“We wanted to try something a little bit different this year instead of a traditional, clip-based piece,” said Academy Chief Marketing Officer Christina Kounelias. “The trailer has a fun twist that conveys how excited everyone is to have Billy back.”

Crystal has one of the most distinguished track records of any host in Oscar® history. His upcoming appearance will mark his ninth turn hosting the Academy Awards. The enthusiastic response to the announcement of his return was the inspiration for the trailer.

“Our team had a great time working with the Academy and joining forces with Billy again,” said Mike Farah, Funny Or Die’s president of production. “We think the trailer really speaks to the excitement around this year’s Oscars®, and Funny Or Die was honored to be a part of it.”

The trailer will have a one-month run in more than 2,000 theaters beginning January 6 and can be viewed online at Oscars.org/trailer.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.

Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

The former Oscar host – a perennial favorite – steps into a murky mess of a PR situation following the “resignation” of producer Brett Ratner and subsequent exit of Ratner’s chosen host, Eddie Murphy. While some fervent Twitter players lobbied hard for The Muppets to host next year’s event, level heads believed a seasoned vet like Crystal would be the right choice to right the Academy’s ship.

They get their wish.

“Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions. Looking forward to the show,” Crystal just Tweeted. We’re waiting on confirmation from the Academy, but it looks like a go.

So, after a few days of instability, the Oscars have a producer (Brian Grazer) and a host (Billy Crystal). The choices are as safe as the Ratner-Murphy experiment was dangerous and appealing.

Now tell us, does Crystal’s return to the Oscars make you more or less willing to tune on to next year’s ceremony? Or are you only interested in the nominated films, and don’t give a hoot about the host?

For complete Oscar and film festival coverage, visit our awards alley for the latest news items, reviews and interviews all season long.

Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.

Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

HollywoodNews.com: Eddie Murphy is the official host of the 2012 Oscars. The Academy named him today much to the delight of producer Brett Ratner. Ratner and Murphy will have had a big movie opening in November, “Tower Heist.” Surely a hit, the film will be wave they can ride right into the February proceedings.

Why announce this so early? It helps promote “Tower Heist.” And it eclipses what the Golden Globes will do with Ricky Gervais. I’m excited because with tributes to Oprah Winfrey and James Earl Jones, the Oscars will finally feel like a ceremony for everyone. It’s about time. Here’s hoping, though, that Billy Crystal will be involved, too, more than last time. The Oscars are already shaping up like a great night and we don’t even know which movies will be nominated. (Well, we have an idea.)…

…Anderson Cooper kicks off his syndicated talk show next week. His first guests will be Amy Winehouse’s family. That should be something. Will the Winehouses become the new generation Jacksons? The cash-in is right around the corner…

Photo by PRPhotos

To read more go to SHOWBIZ411

To see celebrity galleries click here /a>

Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.

Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

Immediately after Crystal’s stint on this year’s telecast, I turned to my wife and commented, “He should just stay out there and finish this gig. He just might save the telecast.”

Now it looks like Crystal might be interested in saving next year’s telecast.

“It might be fun,” Crystal reportedly told the AP (via THR) about hosting the Oscars again.

“I think the show needs to change,” he said. “There’s too many awards and it has to sort of freshen itself up, and if I can be a part of that, that would be great.”

It would be a step in a better direction. I applaud the Academy and the show’s producers for trying something different. Younger hosts could work. Franco and Hathaway didn’t. Crystal can entertain in a live setting. He’s like an Oscar comfort blanket. Give him the show’s reigns again. But yourself some time to plan for the future. Because your immediate past – i.e. last month’s telecast – was ugly, and things have to get better.

Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.

Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

Photo courtesy of PRPhotos.com.

By Roger Friedman

HollywoodNews.com: Billy Crystal turned up with his family at the Governors Ball following the Oscars and got star treatment. In the 1930s themed nightclub setting, Crystal was seated right among the nominees. He told me thought James Franco and Anne Hathaway were just great, and that they well represented young Hollywood. Billy, who would be a welcome host next year or any year, said his little cameo in the middle of the show still required a lot of work. “I prepped for three hours a minute and a half on screen,” Billy said “But it was worth it.” We love him. Next year, Academy, Billy please…

