The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have today announced that Eddie Murphy will host the 84th Academy Awards – which take place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Febuary 26th. Oscar producer Brett Ratner (who’s also directing Eddie Murphy in the upcoming ‘Tower Heist’) had the following to say about Murphy’s appointment: “Eddie is a comedic genius, one of the greatest and most influential live performers ever. With his love of movies, history of crafting unforgettable characters and his iconic performances – especially on stage – I know he will bring excitement, spontaneity and tremendous heart to the show Don and I want to produce in February.”

Eddie Murphy, whose performing career spans movies, television and the stage, spoke on the gig: “I am enormously honored to join the great list of past Academy Award hosts from Hope and Carson to Crystal, Martin and Goldberg, among others. “I’m looking forward to working with Brett and Don on creating a show that is enjoyable for both the fans at home and for the audience at the Kodak Theatre as we all come together to celebrate and recognize the great film contributions and collaborations from the past year.”

Murphy began his career at the age of 15 as a stand-up comedian. In 1980, at the age of 19, he joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live,” becoming the show’s youngest cast member to that point, and bringing to life many of the show’s most memorable characters. His 1983 album “Eddie Murphy: Comedian” won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording. It included portions of his groundbreaking HBO special “Eddie Murphy Delirious.” In 1987, Eddie Murphy Raw was theatrically released and went on to gross over $50 million. Murphy made his feature film debut in 1982 with the classic 48 Hrs. and would go on to star in such box-office hits as Beverly Hills Cop and the “The Nutty Professor” and “Shrek” franchises. All told, movies in which he has performed have earned in excess of $7 billion worldwide during their theatrical releases. Murphy earned an Oscar nomination in 2006 for his supporting role in Dreamgirls.

The big one in the movie awards calendar, The Academy Awards, has for the 83rd time handed out those little gold men to whom the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences deemed worthy.  Hosted by the adorable Anne Hathaway and the stoned James Franco, the night kept me pretty entertained overall – which is saying something, these award shows are generally a snooze-fest!

For the year in film that was 2010, The King’s Speech took home the gong for Best Picture, Tom Hooper surprisingly nabbed the Best Director award, again for The King’s Speech, and both rather expectedly Colin Firth won Best Actor for – yes again – The King’s Speech, and Natalie Portman bagged Best Actress for Black Swan.

Taking home the Best Supporting Actor award for The Fighter, Christian Bale and his epic beard gave a brilliantly heartfelt and comedic  speech, first starting off with a “BLAAAAADY ‘ELL” and then providing one of the quotable’s of the night ”I’m not going to drop the f-bomb like Melissa did. I’ve done that plenty already.”

Other big winners on the night included David Seidler winning Original Screenplay for The King’s Speech, Aaron Sorkin winning Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network, Wally Pfister winning Best Cinematography for Inception, Toy Story 3 winning Best Animated Film, In A Better World winning Best Foreign Film, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ The Social Network score winning Best Score, and Melissa Leo winning Best Supporting Actress and best f-bomb for The Fighter. Check out the full list of winners below.

Best Picture
“The King’s Speech”

Best Actor
Colin Firth – “The King’s Speech”

Best Actress
Natalie Portman – “Black Swan”

Best Director
Tom Hooper – “The King’s Speech”

Best Original Song
Randy Newman – “We Belong Together” (“Toy Story 3″)

Best Film Editing
Angus Wall and Krik Bacter – “The Social Network”

Best Visual Effects
“Inception”

Best Documentary Feature
“Inside Job”

Best Documentary Short
“Strangers No More”

Best Live Action Short
“God of Love”

Best Costume
“Alice in Wonderland”

Best Makeup
“The Wolfman”

Best Sound Editing
Richard King – “Inception”

Best Soundtrack
“The Social Network”

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale -”The Fighter

Best Foreign Film
“In a Better World”

Best Film Editing
“The Social Network”

Best Original Screenplay
“The King’s Speech”

Best Foreign Language Screenplay
“In a Better World”

Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Social Network” – Aaron Sorkin

