The Oscars are like a fine red wine. They should get better with age. They should make you face-on-the-floor drunk with giddiness about the sheer glory and thrill of movies.
Unfortunately, the award show’s ratings have been as flat as an old gin and tonic these past several years, and the host/hosts haven’t helped. Anne Hathaway and James Franco, in an attempt to reach a younger audience, gave new meaning to the phrase “odd couple” as lackluster out-of-sync Oscar co-hosts in 2011, and Oscar vet Billy Crystal did his usual shtick, stepping in for Eddie Murphy as host of this past February’s telecast.
With the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on the brink of announcing a host for next year’s 85th annual Academy Awards, set to take place Feb. 28, 2013, and airing live on ABC, here are several of our picks for who should host. Jennifer Aniston, we’re looking at you!
Behind every smoldering, smoky-eyed, GIF-able hottie, there’s a pajama-wearing little girl waiting to be nominated for an Academy Award. It’s been well over a year since Jennifer Lawrence was nominated for Best Actress at the 2011 Oscars, but a photo of her reaction on the morning of the announcement has been circulating around the social networks, and it’s friggin’adorable.
Let’s examine: Lawrence, coming off the sudden success of indie drama Winter’s Bone, is clearly at rest in her silky PJs and cozy cardigan (earth tones, no doubt) before her world is rocked by the announcement (and let’s be honest, she still looks bad-ass, even mid-meltdown). Father, Mother and Brother Lawrence are charmingly thrilled, if not quite as emotional as Lawrence. What’s the best part of this picture? Easily it’s Lawrence’s boyfriend (and X-Men: First Class costar) Nicholas Hoult cheering from the sidelines…in roller skates, at 6:30 in the morning. READ FULL STORY »
It was a busy night for the American Idol gang at the Oscars on Sunday night: Ryan Seacrest found himself on the receiving end of a Sacha Baron Cohen stunt, Jennifer Lopez brought the dreaded “wardrobe malfunction” back into our lexicon thanks to an alleged nip slip, and Randy Jackson cheered on Uggie from the comfort of his own home. (“You’re a dog, dawg!”)
So their AI cohort Steven Tyler, a former Academy Awards attendee and performer himself, had plenty to talk about during his visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday night, including his own experiences with Oscar, Oprah, and areolae. (Not at the same time, mind you.) READ FULL STORY »
Three years ago my frame of reference for hard-hitting journalism was covering sweaty, Lower East Side indie bands for NYU’s student paper, and two years ago I spent my days hawking Italian linens in Downtown Los Angeles, so it’s fair to say that covering the red carpet at last night’s Oscars was a career high point for me. Since I started at EW last June, I’ve already had a vast array of “Holy crap I have to call Mom and tell her about this” experiences, but none can match up to last night’s glamour. I mean, I had to buy a formal gown. According to my official Academy email, it had to be “tea length” or longer — something I clearly needed to Google, as they don’t have “tea length” sections at H&M, and I usually watch award shows in pajama couture. READ FULL STORY »
Even before Meryl Streep was awarded her third Oscar last night, there was no denying that she is among the most honored movie actors of our (or any) time. Since co-starring in The Deer Hunter 34 years ago, she has been nominated for 17 Oscars, a Ruthian record that appears unbreakable. She’s five nominations ahead of Jack Nicholson, who’s tied with Katharine Hepburn for second place of all time, and 36-year-old Kate Winslet is only one-third of the way to eclipsing Streep, who, by the way, is far from finished (See: the upcoming Great Hope Springs, with Tommy Lee Jones; and August: Osage County, opposite Julia Roberts). Twenty Oscar nominations is certainly within her reach.
You could argue that she should be there already. Though it seems like Streep has been nominated for every role she’s ever played, there have been times where she’s actually been overlooked. I’m not talking about Mamma Mia! or The River Wild, though they were two of her most popular movies. I’m talking about numerous carefully calibrated turns that if you don’t have her IMDb page open in front you, you’d swear she was nominated for. When you’ve been nominated as many times as Streep, it’s difficult to recall which ones were recognized by Oscar and which ones were merely excellent films, sans nomination. A little test, to prove my point: I’ll list five of her movies, three of which earned her nominations.
