Franco & Hathaway have proven themselves as versatile showpeople over the past decade but more importantly for their latest assignment, they're both good industry sports and twinkly showbiz ambassadors. They don't always need the spotlight (witness their frequent onscreen generosity to co-stars) but when it hits them they sure sparkle, they choose a mix of classy projects and check-cashing opportunities (usually a wise career move), and their onscreen personas are buttressed by offscreen personalities that read as amiable, clever and ready for a good time. In short, though they both can be the life of the party, it's just as easy to imagine them hosting one. You can practically see them taping streamers to ceilings or blowing up balloons for a friend's birthday, can't you?
But alas... AMPAS's decision to employ them is problematic. Though Hathaway's Best Actress prospects are on the fade for Love and Other Drugs, most pundits agree that Franco is one of the frontrunners for this Best Actor for 127 Hours. Therefore we can't totally cheer this otherwise sensible decision. The Tony Awards regularly use nominated hosts and The Emmys have been known to double dip, too. But no matter the organization, the event, or the temperament of the celebrity, it's unavoidably T-A-C-K-Y. It's like hosting a party and declaring yourself the Guest of Honor. Who does that?
Related Reading:
Vulture 5 Weirdest Oscar Hosts
Deadline brags about calling it. "Toldja"
Hollywood Reporter Youngest hosts ever...
Speaking of which, I love this tweet from Indie Focus about the Oscar's weirdly noncommital desperation to be hipper than than are.
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31 comments:
i personally love the idea and i don't see a problem if Franco gets nominated, i bet they can get some good gags from that
Is this the first time it hasn't been a stand-up comedian or talk show host?
They should do a '127 Hours' parody with J. Walter Weatherman from 'Arrested Development' stepping out at the end to say 'and that's why you always leave a note'.
deborah -- they've had actors do it before (hugh jackman and any of the years with multiple hosts... usually a collection of actors)
Pretty much summed up my feelings. GREAT CHOICE, but why did it have to be THIS year esp. in regards to Franco? Oh well.
Very well put, it just make things uncomfortable. If 127 HOURS becomes a strong conteneder that will just make things super awkward.
Wow, Love & Other Drugs kind of flopped at the box office, and it only has a 40% on RT? Who were the people saying the movie was great? Were those FOX plants?
Hathaway's Oscar hopes are fading ? Was there ever hope for LAOD ?
I'm kinda dreading the James Franco singing moment already...
I don't know if it bothered anybody when Hugh Jackman hosted the Tonys the year he won for "Boy from Oz" (supposedly, he had asked his friend Nicole Kidman, who did present it to him, to give out the award in question - did he pretty much know it was his? THAT seems rather awkward, if you ask me.) I have no problem with Franco hosting for all the reasons you mentioned, Nat. If he wins, I'm sure he will be a gracious host and winner.
Anne co-hosting this year is sheer BRILLIANCE, btw. (Was her onstage vocals with - Jackman, of all people - two years ago sort of her audition for the hosting gig?) This may be the first year I'm actually interested in the awards as a show in some time. BUT - the writing, direction, et al, need to be top-notch as well. Which isn't likely to happen. (Maybe let this year's hosts also pick the direction and the writing staff, etc, and we might be in business.)
Amazing that the movie industry's major awards is such a snore. You'd think movie people would know how to put on a show, right?
Love both of them as actors, love them both as themselves, I would be annoyingly excited...if it weren't for the fact both of them could be nominated this year. I agree that it's terribly tacky.
Hathaway is NOT getting nominated this year for that crappy bomb she made.
ITS BEEN CONFIRMED !
Anything with Anne Hathaway and James Franco is an amazing idea.
Keegan
Keegan. please provide a link (J.K.) of said confirmation and not just my Anne Hathaway label. ;)
I never had any hope for Anne. The trailer was awful.
I guess it's too much to ask to get Billy Crystal again.
Hella awkward when James Franco loses to Colin Firth.
Love Annie though. You know they either wanted her with Hugh Jackman or Jake Gyllenhaal first.
I'm already rolling my eyes at Franco's inevitable joke after losing Best Actor.
This will be awkward. Right now I want Franco to win Best Actor, and that does just feel insurmountably tacky. If he does win, and just comes on stage? That feels awful.
Still, this shows some great taste on AMPAS' part. Both Franco and Hathaway are probably near the top of my list for most talented actors of their generation. And how is the stage not going to implode due to their mutual explosive beauty?
Nathaniel, can you please make a post about this?
http://www.variety.com/features/SAG-preview/
Well, for the Oscar, we have a precedent. David Niven actually won at the same year he was presenter and also we have other nominees:
-Michael Caine in 1972
-Walter Matthau in 1975
-Paul Hogan in 1986- He was a screenwriter nominee.
That's sound akward but at the same time would be epic... If Franco deserve it, then it shouldn't be a problem... At least
But I really like this idea
This likely means Franco's not winning and they know it. At this moment, it's between Bridges and Firth for the win. (Even if he gets nom'd, Duvall's a good actor, but has he really amassed a two time winner career? (This long since win 1 it probably is more about the career.)) Eisenberg and Franco will get their statues eventually.
Hmmm, it'll get very awkward if James Franco wins won't it? haha. I think they'll be far better than last years Oscars though...especially when it comes to the sound levels, something went wrong there!
What weird choices for hosts. No Ellen, Jon, Whoopi, Billy, Conan, Stephen, Tina, Amy, Ricky, and on and on? I like hosts that can actually carry a room and a laugh, and there's something about getting potential nominees as hosts that seems to be in bad form. Nothing for Miss Hathaway to worry about, but James Franco is really a contender. I don't think this is going to bring in the teen viewers either. The only way that's going to happen is if they announce that the hosts are Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. And the way Tom Sherak is heading, he'll get there in about five years time. Meh.
I love the idea, but I agree it's tacky to have Franco host this year. Whether he gets nominated or not (which I think he will, but you never know...) he's in the race at this point. When picking the host, they should treat it in a way like the person who announces the nominations. An Oscar-nominated actor who is NOT in the race that year. I'm not sure he would have returned, but I think Jackman and Hathaway would have been a nice pairing.
PS...
Please let Hathaway and Franco do a Blue Valentine parody, if only for me...
but wasn't Jackman kind of in the race for Australia when he was announced as the host?
Upon telling some friends that James Franco would be co-hosting, my brother, who knows nothing about the Oscars, responded, "But wait, haven't you been harping about how he's going to be nominated for that rock movie? Isn't that kind of tacky?"
Non-Oscar buffs always have the most interesting responses to awards season.
I remember feeling that it wasn't too awkward when Neil Patrick Harris hosted the Emmys a year or two back, when he was nominated in Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. After he lost, he even made a funny joke about how "there were two ways tonight could have gone..."
i like anne hathaway... i think she's bright, brilliant, young and maybe it's about time they get the younger generation to host it...
more than anything, this just makes me feel old
par -- i know right?! ah well. it was bound to happen eventually ;) but yeah, i'm not used to Oscar hosts being younger than me, either.
I will only be satisfied by this pairing if Melvin van Peebles directs the Oscar telecast.
Anne Hathaway ( and Jake Gyllenhaal) received great reviews for LAOD, but not the film itself. I saw this movie last week, and they are wonderful in this decent movie. They have the best onscreen chemistry in years- very natural and extremely believable. So, don't be surprised if Anne receives an Oscar nomination.
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