The Governor’s Ball should have been called “Meet the Parents”: Tom Hooper’s mum and dad, Helena Bonham Carter’s mum, the Franco and Hathaway families. Anne Hathaway’s mom, a stage musical actress, only found out she was going to be on the show at 1am on Sunday. Mitzi Verne, James Franco’s spunky grandmother, had a few hours’ more notice, by the way. David O. Russell’s dad was sales director at Simon & Schuster for Simon & Schuster for about 30 years. We reminisced about publishing; he worked with Carly Simon’s dad, the founder of the company. He told me that David’s mom didn’t speak to him for three years after “Spanking the Monkey,” Russell’s first film, about a mother -son fling…

A lot of people stayed late at the Governor’s Ball and never made it anywhere else. Warren Beatty and Annette Bening made it their only after show stop. Warren got into a heavy looking discourse with James Schamus, Annette was busy discussing the magnificent jewelry she’d borrowed with two friends. Meanwhile Natalie Portman and her family held court very low profile away and to the side of the main action. Sony’s Sir Howard Stringer commanded “The Social Network table where Justin Timberlake was fighting a cold. Later I saw JT with Jessica Biel at the Vantiy Fair party. Sir Howard nixed the idea that Sony had some how given up on “The Social Network.” “We really wanted to win,” he said wistffully. “But the Academy is older, and many of them may not have known what Facebook was.”

To read more about this article go to www.showbiz411.com

Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.

Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

By Greg Hernandez

HollywoodNews.com: It was a wonderful double dose of the talented Chris Colfer on television last night!

First, the Golden Globe Award winning actor had a sweet storyline as part of the Valentine’s Day episode of ‘Glee’ then he was a guest on ‘The Late Show With David Letterman.’

On ‘Glee,’ Kurt remains smitten with his Dalton Academy classmate Blaine (Darren Criss) and thinks Blaine is planning a big Valentine’s Day surprise for him. But it turns out that Blaine is crushing on a guy who works at The Gap!

I love the scene where Kurt seeks solace from Mercedes and Rachel saying: “This is absolutely devastating.”

Then the more he talks about why he thought Blaine was into him he has a epiphany: “Oh my God, I made up the whole thing in my head, didn’t I?”

Well what gay guy hasn’t done that!

Mercedes reminds Kurt that his heartbreak will only make him a better artist: “Whitney, Barbra, Patti LuPone … they all became big stars when they were single … Harnessing that pain is how they became legends.”

Later, Kurt tells Blaine that he misread the signals. Blaine does not shoot Kurt down but admits that when it comes to romance, “I don’t know what I’m doing … I’ve never been anyone’s boyfriend.”

So they agree to be platonic best friends, like Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in ‘When Harry Met Sally.’ And we all know how things turned out for them in the end!

Now we go from Chris Colfer’s current fictional high school days to his real-life high school days which were not so long ago since he is only 20!

To read more from this article go to Greg In Hollywood

Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.

Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

Image by PR Photos

By Paul Sheehan

HollywoodNews.com: Billy Crystal stands second only to Bob Hope (18) in the number of times he hosted the Oscars with eight turns as emcee under his belt. He was Emmy-nominated in the now-defunct category of individual performance in a variety special for all but his first appearance on the awardscast, winning in 1991 and 1998.

To read more from this article go to GoldDerby.com

Follow Hollywood News on Twitter for up-to-date news information.

Hollywood News, Hollywood Awards, Awards, Movies, News, Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News

Image courtesy of PRphotos

HollywoodNews.com: Turner Classic Movies (TCM) today unveiled the network’s list of 10 Best Comedy Lines from Classic Movies, timed to coincide with the buildup to sister network TBS and Just For Laughs’ second annual comedy festival in Chicago, which begins tomorrow. The list includes lines from a number of memorable comedies, spoken by such notables as Groucho Marx, Mel Brooks, Ginger Rogers, Peter Sellers, John Belushi and Rob Reiner’s mother.

With this latest authoritative list, TCM set out to find lines that leave audiences in stitches. Many of the lines are repeated by even the most casual movie fans, demonstrating their strong foothold in pop culture.

“Great movie quotes frequently make their way into everyday conversation, and that is especially true for lines that make us laugh out loud,” said TCM host and film historian Robert Osborne.