Best Animated Feature
“Toy Story 3″

Best Supporting Actress
“Melissa Leo”

Best Cinematography
“Inception”

Best Art Direction
“Alice in Wonderland”

Those scoopmeisters over at Deadline have reported that James Franco and Anne Hathaway have been offered the gig of co-hosting next years Oscars. Franco is pretty much a shoe-in for a Best Actor nomination at the ceremony for his role in Danny Boyle’s ‘127 Hours’, while Hathaway could also be up for a nod for brilliantly portraying a young woman bravely battling Parkinson’s Disease in ‘Love And Other Drugs.’ This move get’s two thumbs up from me, it’s refreshing to see the Academy embracing it’s younger stars.

I’ve just learned that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has asked James Franco and Anne Hathaway to host the Academy Awards, and it “looks like” both young stars have accepted the offer. There is always the chance that one of them might back out because of prior commitments. But my sources say the host announcement could be made as soon as this week. Both are starring in Fox movies out in theaters: Franco in Fox Searchlight’s 127 Hours, and Hathaway in 20th Century Fox’s Love And Other Drugs. Hathaway did  a major dance and musical number with then host Hugh Jackman at the Academy Awards two years ago. Franco is also a multitalented actor. Both are equally adept at comedy and drama. Their selection, if true, is an inspired choice and demonstrates how much current Academy president Tom Sherak wants to improve Oscar ratings.

It’s finally the big night in the film calender, the 82^nd Oscars are just a couple hours away. For me the Oscars are always pretty unpredictable, or it just might mean I’m crap at predictions(I think the latter). I believe the only certainties will be Jeff Bridges winning Best Actor, Christophe Waltz winning Best Supporting Actor and Up winning Best Animated Film but you never know. Check out my doomed predictions below and a host of interview’s from some of the nominees.

• Best Film: The Hurt Locker

• Best Director: Quintin Tarantino

• Best Actor: Jeff Bridges

• Best Actress: Carey Mulligan

• Best Suporting Actor: Christophe Waltz

• Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique

• Best Original Screenplay:The Hurt Locker by Mark Boal

• Best Adapted Screenplay: Up In The Air by Jason Reitman

• Best Animated Feature: Up

• Best Foreign Language Film: Un Prophete

Carey Mulligan Interview

‘I have googled myself but it’s horrible because you read one thing and think that’s very nice, then you read the next thing and think that’s horrible, so I thought I wont do that anymore. I hadn’t been to a film festival before Sundance and I had never been a lead in a film, when it got picked up that was huge and everything since then has been huge, it’s afforded me opportunity’s I would have never had in the past that I’ve managed to play this year, that’s amazing. The number one thing is the work though everything positive added on is great.’

Colin Firth Interview

‘When I read the script there was a lot of space to be filled in, there was a lot of stuff without words, but once we were doing it it seemed terribly clear what each moment should be about really. Tom didn’t really need to fling instructions around. I could tell by the room that we were filming in what the mood was, I could see what was on the page. I could tell something by what I was wearing. People comment on the visual beauty of it, I didn’t really notice it as beautiful particularly , it just seemed to be an inevitable part of this world really.’

Gabby Sidibe Interview

‘I tend to disappear when I am acting as Precious. I am blank, completely, I am just feeling every emotion as Precious would feel it and how she should feel it. I leave my body and I take on this character. It is such a weird thing to describe because at first you do a certain amount of takes for every scene, sometimes more than others and for each time it is all brand new information and it a real revelation. It never grows cold or dead to me.’

Lee Daniels Interview

‘I knew these people when I was a kid. I knew these people as an adult. I know these people now. As a 50-year-old man, there are Precious, there are Marys. These are real life people to me. Everybody in that movie is someone that I have known. And I find it surprising that people don’t know them. I know that if you live in New York City there is no way you don’t see Precious.’

