Billy Crystal

CHICAGO – Welcome to the HollywoodChicago.com coverage of the 84th annual Academy Awards. This awards telecast honors the best in film for 2011 and will be hosted by Billy Crystal at 7:30 p.m. CST tonight on ABC.

CHICAGO – A day after Eddie Murphy dropped out as the host of the next Academy Awards Ceremony, Billy Crystal announced on his twitter that he would take over the hosting duties. Crystal will host the Oscars for the ninth time on February 26, 2012.

CHICAGO – Baseball is a game made for the romantic hyperbole of otherwise stoic men. The appreciation of the game is often passed from Dad to son, so just in time for Father’s Day along comes two great baseball films, the Billy Crystal directed “61*” and the “When it Was a Game” collection.

CHICAGO – Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” got a raw deal. In the shadow of not just the legend of William Shakespeare’s play but the incredible film versions that had come before, “Hamlet” couldn’t even break $5 million at the box office. And yet this gorgeous, incredibly-made retelling of one of the most influential pieces of theater ever written looks simply amazing on Blu-ray. It’s a fantastic release.

CHICAGO – As Disney/Pixar continues to release new films on Blu-Ray, they often “piggy-back” one title with another from their catalog, choosing to release Pete Docter’s first directorial effort for the company, “Monsters, Inc.” in HD on the same day that they release his new film, “Up”. In a beautiful 4-disc combo pack that includes Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital copies of the film, “Monsters, Inc.” continues the Pixar Blu-Ray tradition.