A Busy Week At The Academy!

It’s been a busy week at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences!

First, we got news that the Academy has elected a new President in Cheryl Boone Isaacs. A member of the Public Relations Branch, Boone Isaacs is the first African American, and only third woman to serve as Academy President. Pixar’s John Lasseter was selected as first vice president, the position that Boone Isaacs had previously held.

Boone Isaacs currently heads CBI Enterprises, Inc., where she has consulted on such films as The Call, The Artist, The King’s Speech, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, Spider-Man 2 and Tupac: Resurrection. Boone Isaacs previously served as president of theatrical marketing for New Line Cinema, where she oversaw numerous box office successes, including Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Rush Hour. Prior to joining New Line in 1997, Boone Isaacs was executive vice president of worldwide publicity for Paramount Pictures, where she orchestrated publicity campaigns for the Best Picture winners Forrest Gump and Braveheart. Other films that she has worked on include Titanic, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, The First Wives Club, Ghost and Fatal Attraction.

The Academy also created a new Casting Directors Branch. The Los Angeles Times reports that there are currently 59 casting directors in the Academy, although one can hope that the new branch may allow for the addition of some new members next year. Previously admitted as At Large Members, the new branch will be the smallest of the Academy’s 17 branches, coming in at nearly half the size of 110 member Costume Designers Branch created earlier this year. Boone Isaacs was careful to note, however, that a new awards category for Casting Directors is unlikely at this time.

Finally, news broke this morning that Ellen DeGeneres will be next year’s Oscar host. The proud lesbian comedienne responded to the announcement with her trademark style of self-effacing humor: "I am so excited to be hosting the Oscars for the second time. You know what they say - the third time's the charm.”

All of this comes, of course, just one month after the Academy admitted one of the most diverse entering classes of new members in its history.

So what do you think, Oscar watchers? Is the Academy finally moving in the right direction? Will the changes be enough to shake up the 86 year old institution? Let us know in the comments!

Top Five Reasons Why Eddie Murphy Will Be A Great Oscar Host

By now you have probably heard the news that Eddie Murphy will be hosting the 84th Academy Awards. It had been circling as a possibility for a while, but was confirmed yesterday on the Academy’s website.

Now anytime you have a comedian turned actor, it is going to be easy for high-brow critics to point to films they didn’t like. That is even more certain when someone has had a career that is as long as Eddie Murphy’s. Even the academy itself hasn’t always taken comedy “seriously” (if you’ll forgive the pun.)

But there are many reasons why Eddie Murphy will make a great host. Here are my top five:

5. He is (or at least, can be) kid-friendly. The academy made a big deal last year about choosing James Franco and Anne Hathaway to appeal to a younger demographic. Murphy has won 3 People’s Choice Awards, has 4 wins and 6 additional nominations from the Kids’ Choice Awards, and 5 nominations form the MTV Music Awards. While film critics and aficionados may not place much stock in these prizes, they do represent a large sector of the population which the Academy is trying to court.

4. He is respected as an actor.  In addition to being Oscar nominated as best supporting actor for Dreamgirls, Murphy has won a Screen Actors Guild award and been nominated for a second, has 1 win and 4 additional nominations from the Golden Globes, 4 Emmy nominations, and a BAFTA nomination.

3. He works with quality professionals from the other branches. This is important for a show that should be about honoring film in all of its many aspects. The average viewer may only care about actors and the best picture prize, but I think it would be helpful to have someone who is familiar with the importance of makeup, music, writing, costume design and animation. Murphy has been a writer, director and producer. While Dreamgirls is obviously his best known prestige picture, Murphy has actually appeared in quite a number of films that have been nominated for their various crafts:

Trading Places, nominated for best score.
Beverly Hills Cop, nominated for best original screenplay.
Beverly Hills Cop 2, nominated for best song.
Coming To America, 2 nominations for best costume design and best makeup.

Harlem Nights, nominated for best costume design.
The Nutty Professor, winner for best makeup.
Mulan, nominated for best score.
Life, nominated for best makeup.

Shrek, winner for best animated feature and nominated for best adapted screenplay.
Shrek 2, 2 nominations for best animated feature and best song.
Dreamgirls, 2 wins for supporting actress and sound mixing and 6 additional nominations for art direction, costume design, three orginal songs, and of course Murphy himself for supporting actor.
Norbit, nominated for best makeup.

2. He may be able to help Hollywood overcome some of their current challenges. No, I don’t just mean the white washing of last year’s ceremony or the controversies around The Help, although make no mistake that this is perfect casting for that as well.

I also mean issues such as whether Andy Serkis could be nominated for acting awards, or where animation ends and visual effects begin when it comes to motion capture technology. Murphy has become a legend in animated voice acting through the Shrek franchise, and while many don’t enjoy the Klumps, there is no denying that he has experience acting under--or through--the guise of makeup and body suits, which isn’t too much different than electric sensors. He even acted opposite bears, dogs and monkeys for Dr. Dolittle. Surely somewhere along the way he gained some insight into how all of these different technological advances are impacting the industry. Obviously being an Oscar host isn't the same thing as being an Academy policy maker, but it does give him the opportunity to shape opinion in a public format, should he choose to do so.

1. He actually knows how to perform. As a comedian, he has done stand-up and spent four years on Saturday Night Live, so he knows how to work a room. And in Dreamgirls we saw that he can sing and dance. The man knows how to put on a show. And isn’t this really the most important thing from an Oscar host?