Avatar Interview (James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington)

‘I just swept in every design influence I’ve had in my life, I’ve always had a deep respect for nature, a lot of my youth was spent out in the woods, hiking and collecting samples and putting it under microscopes and them types of things, I’ve spent over 2500 hours under water and I’ve seen things that are absolutely astonishing at the bottom of the ocean which really is like an alien planet. I’ve always felt that’s been a gift in my life to live out a science fiction adventure for real on them diving expeditions, the ocean was a big influence, the creatures, the textures, the colourful creatures..’

Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman Interview

‘I take Clint as my favourite director to work with because I respond very well to the one or two take director, he’s the most consistent in that area. Directors who as Clint said that need seventeen takes, I don’t think they know what they want, it certainly doesn’t help the actors sense or security when he has to keep going over and over things and you don’t know why, you think what am I doing, what do you want.’

Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick Interview

‘I don’t actually remember what was in the script other than she just starts crying, I knew that some of the scenes are in some ways really heart breaking and there’s a desire to play it that way but I knew it was supposed to be funny, but that it couldn’t be funny for me . It was a long day of trying different noises (laughs), it was kinda of brutal because all day I was so upset, Jason would demonstrate sometimes because he knew I was running out of juice. We had to get something that was not funny to me but hopefully to other people.’

Jason Reitman Interview

‘It’s easier for me to write, when I know who I’m writing it for, that’s often how I identify with the character. I had met Vera before and seeing many of her films I knew that there were things she was able to do that no other actress was capable of doing, she’s able to walk that very fine line of being aggressive but feminine at the same time, that was the reason I was able to write her character the way I did. When I saw Anna in Rocket Science I knew the sparkly brilliance of her mind and how fast she is, because of that I was able to write her character the way I did. If your gonna make a movie about a guy whofires people for a living, but you still want him to be likeable, that actor better be charming (laughs). I don’t think there’s a more charming actor alive thanGeorge Clooney, I was very lucky he said yes.’

Jacques Audiard Interview (Director of A Prophet)

‘The film does have fantastical moments but it’s not because of an intention to be mystical. Reyeb’s ghost comes from the scriptwriters as a way of helping us into the possibilities, a way of to passing into a level of imagination that helps us free what has already been told. It’s also thanks to him that we also invoke the ideas of Sufism and the Dervishes and allows the screenplay to take on anotherdimension.’

1. The Road

Out of all the films I’ve seen this year,The Road is the one film that truly blew me away, it is a harrowing experience that is equally beautiful in a apocalyptic, grim, raw, moving and hopeless sort of way. As a big fan of the book I was hoping the film would do it justice, at first I had high hopes, Viggo Mortensen is one of my favourite actors, John Hillcoat is a brilliant Director, Nick Cave scored the film and the supporting cast spoke for its self – Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, Mickael K Williams (Omar in The Wire) and Charlize Theron, yet with all the delays and the early promotion of the film, the posters were really bad and the first trailer made it look like an action road movie, I was put off slightly. Thankfully the film more than met my expectations, it is as devout to the source material as I’ve seen from an adaptation in recent memory, the changes made actually help the film. To watch the film is agonising, it’s definitely not a film for everyone, it is a real challenge to watch at times but it’s a master class in suspense and the most powerful film I’ve seen this year.

2. The Hurt Locker

I’ve got a feeling this will be winning a bunch of trophy’s come award season, to add to it’s already large collection. The Hurt Locker engages you so deeply you really do feel like your there in Iraq with them. The tension the film builds up is ridiculous, the whole film is an adrenaline rush, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It is the best ‘War’ film for a long long time, it’s the best character study on addiction and courage under fire in film I’ve seen in a while. The cast was great especially Jeremy Renner.

3. Inglourious Basterds

I loved this film, Tarentino was on top form, the dialogue was hilarious and the performances were sensational especially Christoph Waltz, Brad Pitt and Til Schweiger. A film based around the time of War has never been so fun. The opening scene alone was worth the admission for me. I love how Tarentino doesn’t give a monkeys about the norm or conventions, he butchered history but we love him even more for it!

4. Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans

This has been my surprise of 2009, the casting of Nicolas Cage originally put me off to be honest with you, nowadays 90% of his stuff is crap, with this he was amazing! Hands down it is the most entertaining film I’ve seen this year. Every time you think the film is taking you one place it takes you in a whole other direction, Nicolas Cage gives his best performance in years as a rogue detective who is as devoted to his job as he is at scoring drugs – while playing fast and loose with the law, wielding his badge as often as he wields his gun in order to get his way. The movie is hilarious, it’s completely bonkers, the tripped out scene with the iguanas, the dancing soul scene, random alligator point of view shots, the whoa scene and when the ‘pipe’ gets verified the audience were in stitches (I was in a press screening, who are usually a miserable lot so that adds more value) , I can definitely see this film having a cult following in years to come, Werner Herzog is a both a genius and lunitic.

5. A Prophet

Rounding out my top 5 is the French film A Prophet, this year I have seen a number of brilliant films, yet I have only been blown away a handful of times, watching A Prophet was one of them times. I have to admit I am a sceptic, if I see a film getting rave reviews EVERYWHERE in the back of mind I think everyone’s just jumping on the band wagon (my faith in humanity is low!), but with this particular film it deserves every praise it has been getting. It was fully deserving of The Best Film at the London Film Festival and this years Grand Prix Award at Cannes. It must be a shoe in for Best International Film at the Oscars. The lead actor Tahar Rahim was sensational, the prison kingpin played by Niels Arestrup was equally as good. The film was EPIC!

6. Samson And Delilah

Samson And Delilah showcases the harsh realities of sections of the Aboriginal community – including addiction, violence, rascism and poverty. The film is visually stunning, but you best believe you will come out of this film feeling numb, it is brutal at times, a true emotional roller coaster of a film. In Australia and Internationally Samson And Delilah has won a bundle of awards, in which it completely deserves. I’m pretty sure it’s getting a release early 2010 in the UK, do yourself a favour and check it out.

7. The Hangover

By a stretch this was my favorite comedy film of the year, I laughed the whole way through. Definitely the ‘go with your mates to have a laugh’ film of the year. I would go as far to say its a comedy classic. I also really like that it made a sh*t load of money without a huge budget or A list stars. Zach Galifianakis also wins beard of the year.

8. Let The Right One In

With a bunch of crap Vampire films this year (Twilight), Let The Right One In couldn’t have come at a more perfect time, hands down the best Horror film of the year for me, a Horror classic, the whole film had a haunting atmosphere about it.

9. Avatar

For what Avatar is, it’s almost perfect. Yes the story isn’t the most original, yes it’s obvious in parts, but no one can deny it was one hell of a thrill ride, considering the  running time it didn’t drag at all, I didn’t check for the time once. Avatar was definitely an experience, visually it was spellbinding, I have to take my hat off to James Cameron, he’s not scared of change and technology. For blockbuster popcorn fun this would definitely be number one. I was happy it met the hype

10. The Messenger and Up (yes it’s a tie)

The Messenger: Ben Foster gave one of the most underrated performances I’ve seen this year. So many War films don’t get there message across because they are so preachy and ham fisted, The Messenger is one of them rare War films that remind us the cost paid by soldiers and there families, which in turn makes us consider whether those costs are REALLY worth paying, without no political agenda, just a moral one.

Up: Pixar do it again, they keep raising the bar, Up was touching, funny and visually stimulating.

Honourable mention: 500 Days Of Summer, Bright Star, Watchmen, District 9, Me & Orson Welles, The Informant, In The loop, Sherlock Holmes, Tyson, Thirst, Creation, The Firm, Red Cliff, Up In The Air, Chocolate, Gommorah, Zombieland, A Serious Mab

Haven’t seen that may have made my list: Drag Me To Hell, Precious, Synecdoche, New York , The Class, Looking For Eric, Fifty Dead Men Walking

Also just a quick note, I haven’t included any films that were released in the UK in January, that could have qualified for last years Oscars – The Wrestler, Che part 1……. I class them as last year.

