After watching the highly anticipated Academy Awards Show last night, I was left a bit confused and underwhelmed. I can’t remember the last time I watched the Oscars and didn’t wish for Billy Crystal or Steve Martin to be the hosts for the evening. Anne Hathaway and James Franco were appointed the job of being the hosts for the night to bring in some life and lets say youth to the show and sadly they did not deliver.

I don’t want to sound mean or judgemental but I thought besides a few moments during the show ( I enjoyed the Anne vs Hugh Jackman moment!), some of the presenters actually outshined the hosts. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law’s banter about the BatGirl hooker incident, or Sandra Bullock calling Jeff Bridges “dude”, even Kirk Douglas was funny when he was audible during his speech.

Why was Franco even part of the show? After the first hour of the show, I can’t even remember him saying anything of importance or adding to the Oscar show experience. He looked bored out of his mind. During the pre-show interviews, his respond to the question “are you excited to be hosting the show” was a passive “It’s alright”. I expected a young talented actor to have more “POW!” effect in situations like this, but I guess I was wrong. So James I FAIL you on your hosting gig!

Anne on the other hand seemed more excited (read: nervous) about her hosting job and tried her best to be a lively and fun host. Unfortunately I think her nerves and lack of enthusiasm by her hosting partner got the best of her. Half way through the show I realized she is reminding me of a child staging a one-man show for their family while playing dress up. In Hathaway’s case, super expensive custom-made dress up. So a C for her efforts.

Now, I wonder, how these two kids going to learn from their experience and how their attempt at hosting the Oscars will affect their careers. Will the Academy go back to the old ways of doing things and bring in TV hosts and comedians back on the stage to host the shows. What did you guys think about the show, do you think it was a success or a big crash and burn?

sa

Here are some videos from last night’s ceremony: