More Oscar weirdness: after Oprah Winfrey was somewhat inexplicably announced as the recipient of an honorary Academy Award, Brett Ratner has been selected as the producer of the 84th Annual Academy Awards. It’s an odd choice, since the director has been pretty much non-stop critically maligned for most of his films, which include X-Men 3, Red Dragon and all three Rush Hour movies. He will, however, be joined by Don Mischer, who produced this year’s awards ceremony, so it’s probably just an attempt to inject hip, young blood into the aging telecast.
Quoth the press release:
“I was so impressed with Brett when I met with him to discuss the Oscar show,” said [Academy President Tom] Sherak. “He has an incredible love of film and its history and is a true student of the business of movies. He’s unbelievably creative and knows how to take risks that are both interesting and inspiring. Together with Don Mischer – who, by the way, just earned an Emmy nomination for his work on the 83rd Academy Awards – I think these two will give us a fantastic Oscar show that you won’t want to miss.”
“I’m thrilled that Don will again bring his tremendous expertise to the Oscar telecast,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson. “And Brett has a really smart and fresh take for the show. They have great chemistry, and their vision meshed so well with ours.”
It’s hard to think about what Ratner, or indeed any producer, could really screw up at the Oscars. It’s not like a disappointing Academy Awards show would blow anybody’s mind. Hmmm… That sounds like an edition of We Can Fix It waiting to happen…
Photo Credit: PNP/WENN.com
