James & Anne & Mickey & Judy
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 4:09PM 
Editor's note: This is my final Oscar column for Tribeca Film to wrap up awards season. Thanks for your patience. I'd intended to do a lot more right here but I'm in day 3 of flu and about to pass out again. If you're not done talking Oscar night, let me know by commenting. But here it is.
Early on Oscar night, the legendary actor Kirk Douglas took to the stage to present Best Supporting Actress. (Oscar producers wisely throw one of the big awards near the beginning each year lest the least committed viewers click away.) "Spartacus" himself, still an entertainer at 94, didn't make you wait for the envelope reveal for a show—he was hamming it up from his cane-walking entrance to his purposefully distracted, drawn-out announcement of the winner. Before he even got to the nominees, he stopped to joke with the youngest hosts Oscar has ever had, 32-year-old James Franco and 28-year-old Anne Hathaway. To the giggling, girlish Hathaway, he said, "Where were you when I was making movies?"
The irony, if you stop to think about, is that she was around back then. Not “Anne Hathaway,” exactly, mind you, but earlier incarnations of her...
Now that the 83rd Oscar dust has settled, how are you feeling about them?
Reader Comments (9)
It's the first time since I started watching the Academy Awards that I almost missed the show because I was reading about it on Twitter , live- blogs and the backstage Oscar iPhone app. Too much social networking .
Unfortunately I feel that it were the most boring Oscars I have ever watched (it was the 10th show in a row that I watched live). The winners, of course - all extremely predictable (The King's Speech, Portman, Firth, Bale, Leo etc.) or, when slightly surprising, awful choices (the TV director Hooper for his cinema debut against visionaries like Fincher and Aronofsky) or raising false hopes (Social Network winning music - a short moment something in me was hoping for a TSN sweep!)...
Then, of course, there were the terrible hosts. I admire James Franco a lot as an actor or artist, but this was, unfortunately, lame and, as rightly pointed out in the Tribeca column, totally "noncommittal". I also agree that this was something that could have been foreseen.
Still, I blame Hathaway a lot. Really. She wasn't only overcompensating, she was totally overdoing it on her own. I have to quote The Guardian in its great "10 ways to improve the ceremony" column -- no. 1, Don't let Anne Hathaway present ever again:
"Let's begin, Inception style, with a list within a list: what were the worst Hathaway moments of the night? The way she cried "woop" every time someone came on stage, suggesting she had been filling her hours by watching Girls Gone Wild? When she announced that the best thing about hosting the Oscars was "getting to breathe the same air as [Oprah]"? When she bowed to Billy Crystal? Blew kisses at Kirk Douglas? Used the word "hip" with an apparent lack of irony? Her – or, to be more precise, her stylist Rachel Zoe's – desire to placate every fashion designer in the world by changing into a new dress every (by my reckoning) two seconds, thereby distracting the audience from the event by making them imagine all the ugly long gowns piling up backstage in Hathaway's wake? And the winner is . . . the shouts of "woop!" Well done, woop, you put in a sterling effort, and you couldn't have done it without Hathaway's vocal chords, her utter lack of self-awareness and the stupidity of the person who decided to hire her. Woop!"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/feb/28/10-ways-improve-oscars-ceremony
I agree so much with that statement, and I felt it right from the beginning, from her first sentence: "Oh my god, you're all real!" For someone who is considered one of the biggest female film stars of our time, who has been popular and famous for 10 years, who was a leading actress nominee already 2 years ago, who even had a musical number with the host of that year, Hugh Jackman -- for someone such a outcry just seems fake. And the audience didn't believe it, either.
Anyway, for next year, I want either Steve Martin and Tina Fey (here's their audition: audition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ciwd4raZJ8), or, SERIOUSLY, Ms TRACEY ULLMAN (audition!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRwFyiF2JEk )!!! That would be so much more fun.
ADELUTZA -- i agree. this is only the second time i liveblogged it and i was also tweeting and when i watched it a second time for these articles over the past few days i was like "holy hell, i saw only 1/4th of this. It's nots a great way to watch something. It sorta makes me wonder if anyone has ever seen an episode of GLEE since people always tweet through those ;)
Loved Anne Hathaway. I wouldn't be surprised if she's asked back to host on several occassions, and I won't mind at all if she hosts with partners. She just needs someone with more oomf than Franco. But hey, it's a thankless gig. They were lucky to have her.
