The Oscars / Hosting the Oscars!

[jo]

Just found the new slogan re the failure of the Oscars to win audiences ( that's why I occasionally read Jeff Wells "Hollywood Elsewhere" ) --

"Woke is Broke!"

Someone pointed out that the Hopkins win was already a sign that not all is well in wokeland.

Could that also be true for the win for THE FATHER on another above-the-line win, ADAPTED SCREENPLAY?

The problem is the Oscar management formerly headed by the woman president seeded so many new members who have not even been nominated for anything ( that used to be the rule - at least be nominated for something) but mainly to affirm inclusivity -- especially to boost membership coming from the international filmmaking community. Those coming from here were of the art-world type kind of movies ( although they have been honored at Cannes and Venice - again those European festivals like art-type kind of movies).

Whatever happened to good old-fashioned story-telling?

Sigh... I hope that next year will be a rethinking of all this emphasis on inclusivity and focus more on artistic excellence -- and that movies like Reminiscence get a chance. Although in terms of casting -- Australian/British-Swedish/African- not sure where Thandie comes from/Chinese-American/Mexican/ etc and Chinese-American Lisa Joy is WOMAN director and screenwriter - that is also a lot of diversity!   But at least REMINISCENCE is a big studio production and major storytelling -- not a specialty low-budget movie that focuses on a small group drama! It does have the multi-genre appeal ( romance, sci-fi and action).

Competition will include 3 musicals ( Spielberg's WSStory/In The Heights/Dear Evan Hansen which is being released at awards season)and some speculate in the Broadway community that bigtime Hollywood producer Marc Platt might "buy" an Oscar for his son Ben! Also DUNE from Denis Villeneuve and the latest Bond movie (Remember how that repetitive SKYFALL title song sung by Adele beat SUDDENLY for best song (arghh... again not fair).

So long as Hugh gets a nod.. and we can hope for a win.

But he has to start renewing his ties with the Golden Globes people, SAG, even BAFTA - because they are precursor awards. Many say that when Hopkins won at BAFTA, he became a real alternative for a Best Actor win. Also, renew ties with critics because they do influence acting awards logically-speaking. And work hard to make it a big box office hit so it will get noticed.  That is why the Oscars are so politically-tinted, sad to say.

Chalamet is in Dune - I cannot understand why the AMPAS is so fascinated by him. Same with Saoirse Ronan. They are good young actors -- not exactly the finest in the land. The WSStory Ansel Elgort has some sexual harassment or was it rape charge against him - so no go. Ben Platt - I hope Marc Platt does not play politics - although his ability to get Evan Hansen an unexpected awards season release date is already causing some speculation?

Need to look up what other major movies are expected for release later this year.

I thought of REMINISCENCE, because someone tweeted that the movie and one other film are in his horizon for possible Oscar recognition. Except there has not been much publicity. The film is due out in 4 months.

Jo

[njr]

Thandie Newton has changed her name back to its original: Thandiwe. Her mother is black and from Africa and her father is white and from London, where she was born.


en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thandiwe_Newton

[jo]

Translated from Spanish by Google

Good time to remember that Hugh Jackman is so good that he was the best host at the Oscars of the last 30 years. In 2009 he sang, danced, acted the nominated films and made the most entertaining ceremony.

[jo]

www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscars-2022-host-1235073116/

Oscars: 2022 Ceremony Will Have a Host

The most recent Oscars that had a host took place in 2017.


BY SCOTT FEINBERG



JANUARY 11, 2022 10:27AM

The 94th Academy Awards, scheduled to air on ABC March 27, will be the first since the 90th, in 2018, to have a host.

“You heard it here first,” Craig Erwich, president Hulu Originals & ABC Entertainment, said during ABC’s portion of the Television Critics Association virtual press tour on Tuesday.

It was announced earlier Monday that Glenn Weiss will direct the Oscars telecast — his seventh consecutive time doing so — with Will Packer serving as producer.

Jimmy Kimmel, ABC’s resident late night talker, hosted the Oscars in 2017 and 2018, with 26.62 million people tuning in for the latter telecast. Ratings for 2019’s hostless Oscars actually rose to 29.56 million, before falling in 2020 to 23.64 million and then plummeting last year to 10.40 million.


