Oscar News

• After coming under fire for making a gay slur in an interview, Oscar producer Brett Ratner resigned this week from the show. Oscar host Eddie Murphy soon followed him out the door. Brian Grazer will replace Ratner as co-producer of the ceremony, and has brought in veteran Oscar host Billy Crystal to host the show for the ninth time.
• The Academy released the list last week of the 18 films eligible for Best Animated Feature. If all the films remain eligible for the award, there will most likely be five nominees in the category this year.
• The Academy will salute Vanessa Redgrave in London this weekend.
• The Los Angeles Film Critics will not move up their awards like the New York Film Critics Association has, and will keep their date of December 11.
• The Los Angeles Film Critics will honor Doris Day with their lifetime achievement award.
• Among the nominees for the European Film Awards are last year’s Oscar winners The King’s Speech and In a Better World, as well as some of this year’s contenders: The Artist, Melancholia,  We Need to Talk About Kevin and  The Skin I Live In.
• The Artist won the Audience Favorite Award at the Austin Film Festival last week.

Review Round-Up

• Clint Eastwood, who has directed two Best Picture winners in the past 20 years, released J. Edgar this week in hopes of number three. However, the film has not won over all the critics, picking up only a 59 on Metacritic. No matter their feelings on the film, though, critics have universally praised Leonardo DiCaprio’s lead performance.
• Just as it did at the Cannes Film Festival, Melancholia is proving divisive to critics. Although some really despise the film, it has still managed an 82 score on Metacritic, and has shown that its supporters are fervent.
• Into the Abyss, Werner Herzog’s latest documentary, is an expected critical favorite, picking up a Metacritic score of 79.

Oscar Box Office

There is no Oscar related box office news to report from the past two weeks.

Oscar Farewell

• Gil Cates, the legendary producer who was in charge of 14 Oscar telecasts, died last week at the age of 77. He won an Emmy for his Oscar work in 1991.
• Oscar-nominted costume designer Theadora Van Runkle passed away this week at the age of 83. Her nominations came for the costuming of Bonnie and Clyde, The Godfather Part II and Peggy Sue Got Married.
• Veteran television writer Hal Kanter died this week at the age of 92. The writer spent decades writing jokes for Oscar telecasts, and shared two Emmy Awards for his work on the awards ceremonies.