Without Googling, pick the two that didn’t make the cut:
-The Hours
-Ironweed
-Marvin’s Room
-Music of the Heart
-One True Thing
Click below for the answers and for three of my favorite non-nominated Meryl Streep performances.
If you watched last night’s Academy Awards, you might have seen two new Hyundai spots directed by Royal Tenenbaums helmer Wes Anderson. If not, we’ve got you covered. “Modern Life” displays the director’s signature ’70s nostalgic set dressing, while “Talk To My Car” has echoes of Anderson’s 2004 feature The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (but alas, no Bill Murray). Jeff Bridges, a 2010 Oscar winner, does provide voiceover, though. Check out both ads below. READ FULL STORY »
The Academy Awards found this year’s frontman in veteran host Billy Crystal, who helmed the Oscar ship for the ninth time last night. But next year, the field is wide open. (Though, we’re guessing Eddie Murphy is out of the running.)
If Twitter is any indication, the show’s producers needn’t look any further than the crop of talent who took the stage last night. Unscientific research (aka, the kind done in fuzzy slippers over a bowl of Skinny Cow) concludes that it took all of 20 seconds after a memorable presenter moment for Tweeters to make hosting pleas. So here are some of the faces who made a mark last night — and who we think might be good for the job. (One Oscar winner is in the mix!) Be sure to tell us what you think, too, by taking our poll.
Robert Downey Jr. - We didn’t need a “documentary” bit to remind us what a wicked sense of humor RDJ has, but it certainly helped make him a buzz topic on Twitter, with many hailing his ability to keep a straight face (no laughing at your own jokes, hosts!) and charisma. Our only concern? He might be too damn cool for the gig.
The cast of Bridesmaids -This ensemble of funny women came armed with the comedic timing that is their hallmark — and a little Grey Goose tucked in their brassieres, both of which go a long way during a three-hour show. Also, who can forget Melissa McCarthy’s awesome special effects award intro with Crystal? We could get on board with this pick — if you throw in a little semi-nude Jon Hamm.
Jean Dujardin (who won for The Artist) – The language barrier might be an issue. The glaring benefit to that, however, is that he could drop as much profanity as he’d like and not a single one of the monolingual souls in the control room would know the difference.
Emma Stone - Stone sold her first-time-presenter bit alongside Ben Stiller like a pro, but some were quick to retort to calls for a hosting gig. Playing host to a live show is tough even for some of Hollywood’s most renowned acting talent. Perhaps we should let her be.
When it came to re-watching memorable moments from last night’s Academy Awards TiVo-ers couldn’t get enough of star pairings on the Oscars stage. The top TiVo-ed moment from the ceremony was, unsurprisingly, when unexpected BFFs (who knew?) Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez presented the Oscars for Best Makeup and Costume Design and viewers pondered whether J.Lo experienced her own dreaded costume malfunction. (The consensus today is that no nip was slipped and the only thing that needed to be censored was a lively acceptance speech from the Best Documentary Feature winners.)
TiVo-ers also couldn’t get enough of watching Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow presenting said award for Best Documentary (pictured). Was it real tension? Was it a riff on Joaquin Phoenix or, more likely, last year’s ubiquitous host James Franco? What happened to Gwyn’s cape that she’d worn on the red carpet? So many questions! READ FULL STORY »
Ryan Seacrest figured he’d be spending his afternoon on the Oscars’ red carpet asking Hollywood’s elite, “Who are you wearing?” but he probably would have never guessed he’d be answering that question himself with, “The fake ashes of deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, by Sacha Baron Cohen.” (Hey, at least he won’t have to compete with anyone else for “Who Wore It Best?”)
The Big Bang Theory‘s Melissa Rauch won EW.com’s first annual Celebrity Oscar Pool by picking 20 out of the 24 winners. “I credit my success in this pool to mathematical techniques I learned from the Best Picture-nominated film Moneyball,” Rauch says. “It was an honor just to participate, and I share this big win with my fellow Oscar Poolers… and Brad Pitt.” READ FULL STORY »
