Just when you thought the organizers of the Oscars had made every possible ill-advised decision left towards their awards show telecast, they go and prove everyone wrong by confirming Eddie Murphy as the host for next year.
I find it ironic that the Academy Awards, which is all about honoring the best films of the year, would choose a person to host who has starred in and created some of the worst films ever made, especially as of late. Some of his "gems" of the past decade include Dr. Dolittle 2, Daddy Day Care, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Norbit, and Meet Dave. Just look at how horribly his movies have been rated on Rottentomatoes.
Not to mention the fact that Eddie Murphy hasn't been an entertaining comedian since the mid 1990s, and has pretty much fallen off the face of the earth in terms of relevance and public awareness. I don't see how he could possibly be a successful Oscar host. When was the last time he even did live stand-up or wrote original material for an audience?
So honestly, why did he get the job? Well in the film industry, they say it's always about who you know, not what you know, and it just happens that Eddie Murphy is good friends with one of the telecast's new producers for next year, Brett Ratner. Brett, who has a similar track record of mediocrity, but in the field of directing, even has a new film, starring his new best bud Murphy, coming out later this year called Tower Heist. A film title that is almost as cringe worthy as the fictional Danger Beach from Entourage.
The Academy Awards has reeked with desperation for countless years now and has made one half-assed attempt after another to revitalize the ailing show. Success of the show all starts with the host and that's where the Oscars has been failing first and foremost. I never thought they could possibly find someone worse than last year's pairing of James Franco and Anne Hathaway. I love them as actors, but as far as live hosting goes...they should never, ever attempt that line of work again.
The last good host the Academy Awards ever had was Billy Crystal. He was funny, entertaining, original, and everyone loved him. He even threw his hat in the ring and expressed great desire to wanting to host again, staring with the upcoming awards next year. What the fuck was the Academy thinking passing him up!?
The telecast will always have terrible dialogue written for presenters, useless tribute montage sequences, rambling acceptance speeches, and an absurdly long running time. But if you get the right host to walk the audience through it all, you'll find yourself actually enjoying the show. Billy Crystal was capable of that, and so was the great Bob Hope.
None of the hosts as of late could ever accomplish that, and neither will Eddie Murphy.
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