Feds Arrest Dwight Freeney’s Financial Advisors For Embezzling Over $2 Million From NFL Player SMH… This is why you can’t trust anybody around your money! NFL player Dwight Freeney had to learn that lesson the hard way. According to TMZ reports : While Indianapolis Colts stud Dwight Freeney was crushing NFL QBs … 2 financial advisors allegedly sacked him in an embezzlement scheme involving millions of dollars, luxury hotels, and a private jet … TMZ has learned. According to the Federal complaint — obtained by TMZ — Eva D. Weinberg and Michael A. Stern were busted late last week after a lengthy investigation revealed how they “conspired to defraud victim D.F., a professional football player.” According to the docs, Weinberg is a financial advisor at Bank of America who worked with Freeney, controlled several of his accounts, and introduced him to Stern … also a financial advisor. The feds claim Weinberg and Stern did major damage between May 2010 and October 2011 — making $2.2 million in fraudulent transfers from Dwight’s accounts to Arms Reach Consulting — a company controlled by Stern. When Freeney finally noticed one of the bogus transfers in 2011, and discovered Weinberg and Stern were dating … he called the FBI. One FBI investigator says some of the items Weinberg and Stern purchased with Freeney’s cash include expensive sunglasses, stays in luxury hotels, and — best of all — they planned to buy a private jet for $1.5 million! According to the docs, agents even heard Stern brag on the phone … “no one would be able to connect him to the [consulting] account if the wire transfers were investigated.” Clearly he was wrong … agents arrested Weinberg in L.A. and Stern in Miami. Both were charged with wire fraud. Calls to Freeney’s attorney were not immediately returned. Damn son… They were trying to get a private plane with his money!!! More On Bossip! No Isht Sherlock: Kat Stacks FINALLY Admits That She Is A Dirty, Shady, Deceitful Hoe That Lied About Soulja Boy’s Cocaine Use! Eff A Geraldo: A Gallery Of Lovable, Wholesome White People Rocking Hoodies…Should They Get Shot, Too?! Celebrity Seeds: Eddie Murphy’s Beautiful Daughters Seen Getting Their Nails Done In Beverly Hills [Photos] Strong Or Stupid? Women That Stayed By Their Men Despite TONS Of Cheating Rumors
This guy, Christopher, went State Property: Surveillance video from the courtroom shows 25-year-old Christopher Ruffin shoving a bailiff aside as he’s accompanied into a courtroom. The bailiff attempts to wrestle Ruffin to the ground as a second bailiff comes to his aid, but Ruffin manages to keep both men at bay before turning and running from the courtroom. One of the bailiffs shoots a Taser stun gun multiple times at Ruffin, who flees the courtroom with prongs and wires from the device hanging from his body. Ruffin runs down a hallway and past the security checkpoint on his way out of the building, with the two deputies trying to keep up. The deputies give up pursuit after Ruffin leaves the building and appear to call other authorities to assist. Ruffin had been sentenced prior to the escape to 90 days in the Butler County Jail on a probation violation. Police said Ruffin ran to an apartment complex on Patterson Boulevard and tried to get into a car, but the driver locked the doors before he could get in. Ruffin then was able to get into another car with a woman and her 2-year-old child inside, police said. While trying to get the woman to take him out of the area, police arrived, Ruffin fled and another foot chase ensued, officers said. Ruffin was arrested a short time later and taken to jail.
