The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been busy the last couple of days with updates, and today dropped the bombshell that had people stumbling over themselves to be the first one with the hot punchline. Thing is, I think the Academy has made a decent choice based on the needs of the Oscar telecast, as they announced Brett Ratner and Don Mischer will produce the 84th Academy Awards telecast.
Ratner is a director most associated with the Rush Hour franchise, which made over $500 million domestically, and X-Men: The Last Stand, which is the highest grossing X-Men film to date, but probably one of the most disliked along with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The curious thing is, while Ratner’s directorial decisions may not be top notch when it comes to pleasing critics, he seems to have a talent for appealing to the masses, which is exactly what the Oscars need. He may not be the best choice for me, but I’m not the target audience. If we’re going mainstream popcorn, I’d rather see Zack Snyder slather the Oscars in slow-motion or Michael Bay blow up the stage, but hey, who’s listening to me?
It makes me wonder though, just what hot Hollywood directors could the Academy get? Any chance they could get Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese in there? Would you want that? I think Scorsese’s appreciation for film would turn out an amazing show, but would he do it?
Interesting enough, while the focus is sure to be on Ratner, the bigger shock here is the fact the Academy decided to bring back Mischer for the second year in a row. Mischer co-produced with Bruce Cohen and co-directed the show last year. Last year’s show was an abomination from the hosts on down to … well, pretty much everything else.
“I think comedy is the key,” Ratner told The Wrap. “That’s the most important thing I can accomplish. If people can sit in that theater and laugh, and people can watch at home around the world and laugh, then I’ve accomplished what I want to do. The numbers [ratings] will be what they are.”
Of course, the rumors will now begin that Chris Tucker, who starred in all three of Ratner’s Rush Hour films and his 1997 comedy Money Talks will host the show. Ratner’s upcoming movie, Tower Heist, stars Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy and those jokes have already hit Twitter in abundance. At this point I’d take either one of those two over James Franco. Stiller has twice gone to great lengths to entertain the Oscar audience, in 2009 dressing up as Joaquin Phoenix and last year presenting in full-on Na’vi makeup. Admittedly, neither instance was funny, but I’ll take either of these options over Franco in a dress.
In other news, the Academy announced on Wednesday they will present Honorary Awards to actor James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to philanthropist Oprah Winfrey. The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given to an individual for “extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.” The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an Oscar statuette, is given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.
Also, Academy president Tom Sherak was re-elected for his third consecutive one-year term in the office.
