Billy Crystal is your host

After the madness of the decision of Brett Ratner producing, and the potentially genius decision to have Eddie Murphy hosting, both men have bowed out of the Oscars due to Ratner's indescribably stupid comments as of late. To pick up the pieces are Oscar-winning producer Brian Grazer and the man who's hosted the awards second only to Bob Hope, the man himself, Billy Crystal. Should make for a great show, and I don't think Billy will have any rust on him, even though he hasn't hosted since 2003 when The Return of the King swept, and he hasn't even been in a film since 2001. Return of a classic, classy, and great host? Yes, please. I'm tired of the Chris Rock's and James Franco's, way to bring it back Academy.

18 Animated Features in the race this year

According to Academy rules, anytime there are more than 15 finalists in the submitted list, there will be 5 final nominees. This year, there were 18 films on the list, so there ya go. I personally love animated movies, one of my favorites genres. And in all honestly, I think almost every year, there are enough good films that there should be 5 finalists, but I digress.

Here are the 18 films submitted for this year's Animated Feature race...

• The Adventures of Tintin
• Alois Nebel
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
• Arthur Christmas
• Cars 2
• A Cat in Paris
• Chico & Rita
• Gnomeo & Juliet
• Happy Feet Two
• Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Mars Needs Mom
• Puss in Boots
• Rango
• Rio
• The Smurfs
• Winnie the Pooh
• Wrinkles