Tuesday night, the New York Film Festival and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences hosted something that is likely a rarified event in the usually hallowed theater venues at Lincoln Center - a boisterous and rowdy crowd, but the event had a noted culture shift. The occasion was the 25th anniversary of The Princess Bride and a good chunk of the living cast showed up, including Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn and Billy Crystal in addition to director Rob Reiner as well as author William Goldman. Random shouts of "meathead" could be heard from the audience - all loving of course - when Reiner was introduced on stage as first coming to prominence as Michael Stivic in 1970s television show All in the Family. The Princess Bride was also likened to The Wizard of Oz (1939) - something Reiner fully embraced.
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I'll leave the jokes about how Monsters, Inc 3D has a new eye-popping look to Billy Crystal and, instead, ask if you remember where your head was at in November 2001 when this Pixar classic was released. If you lived in New York City and had a young child (as I did), you were probably extremely grateful for Monsters, Inc. because, even if your kid was too young to grasp what had happened at Ground Zero, you were not. more »
Also in Thursday afternoon's round-up of news briefs, political drama Knife Fight is heading to U.S. theaters courtesy of IFC Films. Saoirse Ronan will headline a new royal role and Steve Pink is eyeing the director's chair for a remake of 1986's About Last Night.
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Are there monsters in your closet? That is the question posed in this teaser trailer for Disney/Pixar's Monsters University. But that is probably the most chilling thing here and perhaps in the movie itself. For these critters are headed for college (though that is certainly a scary and exciting prospect for anyone). Starring Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Kelsey Grammar and Billy Crystal along with a host of others, the animated adventure-comedy revolves around Mike and Sulley during their enrollment at the "University of Fear."
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I mean, of all the things bringing down that Oscar intro, Twitter jumped on this? "'I am 100 percent certain that my father is smiling. [...] Billy previously played my father when he was alive, and my father gave Billy his full blessing,' she continues, noting that Saturday Night Live gave the imitation 'legendary status.' [... Tracey] Davis, now 50, does however take issue with using the word 'blackface,' attributing the term born in the 1800s to describe white actors in makeup playing black characters, to early film stars such as Al Jolson, not Crystal, per se." [THR]
Any great awards show monologue skewers the nominees and sets the tone for the festivities to come, and this weekend's awards tour didn't disappoint -- if you were watching the Film Independent Spirit Awards and not the Oscars, that is. Host Seth Rogen trumped Billy Crystal the day before the Academy Awards when he roasted Hollywood's brightest along with Spirit Award nominees (like "creepy" -- and apparently good humored -- Michael Shannon). As for Rogen's best joke? It's got to be a toss up between his Ratner snipe ("Without awards season we wouldn't know how much of a horrible bigot Brett Ratner is") and his Lars von Trier hiding-in-Argentina bit. Hit the jump to watch the magic.
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Some folks out there may have enjoyed Billy Crystal's ninth outing as host of the Academy Awards last night, but his turn was as tepid as James Franco's 2011 "performance" was bizarre. Crystal's Oscars-themed song and dance routine? Dated. The weak banter and soft barbs at Hollywood's gathered illuminati? Snoozeville. Given that the previously and frequently great Crystal was upstaged by the night's random moments (Angelina Jolie's leg, J. Lo's boob, those Cirque du Soleil acrobats) and young, actually funny presenters (the Bridesmaids crew and Emma Stone) it's time to start anew and refresh what's already known as the fussiest night in the film calendar. In other words: Who would make the ultimate, charismatic, hilarious, non-sucky Oscar host?
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ABC released a cutesy trailer for the 2012 Academy Awards telecast that speaks loads to the youthful new direction the show's makers were going in when they brought Brett Ratner aboard, before his untimely exit; in a slick parody of globe-trotting Hollywood fare, two heroes are tasked with tracking down wizened Billy Crystal for hosting duties on the Big Night. Those heroes? None other than Transformers castmates Josh Duhamel and Megan Fox, because of course. Nothing says current like the girl who was the hottest thing on earth three years ago! Watch the trailer and see if it entices you with its "Hey kids, check us out!" hip comedy stylings.
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Well now: Despite legendarily roasting all of Hollywood last year during his hosting gig at the Golden Globes (and the resulting grumblings among celebs and media alike) Ricky Gervais will be back to host the 69th Golden Globes Awards. See what the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had to say about the surprise confirmation, and the kind of jokes Gervais is already threatening to drop all over the telecast come January.
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If Billy Crystal's Twitter is to be believed, the funnyman has been tapped to replace Eddie Murphy as host of the Oscars in the wake of RatnerGate, as the comedian Tweeted today. "Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions," read Crystal's post. "Looking forward to the show."
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"Oh, no. I've done that gig," Robin Williams responded when asked by Moviefone this afternoon whether he would consider replacing Eddie Murphy as this year's Oscar host. "Years ago I co-hosted with Alan Alda and Jane Fonda and I pretty much saw my career flash before me, before I started. So, it was like, 'No...' It's a tough gig. It's a weird night, man. It's pretty thankless in terms of if you do great, if they say that you're a little edgy, they say, 'He's cool.' If you're not, they're going to go, 'He's timid.'" [Moviefone]
If you've been staying with your grandparents this week or your job involves caring for the elderly, then you've probably already realized that Good Morning America has been hosting a Totally Awesome '80s series where anchor Robin Roberts reenacts E.T. scenes in front of a green screen. (I wish I was kidding.) Anyway, that's happening. And as part of this series, ABC hosted a cool reunion for the cast of Princess Bride 25 years after the film's release. Take a look below.
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