There’s a peculiar kind of pleasure to be found in watching Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, in 21 Jump Street , horsing around and generally acting like doofuses for our amusement. As rookie cops assigned to patrol — by bicycle — a city park, they’re more than ready to prove their tough-guy status: When they spot a bunch of biker guys experiencing the joys of cannabis beneath a tree, they strut toward the gang in their shorts and bike helmets, but not before flipping their kickstands down with a mighty thwack . Later, Hill says a fervent prayer in the Catholic church that serves as headquarters for the undercover unit to which the duo has been assigned, its sign outside reading, in mistranslated Korean, “Aroma of Christ Church.” Hill kneels in front of the crucifix, beginning his urgent plea with the words, “Hey, Korean Jesus…” That irreverent riff captures the tone of the whole picture — it’s a ramshackle thing, a goof on the idea that anyone might actually care about a movie based on an old TV show, or that anyone might actually care about a movie at all. For the first half, at least, 21 Jump Street gives us reason to care. In recent years, the mania for turning old TV shows into movies has waned — a good thing, particularly given the ungodly mess known as The Green Hornet . Still, movies inspired by TV shows are coming back with a tiny vengeance — we have Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows , to name just one, to look forward to later this spring. And for now, 21 Jump Street is a small puff of fresh air simply because it’s not, like umpteen other releases coming down the pike, based on a comic-book series. Instead, its inspiration is a show that made its debut on the then-fledgling Fox Network in 1987 (and also helped launch the career of Johnny Depp, long before he became buried under Burton’s makeup or obscured by pirate-y facial hair), although this 21 Jump Street has its own distinct, goofy flavor. The movie opens in 2005, when Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) are still high school students. Schmidt is the smart, shlubby, unpopular one — he’s an Eminem nut with a crop of bottle-blond hair, which could be sort of cool if his braces didn’t ruin the whole effect. Jenko is the dumb, sleepy-eyed jock with lank, shaggy hair. When the school principal informs him that he can’t go to the prom and that it’s “time to pay the piper,” he squints at her dimly and murmurs, “I should pay who?” Fast-forward a few years, and these two have become first police academy buddies (Jenko, recognizing he could use some help in the smarts department, latches onto Schmidt) and then rookie officers. After botching that aforementioned pot bust, the two are reassigned to an undercover unit — headed by a hard-ass, and very funny, Ice Cube — in which their job is to pose as teenagers and find the source of a drug that’s sweeping the local high school. 21 Jump Street is at its best when directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller — the guys behind the much-loved 2009 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs — just let Hill and Tatum run with the patent ridiculousness of the setup. (The script is by Michael Bacall, from a story by Bacall and Hill.) Hill is reasonably funny and relaxed here; even when he’s playing the loser-sadsack, he radiates more confidence than he has in the past, instead of just relying on shtick. He still has that unassuming, “Who, me?” demeanor, but he’s more fully in control of it than ever before. And Tatum, who has already proved to be a marvelous dramatic actor even in throwaway pictures like Dear John (he also recently starred in the megahit The Vow ), has the kind of comic timing that’s deceptively laid-back and sharp at the same time. His Jenko comes off as an easygoing galoot, which makes the idiot-savant observations he comes up with that much funnier. Schmidt, upon his return to high school, notes that all the things that made him uncool in his own high-school days (caring about the environment, being tolerant) have now become hip. Jenko agrees, and he doesn’t like it, looking for a place to lay the blame: “I know the cause. It’s Glee ,” he says definitively, like a Sherlock Holmes who’s spent too much time parked in front of the tube. Together Hill and Tatum are so much fun to watch that it’s disappointing when the story around them becomes overly cluttered and convoluted. To say 21 Jump Street loses the plot isn’t quite accurate: It’s a pretty loose-limbed affair from the get-go. But Lord and Miller insist on turning it into an action film, complete with elaborate car chases and shootouts that betray the spirit of silliness they laid out at the beginning. 21 Jump Street falters when it becomes too ambitious. Its finest moments — as when Schmidt and Jenko sternly forbid a bratty kid from feeding ducks in the park, which causes him to immediately (what else?) feed the ducks — are the ones that feel unplanned and tossed-off. In those moments, 21 Jump Street shows a kind of wayward, pigeon-toed brilliance. Maybe that particular brand of half-assed genius is too evanescent to survive a whole movie. Then again, half an ass is better than none. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