During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Tom Holland, the star of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the biggest blockbuster of the pandemic, expressed interest in hosting the Oscars, and THR has learned that the Academy did reach out to him to explore that possibility.

[jo]

Sorry - Mr. Jackman is busy being Prof Harold Hill on Broadway

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

Hugh's Oscars hosting always draw praise despite that it happened 13 years ago.

[jo]

Every time the Oscars come along, thee is always talk of Hugh Jackman's hosting in 2009!

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

It looks like there is a whiff of change coming to the Oscars!

New reorganization to do away with the previous administration ( which introduced changes that may or may not be palatable?)

Hey - even a suggestion to bring back the HUGH JACKMAN type of hosting and show?


deadline.com/2022/07/predictions-large-and-small-for-academys-kramer-regime-1235059001/#comments


Jo

[jo]

[jo]

The new leadership at AMPAS is working out ways to impreve the viewership of the Oscars!

Peter Bart: Academy Meetings Intense And Urgent As They Work To Re-Energize The Oscars

By Peter Bart

Peter Bart
Editor-At-Large


October 6, 2022 4:30pm

Cynics have tabbed them “The Doomsday Summits.” To believers, however, their mission is to re-energize the Oscars at a moment when award shows in general are in massive retreat.


“The show should represent an exciting battlefield where forces in our culture collide,” suggests a new book titled Oscar Wars: Gold, Sweat and Tears.

While the recent “collisions” have been studies in chaos, the ongoing meetings among the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences leaders, Oscar show producers and ABC/Disney continue to search for the keys to a renaissance. Or at least to survival. Bill Kramer, the new Academy CEO, regards himself as a consensus builder, not a collision builder.

By studying the traumas of the past, what can they learn about re-shaping the present? Viewership has been plummeting in recent years and telecast revenues (guesses put them at $120 million) are key to the survival of the Academy — its awards revenue dipped around 10.8% last year alone.



Mary Pickford, the golden-curled actress and mogul, would understand the angst. Bullied into chairing the first Oscar banquet in May 1927 she fumbled her lines, mindful that her industry was under attack as a Gomorrah of crooks and addicts.

Plus she’d just had to explain to Douglas Fairbanks, her husband and partner in United Artists, that his high-pitched falsetto would undermine his future in the brave new world of sound.

Michael Schulman’s meticulously researched new book Oscar Wars takes the reader though the almost century-long parade of cultural collisions.

The New Yorker writer savors dramatic moments like “the plot against Citizen Kane” in the 1940s; the blacklisting injustices of the ‘50s; the rude emergence of the counterculture in the ‘70s; Allan Carr’s campy disaster in the ’80; the rise and fall of Harvey Weinstein in the ‘90s; and, finally, the more recent “oops moments” of the wrong envelope (La La Land) and the Will Smith slap.


And this year’s March 12 collision? Will a Tom Cruise fly-by be allowed to disrupt the tacit bias against popular cinema and even create a Titanic-like sweep? If not, what will be this year’s Moonlight or Birdman – films of merit that remain invisible to ticket buyers.

As a studious Oscar observer, Schulman loves the built-in mini-dramas, but doesn’t, in my view, always get them right. He attributes a variety of sinister forces to the “snub” of Citizen Kane in 1941, from the dominance of the Hearst press and its gossip columnists (Hedda Hopper) to the short-lived voting clout of film extras.

In his zeal, however, Schulman overlooks the emotional impact of movies like How Green Was My Valley (which won) or even Sergeant York. He also ignores Orson Welles’ arrogant presence on the interview circuit. The surprise victory of CODA last year again reminded voters that emotion would conquer intellect in the quietude of the cinema.

To Schulman, the Shakespeare in Love upset of Saving Private Ryan in 1999 dramatized Weinstein’s talent at bullying and “buying” Academy votes, thus eroding the power of “the Hollywood club.” This ignores the fact that Miramax was riding a hot streak (Pulp Fiction, Life is Beautiful, The English Patient) while that club of entrenched studios seemed to have tuned out.

Actually, Steven Spielberg’s company (DreamWorks) outspent Weinstein in advertising dollars. And, as Vincent Canby wrote in the New York Times, “The post-Oscar outrage displayed by Hollywood’s tough wheeler-dealers seemed like a joke.”

