Move over, Muppets, Billy Crystal is going to be the host for the 84th Academy Awards. At least, so says Crystal on his Twitter account. So far, there has been no official announcement from the Oscars about a new host, who quickly rallied after losing producer Brett Ratner to his own poor taste to replace him with veteran producer Brian Grazer. more ›

FADE IN: Things were rapidly deteriorating for the 84th Annual Academy Awards, slated to take place in February of 2012. Brett Ratner had removed himself from the production team after letting fly with a gay slur and offering up unsolicited information about the size of his ballsack, and on the heels of Ratner's departure, celebrated comedian Eddie Murphy promptly dropped out of his commitment to host the ceremony. more ›

On the still-cooling heels of producer Brett Ratner's exit from the 84th Academy Awards, host Eddie Murphy is bailing, too. It seems the producer and actor were a salt-and-pepper set that could not be delivered apart. more ›

Actor Steve Martin, a former Oscars host himself, has offered up some unsolicited advice to next year's host, Eddie Murphy, on his blog. more ›

"Sons of Anarchy" is back tonight with a 90-minute premiere - it's a must-watch! --- Eddie Murphy is going to be hosting the Oscars? That's cool and all, but how the heck did it happen? --- David Cross to be on 'Modern Family' --- All this and the TV Junkie Must-Watch Plan. more ›

It's a coveted gig, and not every actor or funnyperson in Hollywood is suited for the job (Anne Hathaway and James Franco we are talking about you), and now the Academy Awards have a new host for 2012: Eddie Murphy. more ›

Happy would-be birthday to Mr. Sex Machine Dynamite, The Hardest Working Godfather of Soul in Show Business. We hope you like your gift. We got you a brand new bag. James Browwwwn, James Browwwwn! Watch the Minister of the New New Super Heavy Funk get up, get on up, and stay on the scene. more ›

Date Night wasn't a hilarious movie by any stretch (both The Office and 30 Rock are funnier), but it's the sort of mainstream comedy that the whole family can watch. While it was groundbreaking in the 80s, Max Headroom definitely shows some seams on the edges. Still, it's worth a look for curiosity's sake alone. There was no reason to re-make Death at a Funeral, and it rightly failed. Let's not bail out the producers and buy or rent the DVD of this needless film. Once upon a time the National Lampoon brand was worth something. Vacation hearkens back to a more prosperous and funnier time. Shame that it's gone. Who exactly is buying Graphic Sexual Horror and are tabs being kept on them? more ›

Despite a huge amount of buzz amongst its core audience of superficial women, Sex and the City 2: I Am An Idiot was easily dispatched by the sleepy Shrek Forever After and the pointless Prince of Persia: Sands of Something or Other. The rancid tale of four middle-aged drag queens earned a mere $37.1M over the holiday weekend, just behind Persia's $37.8M and well off Shrek's mammoth $55.7M ($145.4M). Iron Man 2 continues to hang around ($20.6M | $279.1M), topping the disappointing Gladiator 2: Robin Hood ($13.6M | $86.3M). more ›

I've always thought that MacGruber worked perfectly as a one-minute interstitial, but I can't imagine how you pull a whole movie out of it. Still, reviews have been pretty decent so maybe it works. Didn't the last Shrek really answer all of the questions posed by the other Shreks? Is there any reason to see Shrek Forever After other than to distract your bratty kids for a few hours. Holy Rollers was a solid hit at Sundance this year. How can you go wrong with Orthodox Jewish drug dealers? more ›

Still not quite sure why so many branded Funny People an unmitigated disaster. Sure, it wasn't as big of a box-office performer as your standard Apatow or Sandler joint, but it was hardly a huge bomb ($51M). Plus, the reviews were fairly solid across the board (68% positive on RT). Something tells me that this is a film that people will find on DVD and VOD, and it will eventually become a basic-cable classic. It's not saying much, but Angels & Demons was a hell of a lot better than The Da Vinci Code. If you want to see a great movie that takes place in the same basic neighborhood, try out the fascinating Gomorrah. more ›

Raunchy bachelor-party comedy The Hangover topped the box office for a surprising second straight weekend as it dropped only 26% from its strong debut ($33.4M/$105.3M). Pixar's delightful Up presented a strong challenge in its third week to finish a close second ($30.5M/$187.1M) while superb newcomer The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 finished third with a slightly underwhelming $25M. After that, it was the dreadful Night of the Museum 2: Jesus, We Suck ($9.6M/$143.4M), the reasonably funny Land of the Lost ($9.1M/$34.9M) and Eddie Murphy's epic shitfest Imagine That ($5.7M). Someone, please stop Eddie Murphy. more ›

