The Oscars are not for kids.
Scratch that. As a child, the Oscars gave me immense joy and pleasure.
But I’m under age 30, and no one my age should be allowed to host the Academy Awards.
The obvious attempt to inject a hip sense of youthfulness into the very mature annual primary movie award gala was a failed experiment that does not need repetition.
Now, Anne Hathaway looked cute as a button, and she was good in “Alice in Wonderland.” And James Franco was utterly amazing in 127 hours, certainly deserving of his nomination. That’s not what this is about.
They both, together and individually, proved to be terrible Oscar hosts.
Franco gave no emotion. His crooked smiles and sleepy line deliveries took away from the show. Hathaway giggled like a schoolgirl every 15 seconds and w00ted every, single person she introduced like some obsessed Twilight fangirl.
Was there also no need for an opening monologue or some humor or banter to start us off? The pair had virtually no chemistry and did not play off each other at all. They looked more like uncomfortable high school students asking each other to dance at a mixer.
The problem is that they’re only a few years removed from that portion of their lives. The hosts need to transcend the show and the stars they are honoring, not get all starry-eyed every time someone like Sandra Bullock (who would be a great host) or Oprah come up on stage.
It was so bad, that Billy Crystal’s cameo was the best bit of dialogue of the night, showing that while age isn’t everything, experience and talent sure help when it comes to hosting a major event live.
Your points are 100% correct. It was almost as if the producers told the two to act imaturely.
You are so correct they were terrible when I saw Billy Crystal come out I wished he was the one hosting. It was the first time I laughed all night. Now there is a real Oscar host! Billy Crystal come back you are missed. James Franco looked disinterested all night and yes Anne was too in awe of everyone in attendance but at least she tried to do a good job can’t say the same for Franco.
You got it right. They were awful. Too young and not funny. Time to bring back Chris Rock.
Anne Hathaway did “ok”. yes, she was cute and over zealous, but that is so much more than James even attempted.
So, what happened? Did James Franco find out he was NOT a winner prior to the opening and so with sour grapes gave a distant and uncaring hosting performance? The only credit I can give him was his commercials to promote the Oscar. Shame, what a shame.
Anne was ok. She was beautiful and her Hugh Jackman piece was pretty funny, although HJ reacted to it as if t’she was annoying him. Lol! However, James Franco was absolutely and utterly painful. He is an awesome actor and great to look at, but anyone who has seen him in am interview knows that he is awkward and takes himself a bit too seriously. I love his work, but he may have been the worse host in Oscar history. Oh and can some tell
me what the hell Justin Timberlake was talking about?!
Terrible Oscar hosts – not funny and no class!
100% agree, someone with some talent like sandra bullock should host the event!
I wish Christian Bale had dropped the “F” bomb on them.
OK – That was the worst Oscars I’ve ever seen. Last night’s show was humiliating, and belittled the art of film-making. Who produced that rubbish? Give Baldwin, Stewart, or Conan O’Brien the job for the next five years. Keep the tradition. Don’t try change the show.
as much as I adore Franco and Hathaway… that was kinda painful.
Anne H did look smashing but along with Franco, the whole MC’ing stint was boring and poorly executed. Sandra B should never be considered (she tries deadpan all the time and constantly fails miserably) TINA FEY is the ideal choice for next year!
I loved Anne Hathaway last night, she hosted the whole thing by herself, it was like James wasn’t even there. What was that about? Other than that Sandra Bullock was the funniest (can she host next year?) along with Jude Law, Robert Downey Jr, Russell Brand and Helen Mirren. Colin Firth was a darling too and Natalie is just too adorable.