In Contention

By Josh Spiegel

February 8, 2011

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Emotion or thought? The heart or the mind? This is what we’re left with at this year’s Oscars. Do the voters side with movies that make you feel good or movies that make you use your brain for more than breathing in and out? The reductive argument does no favors to either The King’s Speech or The Social Network, or any of the other nominees this year, but that’s how the industry likes to frame the yearly narrative. Last year, the narrative that was pretty much just within the industry was that the two rivals in the top ten — The Hurt Locker and Avatar — were directed by two people who used to be in a relationship. This year, there’s no such luck, unless you have some photos of David Fincher and Tom Hooper. This year, we get an argument over whether it’s better to award movies that make you feel or make you think.

Honestly, we’ve been going over this argument for a while, so let’s focus this week on something much less frustrating, and something fewer people are talking about. This year’s Oscars are being hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway. Hathaway didn’t get a nomination for her work in last year’s Love and Other Drugs, but Franco is right in the mix of the Best Actor category. He’s not likely to win, so the awkwardness will probably just end at him being nominated and being a co-host of the ceremony. What fascinates me so much is whether they’re going to be good hosts. Both actors are clearly charming and intriguing to watch in films, but what about either of them screams “Oscar host”? I have to wonder what the producers of the ceremony are hoping to do. Should we expect stand-up from them?




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No, probably not, and therein lies a disquieting notion. Franco and Hathaway have both mentioned that we’ll likely see more singing and dancing at this year’s show. Also of note: earlier this week, the Academy announced that they had once again taken control of their mental faculties and are going to allow performances of the Best Original Song nominees, something they did not do last year for absolutely no good reason. So, we’re likely looking at a much more musical evening than in the last few years. While I am fully behind the Best Original Song nominees getting to perform (can you even imagine what the 2007 ceremony would have been like if Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova didn’t perform Falling Slowly from Once?), I’m also completely against musical performances outside of that category. Do you remember how, two years ago, Hugh Jackman told us the musical was back?

No. Why should you? The film industry has many backwards notions about what audiences like or will like a few months down the line. That’s why we’re getting 3D versions of just about every movie coming out these days (though with the performance of a presumably good-looking 3D movie like Sanctum, one hopes the studios are starting to get the message). Somehow, the people involved with the Oscars think we love musicals. I am a fan of a good musical, but a good musical almost never appears during the Oscars. Remember the interpretive dance sequences of past Best Original Score nominees? While I’m perversely curious to see what a sequence set to the music of Inception or The Social Network would look like, I don’t actually want it to exist. Frankly, hearing the Oscar producers say they’ll feature more singing and dancing is tantamount to a death threat.


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