I never thought I’d say that Brett Ratner getting kicked off a project would be bad news for film fans, but that’s exactly what’s going on here.
Ratner was producing the Oscars telecast for 2012’s ceremony (only a few months away) and while out promoting Tower Heist made some pretty idiotic statements as idiots are apt to do. So he was forced to resign from the producers slot. Which wouldn’t have been a big deal, except that the announced Oscar host, Eddie Murphy, decided he didn’t want to do the show if Brett Ratner weren’t involved.
That’s not cool.
Eddie Murphy hasn’t done anything close to being on a stage and being funny in a long, long time.
Pinch hitting for Brett Ratner is Brian Grazer. Making the safe and easy bet, he’s brought in Billy Crystal to host the ceremony.
The world just let out a deep and resounding, “meh.”
I mean, Billy Crystal is a funny guy, but this will be his ninth time hosting. We’ve seen his bag of tricks. We’ve seen what he can do. It’ll feel so dated. Or maybe it won’t. Who knows?
We’ll just have to see.
I really want to see them bring Jon Stewart back. I think he was the best host in recent memory, hands down. (Though Hugh Jackman did do a pretty great job.)