“If all serious lyrical poets, composers, painters, and sculptors were forced by law to stop their activities, a rather small fraction of the general public would become aware of the fact and a still smaller fraction would seriously regret it. If the same thing were to happen with the movies, the social consequences would be catastrophic.” – Erwin Panofsky, 1934.

2012. 365 Days. 140 Films. 280 Hours. That’s 11.66 days I’ve dedicated this year to watching new releases. Obviously, I haven’t seen every film this year (That’s My Boy, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2), but I have seen enough great movies to make the task of creating a Top 10 List a total pain in the ass.

The annual ritual of narrowing down hundreds of titles to just 10 is a cruel but necessary discipline as a film critic. I, however, lack discipline and have found it necessary to cheat. I’ve expanded my Top 10 to include 10 Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order) and a Top 5 Documentaries list, making for my 25 Best (or Favorite, if you prefer) Films of 2012.

It took a while before The Simpsons could make the leap from the small screen to the big screen. The same could be said for Seth MacFarlane‘s successful animated hit Family Guy. But that isn’t exactly the first thing on the comedian’s mind right now. After all, he is hosting the Oscars next year, Universal has greenlit the sequel for Ted, and there are still many seasons of Family Guy to get through before he can figure out a story. Speaking to a group of UCLA students at The Oscar Experience College Search – a program that recruits students interested in film careers by letting them hand out the Oscars at the ceremony – MacFarlane talked about the Family Guy movie and shared his thoughts on previous Oscar hosts.

When you have a successful directorial debut like MacFarlane did with Ted, chances are the number of projects offered will increase. It also gives you the creditability you need to start off with or continue any project of your choosing. Universal wants to continue on with Ted – and I am sure MacFarlane does too – and Fox definitely wants a Family Guy movie. But it took almost 20 seasons before a Simpsons movie could get made, so when does a Family Guy movie hit the big screen? Here’s what MacFarlane told Entertainment Weekly:

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has made an interesting decision regarding who will host the 85th annual Academy Awards ceremony on February 24, 2013.

It’s been officially announced that none other than Seth MacFarlane, the creator of hit animated series like Family Guy and American Dad!, has been chosen for the job. MacFarlane also recently made his live-action feature directorial debut with the hit talking teddy bear comedy, Ted, which went on to gross $420 million worldwide, and hosted the recent season premiere of Saturday Night Live.

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, of The Muppets fame, put every other celebrity couple to shame last night when they walked the Red Carpet at the 84th Annual Academy Awards in designer fashions.

We got a glimpse of the duo yesterday, but now Disney has released several backstage and Red Carpet images of the happy couple, who were at the awards ceremony in Hollywood because “Man or Muppet,” a song from their recent movie, was nominated for Best Original Song (which went on to win the category).

Check out all 15 images here below, along with more details on Kermit and Piggy’s fashions.

The Muppets hits DVD and Blu-ray on March 20, 2012 and is available for pre-order now.

When Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen shows up somewhere in character, it’s guaranteed that he’ll pull a stunt. And that’s exactly what the actor did when he walked the Red Carpet at last night’s 84th Annual Academy Awards and then “spilled” the supposed ashes of Kim Jong Il onto interviewer Ryan Seacrest.

You can watch the entire escapade in the video here below.

Cohen arrived to the Oscars dressed as Admiral General Aladeen, his character from the upcoming film The Dictator, carrying an urn he said was filled with the ashes of late North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il and flanked by his two female personal security officers. He made his way down the Red Carpet to Ryan Seacrest, who was covering the Red Carpet arrives for E!