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Anne Hathaway, James Franco to host Oscars
Aloysius J. Gleek:
“It’s also very cost-efficient,” O’Neil pointed out. “Why buy more promo ads on ABC affiliates or billboards around L.A., when you can just set James Franco loose with his Skype and his Twitter?”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-02-25/the-oscars-are-james-franco-and-anne-hathaway-making-them-cool/full/
Are the Oscars Finally Cool?
Having Anne Hathaway and James Franco co-host this year’s
Academy Awards is paying off in buzz. Nicole LaPorte on why
the stars are more important as marketers than hosts.
by Nicole LaPorte
February 25, 2011 | 8:47pm
A week ago, James Franco joined Twitter. He has since racked up over 150,000 followers. Besides being kept up to date on the 127 Hours star’s whereabouts—“I’m on my way to a meeting with one of my favorite artists, Richard Prince,” was one tweet—Franco’s acolytes have been treated to teasers for this Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony, which Franco is co-hosting with Anne Hathaway.
In addition to Franco’s Twitter debut (he also joined Facebook), a number of humorous videos have been “leaked” online. In one, Hathaway races through a monologue, reading a teleprompter set to speed-read. In other, she and Franco pair cross-train for the show. Wearing “Oscar Co-host In Training” T-shirts and sweats, they lift weights, using Oscar statuettes as barbells; sprint around towering Oscar mannequins; and time each other’s bathroom breaks. In another video, Franco Skypes with writer-director Judd Apatow (who is emceeing the Producers Guild Awards), and asks him for hosting advice. (“How do you do it?” Franco asks with all the enthusiasm of a stoner. “Like, is there a class I can take?”)
Considering that historically, ads for the Oscar broadcast have amounted to an old guy in a tux, talking ceremoniously in the shadow of towering golden statues, this year’s approach “amounts to a media revolution for the Oscars,” said Tom O’Neil, of the awards website GoldDerby.com. “Last year [Oscar co-producer] Adam Shankman may have been tweeting, but it was nothing like this.
“It’s also very cost-efficient,” O’Neil pointed out. “Why buy more promo ads on ABC affiliates or billboards around L.A., when you can just set James Franco loose with his Skype and his Twitter?”
The heavy viral marketing is also taking some of the pressure off the actual show. However the youthful hosts handle themselves on Sunday—and they could well bomb, given their inexperience in live entertainment—almost feels moot at this point, in the same way that a tentpole movie’s fortune rests not on how good or bad it is, but on how it’s sold to the public before its all-important opening weekend. It’s an evergreen Hollywood strategy, but one that’s especially relevant in a year when so much about the Oscars feels predetermined and snooze-festy. Unlike last year, when there was a palpable, heated race between Avatar and The Hurt Locker for Best Picture, The King’s Speech is expected to blanket Sunday’s awards. Even the categories that the film won’t likely dominate are considered done deals: The Fighter’ s Christian Bale for Best Supporting Actor; Black Swan’s Natalie Portman for Best Actress; The Social Network for Best Adapted Screenplay, etc. (Ironically, whatever is going on with the promotions, the actual Oscar race has never felt more stodgy and traditional, given the anticipated Social Network snub.)
As one Academy member put it: “There’s not a great deal of curiosity. Colin Firth is a lock for Best Actor. I don’t see a lot of debate online over Annette Bening versus Natalie Portman. I just don’t see a lot of, ‘Oh my God!’ It’s not like who’s going to win the Super Bowl.”
Hence the focus on the pre-game hijinks. Even those, like O’Neil, who find the teasers “silly” and somewhat “hollow,” admit the Academy deserves props for going so against-type, not just in the promos themselves, but in hiring someone like Franco, who drew some derision when he was first announced as a co-host. His chronic multi-tasking, after all, has made him an easy target for mockery over the past year, and has almost overshadowed his acting career (most have probably forgotten that he’s not only hosting the Oscars, he’s up for an Oscar).
But it’s Franco’s offbeat reputation, and his delight in playful self-expression—whether via General Hospital or Three’s Company art installations—that plays perfectly into the Academy’s attempt to rebrand the Oscars as, well, playful. To use a branding buzz word, Franco makes the whole exercise feel authentic. It’s hard to imagine much arm-twisting is necessary to get him to make these adverts, not to mention that there’s an appealingly subversive—and, again, very believable—hint that at times the actor is going rogue with his creations. Hours after the “omitted oscar song” went online, it was mysteriously pulled, suggesting that it may not have been OK’d by the powers that be. Later, it was reposted.