In strict dramatic terms, almost nothing occurs in the Dardenne brothers’ The Kid with a Bike . Some characters show a lack of empathy, even cruelty, but there’s more than enough kindness elsewhere to make up for it, and the terrible things you fear might happen simply don’t. Those qualities make the movie seem slight, almost inconsequential, as if the merest breeze would blow it off-course. But the real strength of The Kid with a Bike is the cautious but generous warmth of its storytelling. Not much happens in The Kid with a Bike , but it leaves you grateful that the worst doesn’t happen — with these characters, you might not be able to bear it. The Kid with a Bike starts out as your standard child-at-risk story. Cyril (played by the fine young actor Thomas Doret, in his debut) is an 11-ish redhead with a buzz cut who’s in perpetual movement from the movie’s first minute: Peripatetic, quizzical and persistent, Cyril is obsessed with reconnecting with his father (played by Dardennes regular Jérémie Renier), who has essentially abandoned him to a local home for displaced or problem kids. Cyril also wants his bike back — he believes it’s still in the apartment his father has recently also abandoned — and with the help of a quietly compassionate hairdresser he meets by chance, Samantha (Cécile De France, in a relaxed but extremely focused performance), he does get it back. Recognizing, in some basic, primal way, that he’s found someone who might be able to give him the care and affection he needs, Cyril latches onto her, figuratively and even at one point literally — he clamps his arms around her in an ironclad, monkeylike embrace. He also makes a bold request, asking her outright if she’ll let him live with her on the weekends, even though she barely knows him. With no hesitation she agrees. But even under Samantha’s guidance and care, Cyril is still something of a lost kid, which causes him to fall under the spell of a local hood, who hopes to enlist him in a life of petty crime. On the basis of previous pictures like The Son or L’Enfant , you might think Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne would lean heavily on the suspense card: The Belgian writing-directing duo aren’t exactly the cheeriest guys on the planet, and if they were to follow their more dour instincts, they might have fixated on the question of whether or not Cyril would succumb to thuggery. But they’re after something more delicate here, and if it doesn’t completely work — the movie is so muted it comes off as being a bit wayward in its emotional and narrative focus — there’s still something admirable in their outright rejection of desolation and despair. (The picture won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes last May.) The ending of The Kid with a Bike holds out a very real possibility for redemption. It doesn’t hurt that the picture, set in an unnamed provincial town and filmed in some gorgeously bucolic parts of Belgium, is also beautifully shot (by DP Alain Marcoen): The images have a clean, crisp, no-nonsense look that’s almost a metaphorical counterpart to Cyril’s confident physicality as he whizzes from here to there. Doret, for all his preternatural confidence in this role, is still an unassuming and sympathetic presence. With that strawberry-blond perpetual-summer haircut, and a reckless scattering of freckles across his nose, he looks like the kind of kid you’d see on a ’50s bread wrapper. But his face is solemn and purposeful, and his mannerisms are too: When he makes or takes a call on his cell phone, he conveys information with just-the-facts-ma’am efficiency. His body is gangly and puppet-like in that pre-adolescent way, but every movement is resolute: When he chases after the various kids who, repeatedly, try to steal his precious bike, he throws off sparks of grim determination, like a single-minded marathon runner. Maybe, in the end, he outruns the movie. But it’s hard to take your eyes off him as he sprints into the distance. [Editor’s note: This review appeared earlier, in a slightly different form, in Stephanie Zacharek’s 2011 Cannes Film Festival coverage .] Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Latest Dr. Seuss adaptation isn’t winning over too many critics. A scene from “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” Photo: Universal Studios There are few authors whose oeuvre is as universally beloved as that of Dr. Seuss. The love for Dr. Seuss is so great that plenty of his stories are rife for big-screen treatment. We’ve seen movie versions of “The Cat in the Hat,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Horton Hears a Who,” and now we have “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,” which hit theaters Friday (March 2). Led by an all-star cast of voice talent including Taylor Swift, Zac Efron, Danny DeVito, Betty White, Ed Helms and Rob Riggle, the story follows the journey of a young boy who fights to reintroduce endangered trees to the plastic-obsessed town of Thneedville in hopes of winning a girl’s heart. Despite the warm-and-fuzzy sheen of the film, critics were not as wowed by the colorful adaptation. The film currently has a 56 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes but an 85 percent positive rating from audiences. Read on as we sift through “The Lorax” reviews! The Adaptation “Director Chris Renaud and writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio (the team responsible for 2010’s ‘Despicable Me’) were just the right people to bring Dr. Seuss’ (a.k.a. Theodor Geisel) 1971 environmental fable to vivid, eye-popping life. It has a similar blend of humor, bouncy silliness and sweetness. And it remains faithful to the spirit of Seuss. The pro-conservation, anti-consumerist message of the book is heartily intact. And, like the Seuss story, the film never resorts to sermonizing. … Disappointingly, Seuss’ trademark lilting language and clever rhymes are only sporadically integrated into the story. The film does add pleasantly loopy, if rather forgettable, songs.” — Claudia Puig, USA Today The Animation “As with ‘Horton Hears a Who!’ four years ago, the production design and computer-generated animation in this new ‘Lorax’ respect the basic lines of Theodor Seuss Geisel’s illustrations, his voluptuously curvy universe of serious whimsy. Both the ‘Horton’ and ‘Lorax’ films work better, certainly, than the live-action Seuss pictures ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ and the seriously not-good ‘Cat in the Hat.’ ‘The Lorax’ is a little more like it. A little. But you couldn’t accuse the film of practicing what it preaches: careful stewardship of a precious resource. The message tends to get lost in all the clanging slapstick and ‘WALL-E’ imagery. ‘WALL-E’ had the courage of its convictions as well as beauty and artistry; ‘The Lorax’ is just another OK feature-length animated edition (in 3-D, if you choose to pay for it) of a Dr. Seuss book.” — Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune The Final Word, Pro-Con-Pro Style “Directors Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda and their team honor Seuss’ original designs — those fuzzy-top trees and the comical bears and fish — while inventively creating the artificial world of Thneedville, where all the shrubbery is inflatable and it can be all four seasons simultaneously. While the film isn’t a full-on musical, the creators weave in a handful of catchy songs that nestle comfortably in the ear and push the plot forward, a rare combo in most cartoons these days. The voice cast is just fine, with Helms’ Once-ler traveling smoothly from protagonist to antagonist and back again. (A little of DeVito’s hectoring Lorax goes a long way, and the film wisely doles him out in small doses.) Conservative commentators like Lou Dobbs are absolutely right when they say that ‘The Lorax’ preaches in favor of the environment and against corporatism and waste and the destruction of the atmosphere. Parents who find that to be a message that’s somehow dangerous have every right not to go, but those Grinches, out of their terror of tree-hugging propaganda, will miss a real treat.” — Alonso Duralde, TheWrap “Don’t be fooled. Despite its soft environmentalist message ‘The Lorax’ is an example of what it pretends to oppose. Its relationship to Dr. Seuss’ book is precisely that of the synthetic trees that line the streets of Thneedville to the organic Truffulas they have displaced. The movie is a noisy, useless piece of junk, reverse-engineered into something resembling popular art in accordance with the reigning imperatives of marketing and brand extension. … ‘The Lorax,’ while it nods in the direction of Dr. Seuss’ distinctive, trippy drawing style, treats his sensibility as, at best, a decorative element. The movie’s silliness, like its preachiness, is loud and slightly hysterical, as if young viewers could be entertained only by a ceaseless barrage of sensory stimulus and pop-culture attitude, or instructed by songs that make the collected works of Up With People sound like Metallica. The simple fable of the Lorax and the Once-ler is wrapped in gaudy, familiar business and festooned with grim, forced cheer. What do the kids want? Car chases! Kooky grandmas! Pint-size villains flanked by thuggish minions! Things that fly! Taylor Swift!” — A.O. Scott, The New York Times “As much as this looks like Dr. Seuss, some of the most intriguing ideas of