Eddie Murphy

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.

CHICAGO – Pam Grier has a strong, peaceful aura. After inventing the female action hero in her early 1970s hits “Coffy” and “Foxy Brown,” Grier has navigated her life through optimistic success. She was in Chicago for a book signing at Borders State Street, promoting ‘Foxy: My Life in Three Acts.”

CHICAGO – The laziest big budget film of the year, “Shrek Forever After” is the worst kind of family entertainment in that it relies solely on the goodwill engendered by the hit movies that came before to not only get audience members in seats this weekend but to sell them toys, video games, and tickets to amusement parks.

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Shrek (Mike Myers) and His New Nemesis, Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn)

CHICAGO – On Friday May 21st, the big green machine know as the Shrek franchise releases its latest animated epic, “Shrek Forever After,” in 3-D. All the old favorites are back, including the voices of Mike Myers as Shrek, Cameron Diaz as Fiona, Eddie Murphy as Donkey and Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots.

LOS ANGELES – On Friday, May 21st, the rest of the film industry will turn green with envy as “Shrek Forever After” is released. The fourth installment of the mega-popular animated series features Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas, as well as new voice talent from Jon Hamm, Craig Robinson and Walt Dohrn.

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Walt Dohrn

CHICAGO – This 41-image slideshow contains red carpet images of celebrities arriving at the Los Angeles premiere of “Shrek Forever After” on May 16th, 2010. Celebrities in attendance include Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, Antonio Banderas, Lake Bell, Steven Spielberg, and more.

CHICAGO – Nobody expects an actor to maintain the ambitions of their early career. The manic energy of Eddie Murphy from “Raw” or “48 Hours” is as gone as an ‘80s hairdo. But the numbing sameness of family-friendly Eddie is a direction that is stultifying, and does no favors for him or the audience.

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Charity (Essence Atkins, left) and her Baby Daddy (Shawn Wayans, right) have all the right moves on the dance floor in the comic spoof Dance Flick. Credit: Glen Wilson.

CHICAGO – This 11-image slideshow contains the official images provided by Paramount for their exciting Summer 2009 slate including “Star Trek,” “Dance Flick,” “Imagine That,” “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” and “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard”.