Beyond its hosts, the Oscars telecast itself is being positioned as more au courant than ever before. Scenes from backstage will be live-streamed on the Academy’s new, updated website. Mothers of certain nominees have been conscripted to live tweet the broadcast. And, of course, there is an Oscar app.
According to Bill Mechanic, who co-produced last year’s Oscars with Adam Shankman, some of these innovations were discussed last year, but were prohibited because of technology.
“We got shot down 100 percent because there was no technical capability. It wasn’t that they resisted us, in fact they were more than prepared to break some rules, but there were just no technical capabilities. The [Academy’s] website was from the Stone Ages.
“They’ve done a lot of work in a year.”
The real question, of course, is will all of the tweeting and YouTubing actually make a difference this time round?
“The Academy is now off on an effort,” said publicist and branding expert Michael Levine. “When you start something, when you get on the journey, not everything that you try on the journey works. Sometimes, people over-correct, they over-do. So the story isn’t really written yet as to whether this battle plan is an over-correction. But I think it’s a viable and appropriate effort, because the alternative was sure death.”
Aloysius J. Gleek:
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdQC1-In0OE&playnext=1&list=PL259FC244BED7A0AC[/youtube]
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serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Aloysius J. Gleek on February 26, 2011, 10:49:01 am ---[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdQC1-In0OE&playnext=1&list=PL259FC244BED7A0AC[/youtube]
--- End quote ---
This was hilarious.
Still, with all due respect for the fabulous James Franco, who is vaguely Brokieish, and the fabulous Anne Hathaway, who is unequivocally Brokieish, can I just say that ... I'm getting kind of sick of the unspoken ageism involved in the idea that 20-something stars are just what the show needs to become hipper and more watchable and more interesting?
Besides, they say that of every year's hosts. David Letterman was going to make it hipper. Jon Stewart was going to make it hipper. Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were going to make it hipper. Now young stars are going to make it hipper.
And in the end, everybody always says the new host bombed and wishes 64-year-old Billy Crystal were still hosting it.
Aloysius J. Gleek:
--- Quote from: crayonlicious on February 26, 2011, 02:49:19 pm ---Still, with all due respect for the fabulous James Franco, who is vaguely Brokieish, and the fabulous Anne Hathaway, who is unequivocally Brokieish, can I just say that ... I'm getting kind of sick of the unspoken ageism involved in the idea that 20-something stars are just what the show needs to become hipper and more watchable and more interesting?
Besides, they say that of every year's hosts. David Letterman was going to make it hipper. Jon Stewart was going to make it hipper. Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were going to make it hipper. Now young stars are going to make it hipper.
And in the end, everybody always says the new host bombed and wishes 64-year-old Billy Crystal were still hosting it.
--- End quote ---
:o :o :o
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwgCLFrSh-I[/youtube]
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Katherine, your wish is granted! Long Live Jambi!
http://www.deadline.com/2011/02/snorefest-oscar-show-rundown-exclusive-spoilers-from-the-annotated-schedule/
Billy Crystal Is Making Oscars Appearance:
Exclusive Spoilers From Detailed Schedule
By NIKKI FINKE
Saturday February 26, 2011 @ 11:31am PST
** WARNING: SPOILERS ... SPOILERS ... SPOILERS ... SPOILERS **
MORE UPDATES, SATURDAY: I've confirmed that Billy Crystal, without doubt the most popular Oscar host in recent years, will be making a "surprise" appearance at the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday night. About two-thirds of the way into the telecast, the comedian is scheduled to perform a monologue about the movie industry. His stand-up is so secret that it was listed only as "Guest Host" on the official show rundown I obtained and posted Friday. But then Billy was ushered in and out of Friday's rehearsal without even the other showbiz stars knowing he was at the Kodak Theatre. Given what a snorefest so much of this year's Oscar show looks to be, Crystal's appearance will be something that TV viewers will surely welcome ... I've also learned that the so-called "Cold Opening" of the show, as scheduled, features a filmed bit involving actor Alec Baldwin who was last year's Academy Awards co-host with Steve Martin. The shtick is that Baldwin wants to host again this year and is imagining what it would be like -- but then discovers that James Franco and Anne Hathaway were chosen to host instead of him ... Towards the end of the show, again as scheduled, there'll be a brief Back To The Future segment starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd from the 1985 film ... And venerable actor/producer Kirk Douglas will present the Best Supporting Actress Oscar ... Again, let me emphasize that last-minute changes can always occur.
Aloysius J. Gleek:
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