the original story have been changed and not always for the better. Altering the ending into one big happy party was slightly disappointing, if understandable. It was much more interesting that this strange creature would tell his story to a curious young boy and hope that this child would be able to plant the very last truffula tree seed. Not surprisingly, the movie changes that ambiguous hope into a happy-heavy ending. Sure it may be more child friendly, but the books weren’t exclusively made for grown-ups. If done right, young viewers would be able to search for hope with a less obvious finale. Yet with all the over-the-top joyfulness and an extraneous villain, there is fun to be had with ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax.’ This is an enjoyable kid’s flick with a message for a new generation. The environmental aspect might anger a few people but that same idea is in the book itself, there is nothing new about that here. Much like Bob Holt’s take on him, I really warmed up to the character of the Lorax and what DeVito brings to this little critter that speaks for the trees. And yes, Betty White voices another wacky grandma, and everybody loves her, right?” — Jimmy O, JoBlo.com Check out everything we’ve got on “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘The Lorax’
If you’re an Avatar superfan who’s been yearning for your own lifelike bundle of joy to complete your home(tree), look no further than this custom-made offering from eBay seller tinytoesnursery15 . The humanoid-Na’vi “REBORN AVATAR BABY” comes with hand-painted blue skin, jewels and various adornment, and has a head that turns… so it can watch you as you sleep. And it can be yours for just $130! In all seriousness, the purchase price seems entirely worth it for a true-blue (ahem) Avatar fan. That said, $18 for shipping? Where to, Pandora?? Personally, it’s not for me since it gives me the creepy crawlies. (I mean, she is not for me — the maker clearly states this is a female Avatar baby). But hey, whatever floats your boat! Bid now, as the auction ends on March 5. [ eBay via Slashfilm ]
American Idol has named its final 12 men on season 11. Okay, yes, there will actually be 13 men, but if the show is keeping the final semifinalist secret until he performs on Tuesday night then he can blame producers for being left off this list. While we still have a slew of live auditions to go through, it’s never too early to start choosing sides. Are you going with the 15-year old dubbed the next Justin Bieber ? The guy so nice his family named him twice ? Browse through the following promotional photos now and then cast a vote for your favorite… WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE MALE SEMIFINALIST?
After 11 season, this faithful viewer might be trading ‘Idol’ in for new models ‘The X Factor’ and ‘The Voice.’ By Gil Kaufman Ryan Seacrest with the top 24 of “American Idol” Photo: Fox I’m a loyalist at heart. Back in the day, I watched “The X Files,” the original “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “The O.C.” until the bitter end, convincing myself that my patience would be rewarded well after the shark had jumped. But after slogging through another interminable pair of “American Idol” cut-down episodes Wednesday and Thursday , I think I’m finally throwing in the towel. I’ve been there since episode one with “Idol,” reveling in the joy of Kelly Clarkson’s win, cheering Ruben Studdard to his well-deserved crown and scratching my head when clearly inferior champs like Taylor Hicks, Lee DeWyze and Kris Allen took the top prize. Just a week before the season 11 live shows start, though, “Idol” has lost me, perhaps for good. The bottom line is that the show just feels like it’s on auto-pilot, from the bored looks on the faces of celebrity judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez to the predictable plotlines and not-so-clever editing tricks intended to keep our interest up through the early rounds. It was bad enough a few weeks ago when an entire episode of the group rounds went by without any discernible footage of, you know, singing. The biggest plot point that week was the exploitation of a sick teenage girl passing out and falling off the stage, which was used as a cruel cliffhanger. On Wednesday night, we got yet another rehash of the previous audition rounds along with mostly truncated looks at the singer’s final Las Vegas performances (most of which were bland, if not downright boring) before they had to make the long walk to the judgment chairs. Thursday night was more of the same. Sole original judge Randy Jackson seemed to run out of creative ways to torture the painfully eager singers with purposely vague platitudes about how hard it is to cut them at this point, purposely mangling his words to keep them on the edge of confusion. Watching this spectacle, I just asked myself, “Do I even care if