country Girl, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and winner On The Waterfront.

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Movie Quote of the Day – Benny & Joon, 1993 (dir. Jeremiah Chechik)

Joon: Some cultures are defined by their relationship to cheese.
Benny: [dryly] Is that a fact?

Movie Quote of the Day – Raising Arizona, 1987 (dir. Joel and Ethan Coen)

Nathan Arizona: Who the hell are you?
Leonard Smalls: Smalls. Leonard Smalls. My friends call me Lenny; but I got no friends.

Movie Quote of the Day – Pleasantville, 1998 (dir. Gary Ross)

George: Where’s my dinner? [searches kitchen] Where’s my dinner? [goes outside] Where’s my dinner?!

Movie Quote of the Day – Bells Are Ringing, 1960 (dir. Vincente Minnelli)

Ella Peterson: Susanswerphone.
Larry Hastings: [on the phone] This is Larry Hastings calling; any messages?
Ella Peterson: Just a moment. Blake Barton, the actor, called. He wants to know if there’s a part for him in your new production, “The Midas Touch”.
Larry Hastings: [on the phone] Blake Barton? Never! I’m sick of actors who won’t wear suits and who sound as if they’ve got a mouthful of marbles.

The Castro Theatre, Ryan O’Neal and Other Film-Watching Exploits In August

So I managed to watch a little bit less new-to-me films in August than I did in July. That’s okay, though, because I saw so many great films at the Castro theatre (I’m quite the regular there now). I saw The Big Sleep, Key Largo, Moulin Rouge!, Meek’s Cutoff (new-to-me), Limbo (new-to-me), Bad Education, Law of Desire (new-to-me), Talk To Her, All About My Mother, The Flower of My Secret (new-to-me), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (new-to-me), 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: The Year We Make Contact (new-to-me), Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Days of Heaven, Badlands, The Philadelphia Story and Holiday. All of those were double features except Moulin Rouge! and all of them were well worth the admission price. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: nothing beats seeing a great film on the big screen. I’m just glad all these great films were showing in the month between the summer semester and the fall semester so I had time to see them. I also read a handful of screenplays (hey, I’m studying to get an MFA in screenwriting, I better be reading screenplays!) So far I’ve read L.A. Confidential, The Piano, Good Will Hunting, American Beauty, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, The English Patient, The Last Detail and Chinatown. It sure is interesting to see how a story starts out on the page and winds up the same, but different, on the big screen. As for my new-to-me list, most of the films I saw I loved (this was another month were it was hard to come up with just five featured films), but I also saw a few I really hated. Today is the first day of the fall semester and I’m taking three classes, so I have no idea what my free time is going to be like or how many new-to-me films I’ll manage to watch. Gonna shoot for at least one new-to-me a day though. As always, the full list of my August new-to-me films is after the cut.

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Movie Quote of the Day – The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001 (dir. Wes Anderson)

Announcer: That’s 72 unforced errors for Richie Tenenbaum. He’s playing the worst tennis of his life. What’s he feeling, Tex Hayward?
Tex Hayward: I don’t know, Jim, there’s obviously something wrong with him. He’s taken off his shoes and one of his socks and. . .actually, I think he’s crying.

Movie Quote of the Day – A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, 1945 (dir. Elia Kazan)

Johnny Nolan: I wonder what people did before they invented coffee?