Biggest disappointments:

Pubic Enemies: This was OK for me, nothing spectacular like I thought. The cast looked great, I love how Michael Mann shoots films visually, it’s based on one of the most iconic figures of the 20^th century, set in a a hugely interesting time and it’s a gangster film, come on that sounds great doesn’t it, well it wasn’t, it was actually quite boring, the worst thing for me was Johnny Depp, I know I’m gonna get a lot of flack from Johnny Depp’s flock die hard fans for saying this but he wasn’t good as Dillinger, Dillinger was a gangster, he was a complex man, a man’s man, Johnny Depp done his usual conflicted, mysterious, emotional guy act, he wasn’t manly at all, which is how my idea of John Dillinger was, Johnny Depp is a great actor, he was just terribly miscast in this. That being said Stephen Lang was brilliant, when he done that roll and shoot manoeuvre in the woods I nearly wet myself, I loved the cinematography and shoot outs as well. Christian Bales character was pretty much non existent, he wasn’t utilized at all, like Dillinger, Purvis was a complex man which we didn’t really get much of an incite into. I’d still give it at least a 6/10, just dissapointing not bad

Where The Wild Things Are: This was a real shock for me, I’m not saying it was terrible, just that for me it wasn’t very good. I was really looking forward to it as well, before seeing it I loved everything about it, I loved the trailer, I really like Spike Jonze, visually it looked great and the soundtrack sounded great, I thought this film can’t go wrong but boooooooooooooooy was I wrong. The little kid whatever the hell his name was annoyed the hell out of me, the spoilt little bastard, if that was my kid, straight adoption, no question about it, you don’t bite your Mum then run away smiling, little tyrant, I’m not one to advocate beating children but in this case I would have gone medieval on him. My hatred for him during the film grew so much I wanted him to get eaten by the whiny ‘Wild Thing’ that must have been on her period

This looks like it could be the tear jerker of 2010.  I was meant to see this at the London Film Festival but due to the wonderful London Underground I missed the screening, the response I got back from the people who watched it was very good. The Boys Are Back is released in the UK January 22nd. Check out the new trailer below. My interview with Clive Owen will be on the site the next two weeks.

Based on the acclaimed memoir by Simon Carr, The Boys are Back in Town, Academy Award® nominee Scott Hicks (Shine) directs Miramax Films’ THE BOYS ARE BACK, inspired by the poignant, comic and uplifting true story of a man who must suddenly raise his two sons alone. After the untimely passing of his second wife, the ill-prepared Joe (Clive Owen) is confronted with the daily challenges of parenthood, while coping not only with his own loss but also with his young son Artie’s expressions of grief. They soon are joined by Harry, Joe’s teenage son from his first marriage, who brings his own personal “baggage” into the mix.

Today’s been a real slow day for news, this is the best I’ve got! New poster for two possible Oscar contenders. Above is the new poster for Tom Ford’s overly stylish A Single Man which stars Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode. A lot of critics have been heaping praise on this film, I myself watched it at the London Film Festival and wasn’t blown away by it. It was a bit too much style over substance for me, visually yes it was stunning, but for me it didn’t have the emotion to back it up, especially considering the story. It felt like I was watching an extended cigarette advert.

I can’t take anything away from Colin Firth though he was phenomenal and is deserving of all the praise he’s been getting. For a debut Tom Ford done brilliantly as well. The film is a very good film just not a great film in my eyes.

Fashion designer Tom Ford makes his directorial debut with this dramatic outing starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, and Matthew Goode. Ford and David Scearce adapted the story from a book by Christopher Isherwood, which tells the tragic tale of a professor’s loss of his longtime partner.

If you’ve read my blog you’ve probably  learnt of mydeep seated hatred for musicals, I really do hate them………alot!  This film looks like it could be an exception, Daniel Day Lewis is my favorite actor of the last 15 years, every performance I’ve seen him in he’s been amazing, the rest of the cast is chock full of talent, 6 Oscar winner in Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, and Sofia Loren.

Nine tells the story of Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), a world famous film director as he confronts an epic mid-life crisis with both creative and personal problems. He must balance the many women of his life, including his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his film star muse (Nicole Kidman), his confidant and costume designer (Judi Dench), an American fashion journalist (Kate Hudson), the whore from his youth (Fergie) and his mother (Sophia Loren).