Heejun Han or Reed Grimm make it?” “Do I need to see Jermaine Jones cry again?” “Who is Chase Likens and why haven’t I even seen him up until now?” In my long experience with “Idol” and writing about music, none of them seem like winner material, in the same way that such paint-by-numbers soul mamas like Jen Hirsch, Elise Testone, Erika Van Pelt, Shannon Magrane and stage mom’d Brielle Von Hugel fail to excite. And making Adam Brock — a weepy white dad who brags about singing like a black woman while using his dead grandfather’s handkerchief as a pity prop at every turn — a cliffhanger for Thursday night’s episode just seems pointless. This guy has no chance to win, and if he does, well, “Idol” has way bigger problems. In fact, the only contestant in the mix at this point who seems even halfway relevant in today’s music biz is skunk-mohawked former castoff Colton Dixon, but he hasn’t gotten nearly as much love as Phil Phillips, whose twitchy Dave Matthews impersonation has already grown unbearably irritating. Even 15-year-old Eben Franckewitz seems promising, but I can already tell his “story line” will be that despite lots of experience on the musical-theater stage, the judges are going to hammer him for his nerves. Before Wednesday night’s episode aired, I was already firmly in line with Entertainment Weekly columnist Mark Harris, who wrote an opinion piece in the February 24 issue about how he was switching sides. “The opening weeks of ‘Idol’ traffic in humiliation and tears — the neediness of the young, desperate to be extracted from the mob; the familiar weariness of the judges; the talentless clowns pimped as sneerworthy sideshows,” he wrote. “But the opening weeks of ‘The Voice’ are about hope and discovery.” In essence, he said, we’re at a tipping point where NBC’s upstart show is winning the race not by copying the template of “Idol,” but by purposely running in the other direction. The “Voice” judges are relevant musicians of today from varying genres with a sharp, entertaining rapport that crackles and brings a fresh energy to the show. That show starts from day one with good to great singers from varying backgrounds, singing mostly contemporary chart hits, who are eager to get help from those who are still charting today. Meanwhile, the “Idol” judges are riding the fumes of their fading careers as they continue to struggle to apply their hard-earned lessons in the music biz to mostly teenage strivers who can’t relate to their mother or father’s favorite singers. The leading contestants so far this year on “Idol” fall into two or three predictable camps: overreaching, throwback R&B belters, quirky imitators of no-longer-relatable stars or ultra-twangy country gals. Where are the edgy R&B divas like Rihanna? The cute boy singers like Justin Bieber? The hip-hop-influenced Drake wannabes? Hell, where are the Carrie Underwoods who can deftly mix pop and country? “The X Factor” and “The Voice” eagerly embrace singers of every color, style and persuasion. So are you telling me that there was not one woman of color out of the tens of thousands who auditioned worthy of the semifinal round? Have we become a nation of (almost exclusively) blond, female Mariah/Christina copycats? Just look at the talent that has already been signed in the wake of the first “Factor” season : a legitimately powerful soul diva in winner Melanie Amaro , a fascinating redemption story in rapper/crooner Chris Rene, contemporary R&B singer Marcus Canty, white blues man Josh Krajcik, high school cutie Rachel Crow and buzzed-about teen rapper Astro , any one of whom could legitimately blow up. Meanwhile, the first 24 semifinalists put through by “Idol” this week are almost without exception as blandly interchangeable (and old-fashioned) as Lopez’s spangly tops. And the “surprise” extra boy to be named later is one of the most tired tropes in the “Idol” dream factory bag of tricks. Sure, it’s very early in the process and nobody knows what could happen. But if you recall, even in the audition stage it was already clear that eventual season-eight runner-up Adam Lambert was destined to be one of the most exciting, unusual performers in the show’s history. It’s not like season-one “Voice” winner Javier Colon has set the world on fire, but at least that show focuses on mentoring and nurturing talent of any age, shape and style, rather than serving up cookie-cutter slot fillers. The sense of hope, discovery and optimism that Harris said permeates “The Voice” is wholly lacking on “Idol,” which feels more and more like a dated reality competition and less like a singing showcase. Tear-jerking backstories aside, it’s hard to see how any of these singers is going to win America over, not to mention make a case for idolatry or even above-average chart success. It’s been a fun ride, “Idol,” but unless you can prove to me that you can read the writing on the wall, I’m afraid my TiVo is going to be reprogrammed to NBC from now on. Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Photos ‘American Idol’ Season 11 Top 24 And Wildcard Contestants