I think people will be surprised to find Inception actually plays really well over time. I think the story was solid and fascinating, and even as technology is bound to progress, I felt like the way it was presented isn't likely to date it very much. Cotillard's sub-plot was straight-up noir, the love story is gorgeous and the heist theme makes it very rewatchable. I actually think this film, Black Swan, The Social Network, The Fighter, True Grit and Toy Story 3 will all hold up really well. In fact, none of the 10 will be an embarrassment. Some people will roll their eyes at The King's Speech winning, but I think it will develop a cult status among Oscar viewers much like Shakespeare in Love, with some people still despising it. It will not, by any means, be considered the travesty that some would have Oscar fans believe. (You won't catch me defending Alice in Wonderland and its wins though.)
Honestly, as Oscar history goes, I think this crop of winners is still maintaining a pretty solid standing. Hooper will be an aside, dragged to the top by his film. God knows that's nothing new for the Oscars.
(BTW, feel better Nathaniel!)
Not that I don't agree with the criticism, but people have really short memories. When they say this was the worst show in years, have they all forgotten... last year? At the very least Franco and Hathaway were more pleasant to look at than the Baldwin/Martin trainwreck, haha.
Nathaniel, I'd definitely like to see reaction shots of the male acting winners too, but I understand if you're ready to move on (and get well soon!). However one best/worst dressed post is a must. :)
Rax -- actually the reason i never do the reaction shots of the men in the boxes is they never show any emotion. MEN ARE BORING ;)
I think TV people or stand up comedians would be the best at hosting since it is their job. I have been thinking for some time why on earth they never ask Tina Fey to host the Oscars. Yes, young and "hip" movie stars might attract a larger audience but in the end they bomb and the audience will be dissatisfied because being a great actor does not mean you can pull this off as well.
Also, I was wondering who committed the writing because I think the problem was that it wasn't funny at all. Where Hathaway had to improvise she did it naturally and was very apt and funny, while some of her other lines just came out wrong. Her hosting was not over the top as a whole but rather uneven. I feel with good writing and some practice (lose the self-conscious giggles, please) she could do a great job as a host some day. Unlike James Franco, who is a lost case. Anyway, if Tina Fey writes and hosts an Oscar show, I'll definitely be there!
I just realized how long my post was... sorry. But I thought that Guardian article was spot on, especially about Hathaway. The more I think about it, the more I feel that James Franco was "under-compensating" Hathaway, as if he was saying: Calm down, girl, and don't kiss everybody's ass so much!
The more I think of him at the Oscars (and talk to friends about their hosting), the more I feel he was hilarious.
Cinephile, I've only seen the opening and scattered clips, and just from that I understand what you're saying. I had been looking forward to Anne hosting, based on her bit with Jackman two years ago. When she went into "Oh my god..." mode, she lost me. Whereas I thought Franco (in the opening) was trying to play the "straight man" or slacker and it was (somewhat) funny for the sketch; I can't imagine enduring three hours of it, though. (I'm sure he believes the rest of us mortals don't "get" what he was trying to do.)
I think they both need to stick to movies (and all the other bajillion things Franco does.)
vg21 - I'm sure the writing has tons to do with it; did I read that Bruce Villanovich was still a writer on this awards? Why? Dear god, why? (I watched an Outlaugh series of LGBT stand-up comedians from 2007, and Bruce was the only one my partner and I had to shut off and watch someone else. Not the least bit funny.)
Watching Sandra Bernhardt present Best Actor was a Master Class in poise, grace, and seemingly effortless humor AND rapport with the audience, in contrast. (Actually, a Bernhardt-Jackman pairing doesn't sound too bad, but then I originally thought the Franco-Hathaway pairing was a good idea, so what do I know.)
Nathaniel - yes, men are BORING. That's why it's easier to remember an actress (Leo, Kidman, Sally Fields) losing her s**t onstage than any of the guys, with the memorable exception of Jack Palance (who was just plain bonkers anyway.)