It Had To Be Hugh (Jackman)

Oscars.com has posted this nice promo piece of Hugh Jackman for the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Feel free to drool over the sexy layout:

The 81st Academy Awards: Will They Watch?

Now that we've (mostly) gotten "The Dark Knight" snub out of our system, it's time to ask a burning question: Will people watch the Oscars this year? I'd like to be positive, I really would, but I think the answer is going to be a loud 'no.' In fact, I think this is going to be the poorest ratings for the Oscars in ten years (if not twenty). And this goes beyond "The Dark Knight." While that movie would have helped ratings, there were a few other things that would have helped. Not nominating songs from "The Wrestler" and "Bolt" cost the Academy two performers that would likely draw crowds: Bruce Spriengstein and Miley Cyrus. Yeah, I'm kind of glad that the Academy didn't vote for the "Bolt" song, but it's going to be really difficult to get people to watch a show when the performers consist of Peter Gabriel and a bunch of Indian singers doing Bollywood style dance numbers. And if Pete calls in sick, then we are in even more trouble.

"Wall-E" would help the ratings much. For starters, everyone knows it's going to win. Secondly, the Best Animated Film category hasn't helped draw in kids to watch the show much. After that what have you got? The actors? Well, that could help, but nobody cares about actors who win awards for films they haven't seen. Hugh Jackman might entertain people, but no matter how good a job he does if the ratings tank then the Academy will start pointing their finger at him for being the reason. Seeing as how only "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" has been a blockbuster, these movies will not draw in the audience. In short, I think this is the last year we'll see the Oscars on ABC. Next year the show will likely move to HBO, Showtime, or TNT. It's airing will be up for auction, and if the nominees next year prove to be films that don't attract audiences, I can imagine the buying price being very low.

Now, more then ever, the ratings of the Academy Awards will be most interesting. It will effect whether or not the show is commercially viable anymore. The fact that the movies getting nominations haven't gotten much of a boost from the awards speaks volumes. In short, this is going to be one rough year for the Academy. May God have mercy on their souls.

Holy Cow! I Didn't See THAT Coming!

It's official: The Academy has just announced that Hugh Jackman will be hosting the 81st Annual Academy Awards telecast. This, I must say, shocked me. Normally the Academy has been very upfront about who's hosting the Oscars. Normally we know who's hosting the awards before we even talk about which films will be up for nominations. Not this time. The Academy said they were going to try something new for the Oscars, and they hoped to bring in someone who would bring something fresh to the table. I'd say this is fresh. Though I'm shocked by this announcement, I have to say I'm very interested in how this turns out. I wonder if this is going to be a conflict of interest if he gets nominated for "Australia." Nah, probably not; "Australia" is heading for obscurity pretty darn fast. Here's what the Academy had to say about the choice:

“Hugh Jackman is a consummate entertainer and an internationally renowned movie star,” said Mark and Condon in a joint statement. “He also has style, elegance and a sense of occasion. Hugh is the ideal choice to host a celebration of the year’s movies – and to have fun doing it.”

You can read the read here.

Australia Is Down For The Count

And so another Oscar potential has opened to average reviews and has all but tanked in it's chances to get Oscar nominations. Oh don't get me wrong, there is likely some nominations in the cards. Art direction, score, song, cinematography, and costumes are all a given for this film. But Best Picture, director, actress, screenplay, and so forth...that may be asking too much. If this movie gets any major award nomination it will be for Hugh Jackman for Best Actor, who actually steals every scene he is in and has played a role that will solidify him as an A-list actor. So why do I have this under the Best Picture predictions on the side-bar? Well, basically, this movie still has a slimmer of a chance in getting nomination.

That slimmer would involve the movie making a lot of money, and the opening weekend could suggest a nomination despite some of the problems with the film. So for now we'll wait and see how it does over Thanksgiving weekend. If it makes decent money, we'll keep it there for a couple more weeks. If it doesn't, then it will be gone by Tuesday (in time for you to pick up "The Dark Knight" on either DVD or BluRay). I did see the movie tonight and I'll be writing a full review soon, but to sum it up easily I'll use the term Oscar hopeful's hate to hear: It was good but not great.