Don't know about you but I think Hugh Jackman -- best known as razor-taloned Wolverine of the "X-Men" movie franchise and light-footed Peter Allen in "The Boy from Oz" on Broadway -- is an inspired choice for Oscar host. The Tony-winning singer/dancer/actor with the Justin Timberlake pipes, Patrick Swayze moves and streaky screen successes is a charm machine who, on the basis of prior award-show appearances (check out this 2004 turn on the Tonys), can ad-lib his way into the Host Hall of Fame.
Tricky thing, this host business. As Oscar hosts, reliably hilarious David Letterman, Chris Rock and Jon Stewart fell on their keisters while Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and Steve Martin -- who had one foot in stand-up and the other in the screen trade -- stood tall. Because Crystal, Goldberg and Martin were of Hollywood, the Academy audience embraced them and it played better to the home audience. Jackman, who looks so much like the young Clint Eastwood that he might be his son, has that insider cred -- and a cult following among" X-Men" fanboys, girls who treasure him in "Someone Like You" and "Kate and Leopold" and those fierce Broadway fans of "The Boy from Oz." He also has affection from the (admittedly small) cohort of older Academy members who geneuinely liked him in the throwback "Australia."
Jackman is the choice of first-time Oscar producers Bill Condon and Lawrence Mark, who promise some "surprises" for the broadcast. Here's a chance for you to suggest ways of streamlining and retooling the show which, unlike the Tonys and Grammys doesn't have the advantage of live performances by actors and musicians.
Friend of Flickgrrl Adam B, co-host ot the essential Throwing Things blog , made this suggestion about the Oscarcast the year Chris Rock failed to rock the house:
They need to bring back the 1-2 minute clips of each nominated movie so that viewers have some sense of why each was nominated -- you need Sylvester Stallone up there saying, as Ebert put it, "Million Dollar Baby tells the story of an aging fight trainer and a hillbilly girl who thinks she can be a boxer. It is narrated by a former boxer who is the trainer's best friend. But it's not a boxing movie, for reasons that become clear later on. In the scene you're about to see, Maggie tries to convince Frankie to manage her," etc. Otherwise, there's no context for the awards at all, and especially in a year where the nominated films were not mass blockbusters, it's necessary."
My suggestion? Do we really need to hear the nominated songs?— jonc- I’m afraid that the Oscarcast is beyond hope. If the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock and Steve Martin can’t give the old girl a shot in the arm, no one can. Hosting it has become a thankless, painful-to-watch exhibition. Having seen Jackman hosting the Tonys, I’m sure he’ll be his usual unctuous, eager-to-please, puppy-dog self. I’ll pass. No one really wants to give the Hollywood Press any credit. (Will everyone please get over the Pia Zadora situation? There have been way more Oscar blunders.) But the fact is, the HP has this award thing down pat with its Golden Globes – no host, no numbing production numbers by Debbie Allen and no self-aggrandizing clips from antique releases from yesteryear (only proving how good movies used to be) – only lots of booze, fun and a party atmosphere. The Globes seems to be aware that the whole process is a joke and doesn’t take any of it seriously (at least, not in an overt way). The Oscars, on the other hand, continue to cling to faux respectability, self-importance and a willful lack of drama or comedy. At this point, given that Winslet, Rourke, Ledger and Cruz are this year’s shoo-in winners, it would be nice if someone in charge made some attempt to build in a few surprises and suspense to counterbalance the deadening predictability. Finally, after having lived through such an exciting primary/election season, this awards show - any awards show – is like to seem more trivial and silly in comparison. Call me The Contrarian.— Pash
- Hugh Jackman will bring glamour and class back to the Oscars. He belongs in a tuxedo. We all have our junk, and my junk is Hugh!— Ellen G.
- Well, jonc, I wouldn't mind hearing the rousing "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire." And I can't understand why Bruce Springsteen's song for "The Wrestler" was overlooked, can you?— carrierickey
- Let's be clear..I love the Oscars. But do we really need a host? So much pressure, and he/she seems superflous. Get on with the show, have the overhead announcer bring out the hosts, show a little clip of each, and give only one honorary award.— debcip
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