Disney goes bearded, Sundance goes silent, Vanilla Ice goes hipster and Tracy Morgan goes home

Mike Roe | January 24th, 2012, 1:13pm

somethingstartedcrazy/Flickr (Creative Commons-licensed)

Marina Abromovic at New York's Museum of Modern Art

Today's pop culture roundup:

Clearly staged, but if seeing Vanilla Ice singing "Ice, Ice Baby" and "Ninja Rap" as an Echo Park indie rock hipster doesn't make you happy, you, sir or madame, have no heart:
(via the Daily What)

Disney is finally lifting their legendary ban on facial hair for theme park employees. So next time you're at Disneyland, you may see some well-groomed goatees. Well-groomed, because there are still limitations, such as keeping the facial hair less than a quarter of an inch. Still banned? Soul patches. Disney knows that's still wrong.

Tracy Morgan returned to Los Angeles after collapsing at Sundance, but it sounds like it was unrelated to his struggles with alcohol. He's blaming the high altitude. Morgan also suffers from diabetes, which is known to be harder to manage at high altitudes. (via The Atlantic Wire)

1930s mugshots of women, Crystal clears Oscar jokes, Star Wars cello battle in our daily roundup

Mike Roe | January 18th, 2012, 2:55pm

Mugshots of women from 1930s-40s Los Angeles. Charges including cons, embezzlement, burglary, prostitution, assault with a deadly weapon, "mental case" and... "lesbian."

If Photoshop was a real-world cosmetic:

(via the Ebert Club)

The actor who plays fictional character I most identify with, Josh Radnor (aka Ted on "How I Met Your Mother") is releasing a memoir about growing up in Ohio and... wait, what's this? Doing hallucinogenics in the Amazon? Huh. So, there's that.

Host Billy Crystal teased some new Oscars jokes, making fun of the idea that he's a little out of touch with pop culture at this point.

Liverpool moviegoers demanded refunds after going to see "The Artist" but not knowing in advance it was going to be a silent film.

Herman Cain endorses Stephen Colbert: The Stephen Colbert telling South Carolinians to vote for Herman Cain to show their support for Colbert has hit another level, as now Cain is endorsing the thing personally. So, is this reverse endorsing? Endorsing himself? Cain will be taping a segment with Colbert as well.

Steve Martin offers some friendly Oscars hosting advice to Eddie Murphy

Mike Roe | September 21st, 2011, 1:46pm

Universal/Getty Images

Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy star in the 1999 movie Bowfinger.

Eddie Murphy is hosting the Oscars next year. We talked recently about skepticism over Murphy being chosen to host. Apparently Murphy's good pal Steve Martin wants to make sure Murphy delivers on the big night, so he wrote this essay for Funny Or Die, "Some Oscar Hosting Advice to Eddie Murphy."

My favorite bits:

"The losers can feel very sad, so when you’re backstage with them, pat their backs, then shake your head sadly. It’s a blast!"

"If you feel tired midway through, give Neil Patrick Harris a Red Bull and throw some sheet music at him."

"Remember to relax and have a good time while 12,000 livebloggers rip you to shreds."

He also offers a nice commentary on celebrity in closing:

"Eddie, since you and I are old friends, and I sincerely thought you deserved an Oscar nomination for BOWFINGER, the movie we did together that stands alone in comedy history, from which we got no credit or acknowledgement except large paychecks and drivers and any type of food we wanted delivered to us every day in our really nice trailers, I wish you all the best on your Oscar hosting gig."

Eddie Murphy's hosting the Oscars; which Eddie are we going to get?

Mike Roe | September 6th, 2011, 2:29pm

Eddie Murphy's been announced as the host for next year's Oscars. Some of you may be saying "What the--?!" while others say "Isn't that the guy from those awful family films?"

I'm curious to see if he brings the old-school comic brilliance that made comedy specials"Raw" and "Delirious" and his time on "Saturday Night Live" so comedically spectacular or if it's a few hours of Nutty Professor Klumps-style dressup.

Let's take a look back at that old Eddie Murphy. One of his famous "Saturday Night Live" sketches, Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood:

I'm also going to post some Eddie Murphy standup. These old Eddie Murphy standup specials are so offensive I'm pretty sure I can't officially endorse any single syllable said in either of them. Needless to say, they contain adult language. Enjoy!