I'm surprised that reviews haven't been better for the re-imagined version of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. It is, by all rights, a superior film to the original from the 70s. Moon may not be as funny as Solo, but it does cover similar territory. How can you not love Sam Rockwell? There will be no hot dogs served at the screening of Food, Inc.! Repeat -- no hotdogs! Has Eddie Murphy really come to this? Imagine That looks awful, awful, awful. Francis Ford Coppola is finally a true independent filmmaker. Tetro proves yet again, though, that he probably could use some pressure from above. Seriously, some people need studio interference to thrive. more ›

. Never have. Never will. I mean, don't people realize that it's Kiefer Sutherland up there on the screen. Anyone really scared of facing down Kiefer in a bar fight? Does anyone still think Jon Stewart is funnier than Stephen Colbert? David Lynch's films don't always work for me, but I love that he exists. more ›

Here's another reminder of that movie no one has ever heard of -- Meet Dave (with an abominable $5.3M debut back in July). LAist first spotted Eddie Murphy's giant-ass head on the Paramount Lot in June. This morning it was traveling the 405 Freeway when a driver took a photo and tweeted "WTF?" more ›

In a huge jump from the original ($11.5M/$112M). more ›

was one of the real surprises of 2004--a rollicking interpretation of the Dark Horse comic featuring a knockout performance by Ron Perlman in the title role and great turns by Selma Blair and Doug Jones/David Hyde Pierce as his fellow do-gooders. The whole crew returns in Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Freed from the strictures of an origin story, expect wall-to-wall action expertly staged by ace director Guillermo del Toro. more ›

A giant Eddie Murphy head on the Paramount lot. Taken about 1:30 pm.
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The most distressing thing about the ten worst movies of the year wasn't even the movies themselves. True, they were all extremely depressing--especially the "comedies"--but nothing was more deflating than the immense amount of money that so many of them made. Their runaway success ensures that 2008 will have no shortage of Grade-A shit. Having said that, here are my ten worst. I can't believe I couldn't find room for . more ›

I hope you've got a bunch of stuff Tivo'd because there's nothing on until Sunday. You tell me that there is stuff on tonight? What, you mean Friday Night Lights, NUMB3RS, or Las Vegas? Please. Tomorrow, there's no reason to turn on prime time TV unless it's for Citizen Kane on TCM at 8:30. The Big Story is Sunday, check it: Sunday 8:00pm Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project HBO - Special. Don Rickles is... more ›

Two of the four big summer three-quels hit DVD shelves today. Neither is worth your money. Better to spend it on La Vie en Rose, featuring one of the best performances in years by the amazing Marion Cotillard. Better yet, make it a French double-feature and pick up Paris Je T'Aime, too. If you haven't yet, invest a weekend watching Berlin Alexanderplatz. And, yes, it will take the whole weekend. Christmas and South Park... more ›

Saturday Night Live premiered this week in 1975. In honor of their anniversary, LAist is going to show a clip from the show each night this week at midnight and also list what happens each day during the week that leads to the show being on the air Saturday night. Have favorite clips of your own? Submit them here. Today's clip features Eddie Murphy as Mr. Robinson. Tuesday: * Starting in the afternoon, anywhere... more ›

Though its title suggests exceedingly humble aspirations, I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With really is an unexpected little gem. Curb Your Enthusiasm's Jeff Garlin writes, directs, produces and stars (whew!) as the Marty-esque James, an overweight, under-employed, 39 year-old actor who still lives with his mother. His biggest concerns in life appear to be extolling the virtues of rice pudding to a convenience store clerk, keeping a great parking space near Wrigley Field... more ›

Considering I had bought 80 percent of my outfit from Ross Dress for Less, it's a wonder they let me in. more ›

Usher runs back to his estranged Mama's arms after a last minute cancelation of his wedding to Tameka Foster - PerezHilton more ›

- Michael Moore says Harvey Weinstein begged him not to expose Hillary - WaPo - LA City Council gets behind high speed rail - Bottleneck Blog - The LA Weekly has a writer in Europe following Pearl Jam - LA Weekly - Two masked men stab and rob a former cop in North Hollywood - Daily News - NBC sells reruns of The Office and My Name is Earl to TBS. Syndication already? -... more ›

What if... Jennifer Hudson doesn't win? Sometimes the one sure thing turns out not to be the one sure thing. Then who wins? The ten year-old. None of the others are in the running, and I say that thinking that Rinko Kikuchi should win, even though I had tons of problems with Babel. Everyone likes the ten year-old. Don't count out the ten year-old. What if... Eddie Murphy doesn't win? Then the theory that... more ›

The New York Times seems to think so. We can confirm that among the 800 or so who paid $2,300 a head to rub elbows with Barack Obama for a minute or two at the Beverly Hilton were: Jennifer Aniston, Burt Bacharach, Mario van Peebles, Stephen Spielberg, Arianna Huffington, Ben Stiller, Morgan Freeman, Zach Braff, Eddie Murphy, Ron Howard, Taye Diggs, Norman Lear, JJ Abrams, Paul Reiser, Christine Lahti, Jackson Browne, and Natalie Maines.... more ›