Entertainment Today and Beyond

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HUGH JACKMAN to HOST OSCARS – a good idea?

hugh-jackman-4The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced today that HUGH JACKMAN (People magazine’s sexiest man Alive) will be the HOST of the 81st annual Academy Awards, scheduled to air Feb 22. Producers Larry Mark and Bill Condon will reportedly forgo the joke telling and the programs signature opening monologue.

While Jackman scored good reviews for hosting the Tony awards four years ago I don’t really get this move. I like Jackman (I really liked Australia) and think he’s an appealing guy, but the Oscar host should belong to a comedian. The telecast has always lived and died on the opening monologue. Since it’s NO secret that Hollywood is a liberal crowd, an Oscar telecast without political jabs and inside jokes just won’t feel like the Oscars I have been watching my entire life. It’s one thing to revamp the telecast but this just feels extreme, and not for the better. When I tune in I want to laugh. I want an edge and I want to be wowed.

While some past hosts have been better than others, the definitive host was and will always be BILLY CRYSTAL. He’s not only brilliantly funny but he’s one of Hollywood’s own. The fun of a good Oscar host is having the anticipation of what might come next. You can only get that from a comedian. The choice of Jackman takes that equation right out of the game. While the “Wolverine” star is a solid actor, showman, and certainly a class act, he doesn’t have the right personality to pull this off. People tune in because they want to see that host take shots at their peers in the crowd. It’s pretty much assured that won’t happen this time around. To me that’s just not the Oscars!

December 14, 2008 Posted by | And Beyond - Trailers & News | | Leave a Comment

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL opens, DARK KNIGHT Rolls on DVD and the film itself gets SNUBBED by the foreign press

day-the-earth-stood-2With just 24% positive reviews on Rotten tomatoes for THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, Fox has to be mighty nervous about its box-office prospects. Not only is the film mighty expensive but the studio has sunk a boatload of coin into marketing. Could this film be critic-proof? My gut feeling is NO.  It will be interesting to see how it opens, but its unlikely that the numbers will be anywhere near last year’s I AM LEGEND, which went on to become a big hit worldwide. 

darkknight-dvdNo surprise, THE DARK KNIGHT DVD is breaking sales records. According to Nikki Finke, the disc sold 600,000 in the Blue ray format alone and over 3 million standard DVD copies in its first day. The previous Blue-ray record holder was Iron Man which sold 400,000 units in one week. The Dark Knight is expected to sell over 7 million units altogether in its first week. That’s close to $200 million in revenue. I watched the film last night in standard DVD and it looked great on my flat screen LCD. One has to wonder if Blue-ray will remain niche or become the dominate player in the next year or two. While it’s good to see players come down in price, the cost of the disc themselves must follow. At an average price of $35.00 retail, it’s unlikely the format will grow unless that’s cut in half, especially in this economy.

Surprisingly, The Dark Knight didn’t get nominated for best picture by the Hollywood foreign press when the Golden Globes were announced yesterday. Its lone nomination was for Hedger Ledger as best supporting actor. My gut feeling is the film will fair much better with the Academy come Oscar time. I would be surprised if it doesn’t get nominated for best film and in numerous other categories. While the Golden Globes are always a bit off compared to the Oscars, the telecast itself is ALWAYS the fastest moving and most entertaining of all award shows. Here’s a LINK to all the Golden Globe nominees.

December 14, 2008 Posted by | And Beyond - Trailers & News | , , | 1 Comment

   

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