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I would protest by not watching but I already do that.

He's actually pretty good when not writing. This sounds like an improvement over the last two years.

This is the only logical choice. He rides the thin line between comedic detachment from the gravitas of the evening and warm presence who will pay it the respect that the Academy demands. He's pleasant, handsome, talented, sharp, and funny. Sure, his animated stuff has faltered since Family Guy came back on the air, but he's still a good presence, especially as an MC. Perfect choice. Sure, I'd like to see Chris Rock again, but that's never going to happen. So I'll take this. MacFarlane and perhaps Jimmy Kimmel are really the only people who are suited for this job at this point. Conan's too quirky, Letterman's too old, Leno's too dull, etc.

Jimmy Kimmel is the only logical host, especially after his unforgettable post-Oscars show this year

domino harvey is the only logical host. Seriously though!

Yep, that tears it. Not watching. "[MacFarlane's] performing skills blend perfectly with our ideas for making the show entertaining and fresh..." does not sound like something I want to be subjected to.

There are plenty of comedic actors who would be just fine for hosting the Oscars. Why not get Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to team up? Steve Carell? Paul Rudd? If they're trying to get "the youth" to watch, why not Emma Stone? She's always great as a presenter and was good on SNL?

I dunno, maybe Oscar host is the job nobody wants anymore. Career poison.

Wow, MacFarlane is so inoffensive, I'm wondering if these strong reactions are coming more from his cartoons and movies than from his actual MC persona.

I don't have much a problem with his hosting abilities, but there's a reasonable fear that Stewie Griffin will make a cameo. I haven't watched the awards in years so it doesn't bother me either way.

Like the above I don't watch the awards (I don't have Sky, which stole the awards away from the BBC back in the late 1990s, and am not too upset about it as I would feel obliged to stay up to 5 a.m. to watch the thing if it were still on the Beeb!), but I guess the main reason for picking McFarlane is that he would do well in any opening musical number, if his Prom appearances are anything to go by.

Ugh. If he does the cartoon voices I will have to destroy my television.

mfunk9786 wrote:Wow, MacFarlane is so inoffensive, I'm wondering if these strong reactions are coming more from his cartoons and movies than from his actual MC persona.

I've seen maybe 20 minutes total of any of his shows and movie. My primary exposure to him is from the Comedy Central roasts, SNL, and the occasional talk show and awards show appearance. I was going to say I find him unfunny, but it's actually that I find unfunny the things he thinks are most funny. And when he feels maybe what he's about to say is not funny enough, he thinks that delivering it in the voice of one of his cartoon characters might make it funnier.

So it's not that I find him offensive enough to not watch the Oscars because he's hosting. It's that I was already looking for an excuse to not watch the Oscars anymore and he's handed me the perfect one.

Jeff wrote:Ugh. If he does the cartoon voices I will have to destroy my television.

If only the host were the only problem with these award ceremonies, not the bullshit winners.

He's going to do the cartoon voices to ensure that everyone knows who he is.

That would be kind of unnecessary since Brian's voice is his own. That said, I'd absolutely love it if they staged a live confrontation with the chicken guy.

He got him to be a guest voice on the Cleveland Show, Seth needs to involve David Lynch somehow. Maybe be the announcer, with that Montana twang of his - "Shee is a threee tyme Ascar winner, he was in Magik Mike, when the Ascar for Best Visual Effects Editing is presented, commin' up on the 85th Academy Awards."

Just don't ask hhWil hhWheaton to be involved.

While watching MacFarlane host SNL it struck me that his performance was a throwback to a 60s variety show impressionist - I felt like I was watching Frank Gorshin on the Ed Sullivan Show. I wasn't bothered by this and I imagine his style is right in line with what the Academy Awards show usually offers.

Roger Ryan wrote:While watching MacFarlane host SNL it struck me that his performance was a throwback to a 60s variety show impressionist - I felt like I was watching Frank Gorshin on the Ed Sullivan Show. I wasn't bothered by this and I imagine his style is right in line with what the Academy Awards show usually offers.

I have the same feeling about him and I'm sure the producers love that Seth loves doing musical numbers on his shows and performances. But I agree that the decision to bring him was made for the sole reason of bringing in the 18-32 crowd to the ratings.

I think Ricky Gervais, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell or Louis C.K would be better choices for the show.

I loved Chris Rock, but I can understand why people don't want to be roasted at the Oscars. James Franco was a mess, but, in general, I don't hate on the Academy hosts. It's a high-strung, self-important audience, and half of them are getting pats on the back for making pandering, shitty movies.

To host that show is a tough job. Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, John Stewart, etc. They all did serviceable enough work.

If you want to have the funniest host you can get, then invite Jeff Ross or Amy Schumer to tear up the audience. I'd love it, but nobody would show up.

I just realized how amusing this will be to watch considering how many A-listers Seth's shows continually throw under the bus.

Cahiers has come out with their top 10:

1. Holy Motors
2. Cosmopolis
3. Twixt
4. 4:44 Last Day on Earth
4. In Another Country
4. Take Shelter
7. Go Go Tales (which got a French release this year)
8. Tabu
8. Faust
10. Keep the Lights On

Great to see Twixt on there, totally deserved

Did they see the same shitty movie called In Another Country that I did?

mfunk9786 wrote:Did they see the same shitty movie called In Another Country that I did?

Do you have anything substantive to say about the film or do you just want to raise my ire (and that of several others who have placed the film in their top tens)?

These are probably of marginal interest around here and will have no bearing whatsoever on the Oscar race, but the Golden Horse Awards were given out tonight. There are a number of competing awards -- some national, some multinational -- for Chinese-language cinema; the Golden Horses (open to all Chinese-language films) are probably held in the highest esteem, although they're based in Taiwan and have a traditional bias towards local films (which wasn't so much in evidence this year). There's a complete list of nominees here, which I assume will be updated with the winners. Here's what I've semi-arbitrarily decided are the key categories:

Best Feature Film: Beijing Blues, dir. Gao Qunshu
Best Director: Johnnie To, Life Without Principle
Best New Director: Chang Jung-chi, Touch of the Light
Best Leading Actor: Lau Ching-wan, Life Without Principle
Best Leading Actress: Gwei Lun-mei, GF*BF
Best Supporting Actor: Ronald Cheng, Vulgaria
Best Supporting Actress: Liang Jing, Design of Death
Best New Performer: Qi Xi, Mystery
Best Original Screenplay: Milkway Creative Team, Au Kin-yee, and Wong King-fai, Life Without Principle
Best Adapted Screenplay: Bao Jingjing, Love Is Not Blind, based on her novel
Best Documentary: China Heavyweight, dir. Yung Chang
Lifetime Achievement: Shih Chun (Taiwanese actor best known for his work with King Hu; his last film appearance was watching himself in Goodbye, Dragon Inn)

(edit to correct embarrassing mistake in the Best Director category)