2010 Oscars | Through the Shattered Lens

So, I guess this the type of silly, gossipy stuff that I — and I alone — am a sucker for but anyway … the hosts of the next Academy Awards ceremony have been announced and the winners are Anne Hathaway and James Franco!

Huh?

Don’t get me wrong, I love them both. James Franco was great in 127 Hours and Anne Hathaway starred in the story of my life, Rachel Getting Married. But what exactly about either one of them screams “Oscar host?”

To be honest, Oscar Host has always seemed like a thankless job. Jon Stewart did a pretty good job a few years ago (and it was really cool how he brought Marketa Irglova back out on stage so she could give her speech after winning the award for best original song) but otherwise, is it really a job that anyone wants?

(And, even if Stewart was a great Oscar host, he’s been getting progressively more and more smug, annoying, and self-important ever since.)

Remember when Hugh Jackman hosted and he sang that song that just went on and on and then we all realized that we didn’t really like Hugh Jackman that much in the first place?

And I guess last year it was Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin and … yeah, that was really memorable.

Ellen DeGeneres hosted the Oscars and suddenly, she was a judge on American Idol and did that do anyone any good?

Actually, I think the ideal host would be someone like Jeff Probst, someone who would just smirk after the winner’s announced and ask the other nominees what it felt like to be losers.

Seriously, I’m worried for Franco and Hathaway. I think that perhaps in the future, the role of Oscar host should be reserved for people who are already generally acknowledged as being annoying. That way, at least, nobody will shed any tears when the Oscar Host Curse kicks in.

Kara DioGuardi needs the work.

The Hollywood Mainstream Establish Toadsuckers (aka., the HMETS) who hand out the Academy Awards (and, even though I rarely agree with them, I still love them for it because I love tacky award shows), have announced the 15 films that are eligible for this year’s Best Animated Feature Oscar.

Those films are:

“Alpha and Omega”
“Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore”
“Despicable Me”
“The Dreams of Jinsha”
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“Idiots and Angels”
“The Illusionist”
“Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole”
“Megamind”
“My Dog Tulip”
“Shrek Forever After”
“Summer Wars”
“Tangled”
“Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue”
“Toy Story 3”

A few things to note:

In order to be nominated, the eligible films (which, apparently, are submitted for official consideration by their studios) must play in Los Angeles by the end of the year. So far, Tangled, The Illusionist, Summer Wars, and The Dreams of Jinsha have yet to open. Don’t get me wrong. They all will open but until they actually do, they’re only theoretically eligible to be nominated.

Number two, Toy Story 3 and How To Train You Dragon aside, it’s been kind of a crappy year for animated films, hasn’t it? What the Hell is My Dog Tulip?

Number three, I should give credit for most of this information to the Awards Daily web site. It’s a good site for tracking the Oscar race but it’s a terrible site if you’re interested in anything beyond a middle class, mainstream perspective on film. It’s the type of site where Roger Ebert’s word is God and William Goldman is quoted without a hint of irony. Just from a critical perspective, I like to think of Through The Shattered Lens as being the anti-Awards Daily.

Number Four, under Academy rules, there will only be three nominees for Best Animated Feature. (If 15 films are eligible, the Academy can nominate up to 3 films. If more than 15 are eligible, the Academy can nominate 5.) Since Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon would appear to be locks, that only leaves one space open. My personal choice for that slot would be A Town Called Panic — oh, wait! It’s not eligibile! Bleh.

Okay, then out of the eligible films, I personally would give the third nomination to Megamind and the actual Oscar to Toy Story 3.