For those of you who did not watch the Oscars on Sunday night, here’s a brief wrap-up. But how could you not see it? The King’s Speech vaunted off with the Best Picture win, The Fighter was honored in the Supporting Actor/Actress categories and Inception had great sound.
The co-hosting duties by a weirdly nonchalant James Franco and a giddily starstruck Anne Hathaway may not have been the best thing about the ceremony. But they did open the show with a great tongue-in-cheek film montage featuring themselves inserted into the scenes of the ten Best Picture nominees. Hathaway had several gown changes, ideal for the host who can’t decide on the one outfit. But Franco also had his gown moment, coming out onstage in Marilyn Monroe drag, complete with blonde bombshell wig and an ill-fitting pink taffeta ensemble.
Other interesting moments include Helen Mirren presenting the Foreign Language Film category in French with Russell Brand, the venerable Kirk Douglas playfully stalling on the announcement of the Best Supporting Actress Award and flirting with Hathaway, Gwyneth Paltrow doing a flat rendering of “Coming Home” from her country film Country Strong and diva-esque Jennifer Hudson mispronouncing A.R. Rahman’s name as “Rockman”.
Watching old clips of Bob Hope hosting the Oscars back in the day as they were featured on the telecast made you appreciate those golden days of genuine Hollywood humor and class. Billy Crystal is today’s modern counterpart to Bob Hope and what a standing ovation he received when he emerged as a presenter. The double hosting duties started last year with the funny duo of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, but this year’s duo of Franco-Hathaway could have been reduced to one. But it could have been worse yet, if drunk bloke Ricky Gervais was invited to host the Oscars, judging from his crass shtick at the Golden Globes.
The complete list of winners and corresponding nominations can be seen here: www.culturetourist.com/the-oscar.
CulturElixir 