Eddie Murphy

CHICAGO – The movie business is a funny thing in that EVERYONE involved with “A Thousand Words” has moved on and yet there are studio executives who still want you to care enough to open your wallet.

CHICAGO – Brett Ratner’s “Tower Heist” features a LOT of actors who have proven talents but haven’t made the best career decisions of late. The number of disappointing films that star Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, and Tea Leoni could fill a film festival in Hell. And Ratner has committed his own crimes against celluloid. So, I was dreading “Tower Heist.” There’s nothing to dread here.

CHICAGO – In our latest comedy caper edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Blu-ray, we have 5 Blu-rays up for grabs for the home entertainment release of “Tower Heist” starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy!

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 – A day after producer/director Brett Ratner was ousted from being the 2012 Academy Award show producer, 2012 host Eddie Murphy has decided he will no longer host the upcoming Oscar ceremony. The announcement came Wednesday afternoon as Murphy – who worked with Ratner on the recent feature release “Tower Heist” – decided he didn’t want to stay on as host without his friend and creative partner working with him.

CHICAGO – The frustrating madness that is the typical Hollywood movie never ceases to amaze, in the sense where large sums of cash are outlaid to pair the right movie stars together, and not one wit is expended to create an interesting or cohesive story. “Tower Heist” is the latest example of this sad trend.

CHICAGO – NBC announced Monday morning that actor Ben Stiller and actress Anna Faris are slated to host “Saturday Night Live” in October. The announcement also stated that Foster the People would be the musical guest in Stiller’s show, and Drake would perform when Faris hosts.

CHICAGO – After what many considered to be a rather dull and boring host in James Franco and an overly perky and strangely excited job by Anne Hathaway, the 2012 edition of the Academy Awards will be hosted by a completely different talent: actor/comedian Eddie Murphy. Rumors spread this past weekend that Murphy was in the running for the position and the Academy confirmed the speculation was true this morning when they officially named Murphy the host.

CHICAGO – It’s been dormant for awhile but the Blu-Ray Round-Up is back (and its brother, the DVD Round-Up, returns later this week) to inform you of a few titles that could otherwise slip through unnoticed if not for the public service of HollywoodChicago.com. Straight-to-video horror movies, a legendary musical, reality TV, softcore porn, and a genre-defining buddy comedy — everyone is welcome at the Round-Up.

CHICAGO – With “Shrek Forever After” also being billed as “Shrek: The Final Chapter” and being pitched as the final film in the “Shrek” franchise, it only makes sense that DreamWorks has put together a lavish box set of this billion-dollar franchise that captures the entire saga of Shrek, Donkey, Fiona, and the rest of the lovable creatures of arguably the most influential series of films of the last decade.