From Bob Hope to Chris Rock, MTV News looks back on the most memorable Academy Awards emcees. By Kevin P. Sullivan Anne Hathaway and James Franco at the 2011 Academy Awards Photo: Getty Images Every year, almost as important as the Best Picture winner is the host of the Academy Awards . Both grab headlines the next day, and both are sure to endure their fair share of criticism. With almost every host having to face the black-and-white judgments of “good host or bad host,” who ranks among the best and the worst? Here’s our take on the Oscar hosts worth awarding and the one’s that should have been snubbed. Best Billy Crystal If someone hosts the show nine times, there’s probably a good reason. Crystal carved out a niche for himself as the host of the big show starting in 1990 by keeping it light and throwing in a good song-and-dance routine for good measure. Johnny Carson The king of late night hosted the Academy Awards five times, the third most of any host. His overwhelming popularity from “The Tonight Show” carried over into his stints as host and made him one of the most consistently successful hosts. His familiarity with celebrities and experience with off-the-cuff comedy led to one of the Oscar’s most memorable lines: “I see a lot of news faces, especially on the old faces.” Bob Hope If repeat jobs as host are a measure of success, Bob Hope takes the top prize after hosting the ceremony a record 19 times. Famously calling attention to his lack of nominations, Hope’s self-deprecating humor made him an Oscar legend and a rightful spot as the show’s most frequent host. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin As the first paired hosts since Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan in 1987, Martin and Baldwin played off each other well enough to earn them the title of “best in recent years.” Though Martin had solo hosting duties in 2001 and 2003, it wasn’t until he joined forces with Baldwin that he earned his highest praise. Jon Stewart The host of “The Daily Show” faced a good deal of criticism after his first stint as host in 2006. He didn’t shy away from controversy, calling out the liberal politics of Hollywood and Scientology, but a positive audience response brought Stewart back for a second go two years later. Worst David Letterman The late-night host’s name often leads the pack when recalling the worst hosts in the history of the Oscars. His “Oprah, Uma” gag and the negative reaction it got precedes most talk of how Letterman actually did. Letterman never returned to host after his one appearance in 1995. Anne Hathaway and James Franco The most notorious hosts in recent years, Hathaway and Franco were supposed to welcome a younger audience and make the Oscars cool again. What resulted was an odd and scattered show that was neither very funny nor cool. Many complained the Franco had phoned it in, while others found Hathaway cloying. Chris Rock Rock’s greatest offense as host of the Academy Awards may have just been doing his normal routine, but the audience (and Sean Penn, in particular) didn’t take too kindly to the comedian poking fun at some of the faces in the crowd. Chevy Chase Chase hosted the show a total a two times, but only once by himself. The year after his solo gig, no one hosted, which is all you need to know about that. Jerry Lewis It may be hard to believe with today’s bloated ceremony, but in 1959, the ceremony wrapped up 20 minutes before it was scheduled to. To kill the leftover time, Lewis vamped on stage and forced some of the night’s winners to continue singing and dancing on stage. NBC eventually ended the show early, but the dead, ad-libbed airtime remains an infamous part of the Oscar legacy. Who else should make the lists of best and worst Oscar hosts? Leave your comment below! The MTV Movies team has the 2012 Oscars covered! Stick with us for everything you need to know leading up to the awards show, and on Sunday, February 26, tune into MTV.com at 5 p.m. ET for our two-and-a-half-hour red-carpet live stream and updates on the night’s big winners. To join the live conversation, tweet @MTVNews with the hashtag #Oscars. Related Videos Oscars 2012: And The Nominees Are…
I’ve got to say that I absolutely love these pictures of Jennifer Love Hewitt and I’m kind of bored by them at the same time. The shots of her in her skin tight dress are pretty damn awesome, I hardly even notice that massive booty she’s got double wrapped in Spanx under there. Awesome. But the jeans and loose top are back to her boring self. These look like pictures of twins, one’s a big breasted hottie who chases rich men around for a living and the other spends all her time helping kittens at an animal shelter. I’ll take the slutty one.