Academy members now total over 10,000, representing a push to enhance inclusion and overseas influence. Voting patterns, however, reflect trends similar to those of its original narrow membership.

Given these realities, can the Oscar show be effectively transformed? Or should it be?

Debates on the subject often grow emotional. Academy branch members are understandingly alarmed if their contributions are being minimized. The self-protectiveness and media paranoia of celebrities have diminished their contributions to the kudos derbies.

No one is more aware of these phenomena than Kramer, who will attempt to impose discipline on the ongoing debates. The show must go on, with the chaos hopefully diminished.

I wish Mary Pickford were still on hand to give me her personal play-by-play.

[jo]

See all of the key dates for the 2023 Oscars below, and head over to EW's awards season calendar for more dates — including those for the Emmys, MTV VMAs, and other ceremonies.

Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022 — General entry categories submission deadline
Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022 — Governors Awards
Monday, Dec. 12, 2022 — Preliminary voting begins
Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022 — Preliminary voting ends
Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022 — Oscars shortlists announcement
Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022 — Eligibility period for films ends
Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023 — Nominations voting begins
Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023 — Nominations voting ends
Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023 — Nominations announced
Monday, Feb. 13, 2023 — Oscar nominees luncheon
Thursday, March 2, 2023 — Final voting begins
Tuesday, March 7, 2023 — Final voting ends
Sunday, March 12, 2023 — 95th Oscars telecast

BAFTA sets date for 2023 EE BAFTA Film Awards

BAFTA has announced today that the EE BAFTA Film Awards will take place in London on Sunday 19 February 2023.

[jo]

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[jo]

deadline.com/2023/01/film-academy-oscars-feed-on-their-mistakes-1235241010/

Perhaps the best-behaved Oscar show in recent memory was the Hugh Jackman ceremony of 2009. It was a beautiful show, like a cozy evening in Hollywood’s parlor, with relatively gentle humor and a warm-hearted picture, Slumdog Millionaire, in the winner’s circle. What more could you want? (Academy officials actually asked Jackman back this year but got a turn-down.) But the broadcast, during which virtually nothing went wrong, drew lower ratings than the next six in a row. In audience terms, it was neither here nor there.

Chris Rock was also asked to host again -- but he declined ( presumably after that incident with Will Smith).

Jimmy Kimmel responded positively to the request for a third time as Oscars host.


Jo

[jo]

[jo]

The Oscars are on Sunday, March 12.

We get articles that hail the best hosts over the years.

[jo]

It's Oscars time --

and this always comes up, even after 14 years since it happened!

Translated from Spanish by Google:

I don't remember much of the rest of the gala, but 14 years later, I'm still moved by this spectacular opening number, which many agree is the best and most original in the history of #Oscars .

📺 You can see it in its entirety here: youtu.be/Terhj8mjPwY

[jo]

Translated from Spanish by Google

Translated from Spanish by Google
Tomorrow is #Oscars2023 . There may be smacks, envelope errors, but not a better start than 2009.

That night three guys were yelling madly at a TV in a little room in the Kodak Theater:

"𝙋𝙊𝙉𝙏𝙀 𝙀𝙉 𝙋𝙄𝙀, 𝙎𝙀𝘼𝙉 𝙋𝙀𝙉𝙉!"

Translated from Spanish by Google

Are you talking about the mythical Hugh Jackman gala!!! 15 min intro that deserve an Oscar in themselves

IIRC, it was nominated for an EMMY Best Special Event...but lost out to the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing OLympics ( with its multi-million budget and a cast of several thousands )!

Jo

[jo]

Jose R. Fernández
@xpocus
Magnífico hilo que detalla la que también para mi, ha sido la mejor apertura de unos #Oscars en MUCHOS AÑOS: el año que presentó Hugh Jackman la gala.
Pasen y disfruten del espectáculo y del hilo y gracias a
@manuel_de_BCN
por rescatarlo de mi memoria!!


Translated from Spanish by Google :


Magnificent thread that details what, also for me, has been the best opening of some #Oscars in MANY YEARS: the year that Hugh Jackman presented the gala.
Come and enjoy the show and the thread and thanks to
@manuel_de_BCN
for rescuing it from my memory!!