There may be only one way to save the annual debacle that is the Academy Awards telecast – hand it over to a real movie lover.
Last night’s Oscar program might have been the worst in ages, a slapdash affair lacking in humor, insight and gravitas. The evening felt like it was packaged from a collection of spare parts, or maybe discarded parts is more accurate. Where was the love of cinema, the sense that these talented people had gathered to celebrate the art form, not the chance to show off some fancy dresses and a few ill-conceived speeches?
And the less said about co-host Anne Hathaway singing about Hugh Jackman the better. He’s not Sir Hugh Jackman, or Oscar winner Hugh Jackman. He’s Hugh Jackman, the Wolverine. Pick a meatier topic, please.
Enter Martin Scorsese. Not only is Scorsese one of our generation’s greatest directors, his love for film is palpable. If anyone could turn the Oscar telecast around, it’s him. Clearly he could oversee better film clip montages and give the night a sense of dignity sorely lacking from the most recent debacle.
It’s a safe bet Scorsese wouldn’t let co-host James Franco show up in drag.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
So basically you want Leo Decaprio to host the Oscars??
^ LOL, I was just going to write that!
Well, unless it was a tribute to real actors, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis.
Or … it allowed Franco to say a funny line!
I dunno, the last time they let a well-known director near the Oscars, we got that dull, pretentious Errol Morris short. And Scorsese seems like an odd fit for something as light as the Oscar show. Why not get a director who knows his way around a theatrical spectacle, like Rob Marshall (Chicago, Nine) or Bill Condon (Dreamgirls)?
Or heck, I’d love to see what Julie Taymor would do with an Oscar show.
There would be wounded bodies piling up under Taymor’s watch! And too many web remnants …
I think a Scorsese would get the spirit right and, hopefully, hire the right folks to pull all the right levers.
I think either Marshall or Condon was attached to a previous year’s show, but my memory could be fuzzy here.
Never been a big fan of Scorsese, he was always the director people used as a measuring stick for ONE movie. While I admit he is talented he is also very repetitive.
Please – his idea of a comedy was King of Comedy…he should NOT produce it. The Oscars should be produced by a TV producer since it IS a tv show, and he hosted by people who are used to performing in front of a live audience, like a STAND UP COMEDIAN or someone with improv skills.
Condon and Laurence Mark produced the telecast for the 81st, two years ago. Hugh Jackman hosted.
All the Academy has to do to increase the ratings for next year’s telecast is to hire Melissa Leo and Kate Winslet to co-host the show. Just as television has a “Joan and Melissa Show,” The Academy should establish a “Kate and Melissa Show.” Since both of these outstanding actresses are famous for using “language that would make a sailor blush,” ABC would have to hire physicians to monitor the hearts and blood pressures of its censors. The evening would be most unpredictable!