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Oscar Night

There was so much hype surrounding the decision to give hosting duties to Anne Hathaway and James Franco for this year’s Academy Awards. It was a bold decision by the Academy. I thought they were a good pairing–the eccentric indie actor and the talented yet safe movie darling. The previews were hilarious and I was excited and ready to laugh my socks off.

Unfortunately this year’s Oscars underwhelmed me. Franco acted like a distracted kid brother the whole time who couldn’t really be bothered to be there. Hathaway looked like she was struggling to keep the show from sinking by acting overly excited and giggly. I feel a little bad for her. It’s hard to do your best when you’re pulling all the weight. I kept hoping it would get better, but it just ended up getting worse.

But looking back, it’s not much of a surprise that this year’s Oscars was a bust. In an interview with the Associated Press Franco foreshadowed his “too cool” hipster attitude.“I have no desire to make my mark on the hosting gig,” said Franco. “I have no need to etch my lines into there. I feel fairly confident that I’ll be able to deliver whatever they give me.”

To both of their credit, the beginning montage made me giggle a little.

I’m sure you all know who won, but in case you don’t here’s the rundown:

BEST PICTURE

The King’s Speech

BEST ACTOR

Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

BEST ACTRESS

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

BEST DIRECTOR

Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

BEST SONG

“We Belong Together,” Toy Story 3, Randy Newman

BEST EDITING

The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Inside Job, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

God of Love, Luke Matheny

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Strangers No More, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood

BEST MAKEUP

The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

BEST SOUND EDITING

Inception, Richard King

BEST SOUND MIXING

Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed Novick

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale, The Fighter

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

In a Better World (Denmark)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Toy Story 3

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

The Lost Thing, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Melissa Leo, The Fighter

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Inception, Wally Pfister

BEST ART DIRECTION

Alice in Wonderland, Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara

SL

Kona