>
And the hits keep on coming for the Academy: following Brett Ratner’s hurried exit yesterday, Eddie Murphy has packed his host bag and left the building as well. This isn’t a huge surprise, as Murphy was brought in by his
Tower Heist director in the first place (and
Heist isn’t proving to be the career-comeback smash it was originally expectd to be), but it leaves the Oscars rudderless, with about 3 months to go before the telecast–which for a show of its magnitude is less time than you’d think.
So who should take over for Murphy? Take the safe road and return to a past host like Billy Crystal, Jon Stewart, Alec Baldwin and/or Steve Martin? Or take a chance with someone unexpected (George Clooney? Will Smith? The cast of Glee?). Since the Academy will have to choose its new producer and host in a hurry, and since last year’s James Franco/Anne Hathaway experiment was widely seen as a disaster, the feeling here is to expect a choice that favors trustworthiness over excitement.
Related Posts
-
Oscar Nominations
>We'll have some analysis later (good news: Extremely Loud! Margin Call for Screenplay! Bad news: no Michael Fassbender? No David Fincher?), but for now, here's a link to the full list of Oscar nominees:http://oscar.go.com/nominees?cid=ealert_012412_oscars_nom_nomindex_oscarpagevideovisitorsSent via BlackBerry by AT&T
-
STATUETTE STAKES: Nomination Thoughts
>After what seemed as long as a presidential primary season, the Oscar nominations are finally here. What do they tell us?THE ARTIST Is Still The Film To Beat. There were plenty of surprises sprinkled throughout today’s nominations, but none that seriously challenged the conventional wisdom. If Martin Scorsese were still…
-
THE STATUETTE STAKES: Brett Ratner’s Really Bad Week
>Nobody remembers the comic strip “L’il Abner” anymore, but there used to be a character in it named Joe Btfspik, who was so unlucky that he walked around with a perpetual dark cloud hanging over his head. this week, Brett Ratner may feel like he knows how Btfspik felt–but at…
-
THE BIJOU AWARDS BAIT REPORT: Ugh-scar
>It may not literally be true that if you look up “hack” in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of Brett Ratner. In fact, not all his movies are terrible: there’s Family Man, and… well, Family Man really wasn’t bad at all. But did we need the director of Money…
-
STATUETTE STAKES: I’m First! No, I’M First!
>For many years, the National Board of Review has been the self-appointed first group on the calendar to announce awards for Best Picture and other categories. The NBR is sort of like the Golden Globes without super-powers; they’re 110 people tangentially related to the world of film whom you’ve never…
About the Author
Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."
More articles by
Mitch Salem »