Here are the lines included on TCM’s list of 10 Best Comedy Lines from Classic Movies, listed in chronological order:

“It must have been hard on your mother, not having any children.” – Ginger Rogers, 42nd Street (1933)
Warner Bros.’ Busby Berkeley musicals may be best remembered for his kaleidoscopic choreography, but they were also a treasure trove of wise cracks and put downs, delivered by some of the best “dames” on screen, including Joan Blondell, Una Merkel, Glenda Farrell and Rogers. Even though the films’ plot contrivances and grandiose musical stagings may seem dated today, the zingers that kept audiences laughing remain as fresh as ever.

“You can’t fool me! There ain’t no sanity clause!” – Chico Marx, A Night at the Opera (1935)
No nose was spared tweaking when the Marx Bros. hit the screen, whether their targets were dignified matrons, bombastic villains or such institutions as college sports, big business and, in this case, grand opera. Not even the English language was safe as Groucho and Chico subjected audiences to some of the funniest pun-ishment they’d ever heard.

“What do they think I am? Dumb or something? Why, I make more money than – than – than Calvin Coolidge! Put together!” – Jean Hagen, Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
The dumb blonde is one of comedy’s most reliable archetypes, and few were dumber than Lina Lamont, the silent love goddess whose screechy voice and dim wits threaten her career when sound arrives. Conceived for Judy Holliday and considered for Lana Turner, the role ultimately went to Hagen, one of the most talented actors never to become a star.

“Well, nobody’s perfect!” – Joe E. Brown, Some Like It Hot (1959)
Arguably the definitive movie punchline, Osgood Fielding’s response to the revelation that his fiancée Geraldine is really Jerry (Jack Lemmon) still brings this classic comedy to an explosive conclusion. Co-writers Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond always credited each other with creating the line, but they both agreed that they intended to dub in another line later, only to find it a showstopper during previews.

“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room.” — Peter Sellers, Dr. Strangelove: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Stanley Kubrick gave viewers more than the daily dose of irony with his comic take on the lunacy of the nuclear arms race, nowhere more so than when President Merkin Muffley used this line to break up a fight between his top military advisor and the Russian ambassador. Although the president was conceived as the film’s straight man, the line, possibly improvised by Sellers, consistently gets one of the film’s biggest laughs.

“Listen, strange women lyin’ in ponds distributin’ swords is no basis for a system of government.” – Michael Palin, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Parody reached a new pinnacle when the landmark British comedy troupe released their first entirely original film. The madcap comics took every opportunity to debunk Arthurian legends, with arguably the best being this protest from one of Palin’s eight characters, a peasant questioning the king’s divine authority.

“Over? Did you say ‘over’? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!” – John Belushi, Animal House (1978)
When Bluto Blutarsky convinces his Delta Tau Chi frat brothers to get back at the school that had thrown them out, a star was born, with Belushi playing one of his most iconic characters in his film debut. He helped make this manic farce one of the most profitable movies ever (earning $141 million to date on a $3 million investment) and popularized a new genre, the gross-out comedy, which would inspire such later hits as Porky’s (1982) and American Pie (1999).

“Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?” – Peter Graves, Airplane! (1980)
Sometimes it’s all in the delivery. Directors Jim Abrahams and the Zucker Brothers, who also wrote the screenplay, knew that one of the funniest lines they ever wrote would be offensive if played for laughs. Therefore, it made sense that, as they did with other key roles in the movie, they would cast an actor (Graves) best known for no-nonsense dramatic roles to deliver it with a perfect deadpan.

“It’s good to be the king.” – Mel Brooks, History of the World, Part 1 (1981)
Of all the great comic lines crafted by writer-director Mel Brooks (including his invention of the phrase “creative accounting” for 1968’s The Producers), perhaps the most iconic is this quip from his take-off on historical epics. Not only did Brooks use it several times in the film, but he also included it in the stage version of The Producers (2001). It even served as a tagline for the hit Showtime series The Tudors.

“I’ll have what she’s having.” – Estelle Reiner, When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
Director Rob Reiner gave his mother one of the greatest punch lines in movie history. Nora Ephron’s script about the problems men and women have being just friends already had the makings of a hit. But the famous deli scene gave it the catchphrase that kept people talking. It was a moment that literally fell from the stars: Meg Ryan suggested demonstrating a fake orgasm rather than just talking about it, as originally written, and Billy Crystal supplied the punch line. Reiner’s mother, a jazz singer off-screen, then gave the perfect dry delivery that left audiences howling.

