Tag: Oscars

  • 93rd Academy Awards: Emerald Fennell, Daniel Kaluuya declared as early winners

    By PTI
    LOS ANGELES: Actor-filmmaker Emerald Fennell, “Another Round” and Daniel Kaluuya were the early winners at the 93rd Academy Awards.

    Fennell won best original screenplay Oscar for her #MeToo drama “Promising Young Woman”, while best adapted screenplay Academy Award went to Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller for their Anthony Hopkins-Olivia Colman-starrer “The Father”.

    Daniel Kaluuya won best supporting actor Oscar for his role in “Judas and the Black Messiah”. “Another Round” from Denmark won the Oscar for best international feature film. The film is directed by Thomas Vinterburg and stars Mads Mikkelson.

    “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” won makeup and hairstyling, and costume design Oscars.

  • Writers open up about the James Franco-Anne Hathaway 2011 Oscars hosting debacle

    By PTI
    LOS ANGELES: The writers behind the infamous James Franco and Anne Hathaway’s Oscars monologue in 2011 have opened up about what went wrong, likening the Hollywood stars gig as “the world’s most uncomfortable blind date”.

    A lot has been spoken about the much-mocked hosting by Hathaway and Franco, both rising stars in Hollywood at that time, but it is for the first time that the writers have given insight into what actually happened behind the scenes for the 83rd annual Academy Awards.

    “It was like the world’s most uncomfortable blind date between the cool rocker stoner kid and the adorable theater camp cheerleader,” David Wild, one of the writers that year, told the Ringer about Franco and Hathaway’s disastrous monologue.

    The two stars, who had never hosted the Oscars, were brought in by the producers to appeal to the younger demographic after Justin Timberlake turned down the opportunity.

    Critics panned the gig for the mismatched energies of its hosts as Franco seemed disinterested and Hathaway over-enthusiastic.

    Wild said Franco seemed to revel in their contrasting personalities and “wanted to play it as a buddy-cop movie with two opposite characters,” Wild said.

    There was also some friction where Hathaway offered an acting suggestion to Franco, though the moment wasn’t overly contentious.

    Wild said Franco and Hathaway never bonded.

    Jordan Rubin, another writer for the show, said Hathaway made herself readily available for the months long prep.

    “I went to her house and worked on the script and she was on a bunch of conference calls and responding to emails and was a great collaborator.”

    “The Good Place” co-executive producer Megan Amram, who consulted on the ceremony, said during the prep, Hathaway pulled her into a storage closet to make sure her material would feature a female perspective.

    “She wanted to make sure it was positively reflecting women.

    I remember thinking that it was amazing that this was important to her and weird that I was in a closet with Anne Hathaway.”

    Franco, who was nominated in the acting category for his role in “127 Hours” that year, was hard to get a hold of as he was busy shooting movies and studying.

    “He always seemed to be on a flight and it was very hard for me to get a hold of him,” Rubin said.

    “That was a red flag.”

    And once the duo got started working together, it was apparent they had completely different personalities.

    “She showed up ready to play and committed 110 percent. And he was a great guy but often looked like he had just woken up from a nap.

    It’s almost like you’re showing up to a tennis court and one person decided that they were going to play in the U.S. Open and the other wanted to play in jeans and just kind of hit a few balls,” Rubin recalled.

    Both Franco and Hathaway have spoken about the incident in separate interviews.

    Hathaway told People TV in 2019 that she had turned down the ceremony but Franco convinced her to reconsider her decision, something that she has come to regret now.

    “When all the dust settled, I was just like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’. Your first instinct is usually the right one, and all the reasons why I turned it down came true,” she recalled.

    Franco later revealed that the reception to the ceremony led to issues between them but they patched up later.

  • COVID-19: Oscars will be broadcast from multiple locations

    By Associated Press
    Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre has been the home of the Oscars since 2001 and the organizers say the upcoming show will keep that tradition, but they will enlist a supporting cast of venues.

    An academy spokesperson said Wednesday that the ceremony will broadcast live from multiple locations on April 25. The announcement comes as many cities that are important film hubs, including Los Angeles, New York and London, remain under strict coronavirus restrictions.

    Specific plans have yet to be unveiled for the show, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is “determined to present an Oscars like none other, while prioritizing the public health and safety of all those who will participate,” the spokesperson said.

    The Golden Globes, which has also been scarce on specific details, is planning its own bicoastal broadcast for Feb. 28.

    The Oscars were pushed back two months because of the pandemic. Director Steven Soderbergh, “Erin Brokovich” producer Stacey Sher and awards show veteran Jesse Collins are producing the telecast. It’s unclear whether or not they will have a host.

    Last year’s show had the smallest audience ever of 23.6 million viewers, down 20% from the year prior.