Award News, Breaking News, Entertainment News, Movie News, Music News, Hollywood News

hollywoodnews.com: L.A.’s most talked about family carnival and picnic goes on Safari, Sunday, June 13! Close to 100 celebrities will be on hand at the 21st annual A Time for Heroes Celebrity Picnic sponsored by Disney – a benefit for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Each year, Hollywood’s best-known celebrities volunteer their time as “heroes” working carnival-style game booths and activity areas to raise funds to fight pediatric AIDS around the world. In past years, guests have been treated to such one-of-a-kind moments as Tom Cruise in the dunk tank and Jack Nicholson reading in the storytelling area. In addition to interacting with their favorite celebrities, guests are treated to an array of culinary treats from some of Los Angeles’ finest restaurants, including AKASHA, barbrix restaurant, Beacon: An Asian Cafe, Drago Ristorante, and the legendary Pink’s Hot Dogs, among others.

The day will be topped off with a headline performance by multi-platinum recording artist, actor and songwriter Jesse McCartney!

Also to perform – The Rhythm Train with Chad Smith, Leslie Bixler featuring Dick Van Dyke!

A Time for Heroes is expected to raise approximately $1.5 million to help create a generation free of HIV. Pediatric AIDS has essentially been wiped off the face of the map in the United States, however more than
1,200 children still become infected with HIV each day around the world. The Foundation currently works at more than 4,800 sites in 17 countries to bring prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS to children, women and families. Together we can eliminate pediatric AIDS worldwide.

CONFIRMED ATTENDEES*: Billy Crystal; T.R. Knight, Denise Richards; Ashlee Simpson Wentz; Pete Wentz and dozens of other celebrities from film, television, sports and fashion including:

Laila Ali
Tatyana Ali
Nicole Anderson
Allysin Arm
Billy Baldwin
Nigel Barker
Maria Canals Barrera
Nick Barnett
Lauralee Bell
Leslie Bixler
Wayne Brady
Chloe Bridges
Billy Bush
Lacey Chabert
Bryan Cranston
Antonio Cromartie
Billy Crystal
Matt Czuchry
Mark Dacascos
Candice Davis
Melonie Diaz
Jason Dolley
Trevor Donovan
Carmen Electra
Donald Faison
Roshon Fegan
Jerry Ferrera
Balthazar Getty
Mark-Paul Gosselaar
Seth Green
Shenae Grimes
Ioan Gruffudd
Melissa Joan Hart
Cheryl Hines
Chelsea Hobbs
Kelly Hu
Jack Huston
Ashley Jones
Stacy Keibler
T.R. Knight
Ali Landry
Matt Leinart
Kate Linder
Lori Loughlin
Jessica Lowndes
Evan Lysacek
Howie Mandel
Swampy Marsh
Toby Mac
Jesse McCartney
Neal McDonough
Bridgit Mendler
Joel McHale
Katharine McPhee
Breckin Meyer
Joshua Morrow
Rob Morrow
Tia Mowry
Masi Oka
Josh Peck
Perrey Reeves
Denise Richards
Melissa Rivers
Adam Scott
Vinessa Shaw
Kiernan Shipka
John Slattery
Karina Smirnoff
Brandon Smith
Chad Smith
Marla Sockoloff
Darren Sproles
Jennifer Stone
Geoff Stults
Raven Symone
Dick Van Dyke
Ashlee Simpson Wentz
Pete Wentz
Scott Wolf

By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith

Tim Allen tells us he was all geared up to start filming “Wild Hogs 2” in a few weeks and he’s disappointed by Disney’s decision to put the movie on hold.

“This is Hollywood; we don’t know why they put it on hold. Disney is going through a top management reshuffle. They’ve reshuffled seven of their big movies. You’ll have to ask Disney because none of us know why,” he says. “We were supposed to start June 1. The crew and the rest of us were ready to go so everybody was very disappointed. I think Disney has their own reasons and I try to stay out of that. The economy may be a part of it. You just think, ‘Boy, what’s that about?’”

For now, Allen can be seen hosting the TV Land Awards airing Sunday (4/25). The fun show honors the casts of “Glee,” “The Love Boat,” Charlie’s Angels” (including a special tribute to Farrah Fawcett), “Everybody Loves Raymond” (complete with Brad Garrett cracking jokes about his buddy and former boss, Ray Romano), and “Bosom Buddies,” featuring the reunion of Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari. Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, Betty White and Billy Crystal are among the stars who grace the show as well.

To read more go to Beck/SmithHollywood.com