Billy Crystal returning to host Oscars
I think it’s a fantastic move. Funny guy and he gives great Oscars. I’m so grateful to Brett Ratner for dropping the f bomb and setting this in motion!
Thoughts?
He really is the Oscar gold standard of the last 25 years. So it’s hardly adventurous or innovative, and unlikely be be a huge draw for the under-35 crowd, but it should still be fun. Couldn’t be worse than last year (and I like Hathaway and Franco, but they were bad).
And Billy was the only funny thing in the show. When he entered, you could tell the crowd wanted him to stay and host the rest of the show.
Remember the year Silence of the Lambs won all the top Oscars? Crystal was hosting that year, and when he came out on stage for the first time he was wheeled on a carrier, locked in a straitjacket, with the security mask on. Two guys in white coats were “security” and when they released him he kept the mask on and walked down into the audience to shake Anthony Hopkin’s hand. “I’m having a few friends for dinner and want you to come!”(Or something close to that.)
:eek: I can’t believe Billy is 63!
I’m in my early twenties and I have grown up watching Billy Crystal movies so I am totally going to tune in. He is not too old. He is hilarious and so classic. A perfect choice.
"Miracle Max: Sonny, true love is the greatest thing, in the world-except for a nice MLT - mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe
[smacks his lips]
Miracle Max: they’re so perky, I love that. "
Hate. Billy Crystal. Have hated him since the 1970s, and cannot even stand the *sight *of his apple-like face. Will be going to be early on Oscar night.
Terrible news. My wife and I usually watch the Oscars live together. Billy Crystal hosting is a powerful argument to Tivo the whole thing.
I still think Johnny Carson was the best Oscar host. But I’d rate Crystal the best one living.
I don’t like him, I don’t think he’s funny, ever, but I will say, at least he walks, talks and breathes. In other words, he’s better than the fucking Muppets (there was a brief but loud Twitter/Facebook campaign to have the Muppets host the Oscars, by alleged adults, who seemed to be completely serious).
I wanted Neil Patrick Harris to host. The ONLY thing I’ve ever seen him in in my life were the first two Harold & Kumar movies, but I’ve heard good things about his hosting abilities. I did know who he was before H&K, I’d just never seen any of his previous word, or anything since.
How have you not heard of Doogie Howser?
I had heard of Doogie Howser. I said I had heard of him before H&K, but I’d never seen the show.
The whole thing is already a joke, hence henson’s creations being a perfect fit.
We view the Oscars from a different viewpoint. To me they’re worthwhile (the entire awards season too) because they bring attention to smaller films, actors, craftspeople and filmmakers who need the exposure and will often go on to other interesting, but higher-profile because of the nominations, projects. That’s the part of Oscars I treat very seriously. I don’t care about the glitz, the glamour, the predictions, the Oscar pools, and all that stuff. I’m in it for the movies and the people responsible for making the movies.
Film aficionados would probably have heard of these people prior to their Oscar nominations, but to those who don’t follow films or awards season closely, but make (even sub-conscience) note of names, they probably would have heard these names first via the Oscars. (Random, in no particular order)
Daniel Day-Lewis (nominated, won, Best Actor for 1989’s My Left Foot)
Javier Bardem (nominated Best Actor for 2000’s Before Night Falls)
Ken Watanabe (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 2003’s The Last Samurai)
Samantha Morton (nominated Best Supporting Actress for 1999’s Sweet and Lowdown)
Djimon Hounsou (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 2002’s In America)
Jennifer Lawrence (nominated Best Actress for 2010’s Winter’s Bone)
John Hawkes (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 2010’s Winter’s Bone)
Jeremy Renner (nominated Best Actor for 2008’s The Hurt Locker)
Melissa Leo (nominated Best Actress for 2008’s Frozen River)
Amy Adams (nominated Best Supporting Actress for 2005’s Junebug)
Carey Mulligan (nominated for Best Actress for 2009’s An Education)
Billy Bob Thornton (nominated Best Actor for 1996’s Sling Blade)
Geoffrey Rush (nominated, won, Best Actor for 1996’s Shine)
Frances McDormand (nominated, won, Best Actress for 1996’s Fargo)
William H. Macy (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 1996’s Fargo)
Kristen Scott Thomas (nominated Best Actress for 1996’s The English Patient)
Emily Watson (nominated Best Actress for 1996’s Breaking The Waves)
Hilary Swank (nominated, won, Best Actress for 1999’s Boys Don’t Cry)
Chloë Sevigny (nominated Best Supporting Actress for 1999’s Boys Don’t Cry)
Janet McTeer (nominated Best Actress for 1999’s Tumbleweeds)
Jude Law (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 1998’s The Talented Mr. Ripley)
Angelina Jolie (nominated, won, Best Supporting Actress for 1999’s Girl, Interrupted)
Catherine Keener (nominated Best Supporting Actress for 1998’s Being John Malkovich)
Stephen Rea (nominated Best Actor for 1992’s The Crying Game)
Denzel Washington (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 1987’s Cry Freedom, and yes, he’d been on television, but not everybody watched St. Elsewhere)
Keisha Castle-Hughes (nominated for Best Actress for 2002’s Whale Rider)
Catalina Sandino Moreno (nominated for Best Actress for 2004’s Maria Full of Grace)
Marion Cotillard (nominated, won, Best Actress for La Vie en Rose)
Ellen Page (nominated Best Actress for Juno)
Laura Linney (nominated Best Actress for 1999’s You Can Count On Me)
Joan Allen (nominated Best Supporting Actress for 1995’s Nixon)
Amy Ryan (nominated Best Supporting Actress for 2007’s Gone Baby Gone)
Cate Blanchett (nominated for Best Actress for 1997’s Elizabeth)
Edward Norton (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 1995’s Primal Fear)
Ian McKellen (nominated Best Actor for 1997’s Gods and Monsters)
Judi Dench (nominated for Best Actress for 1996’s Mrs. Brown)
Tom Wilkinson (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 2000’s In The Bedroom)
Miranda Richardson (nominated Best Supporting Actress for 1991’s Damage)
Helen Mirren (nominated Best Supporting Actress for 1993’s The Madness of King George)
Benicio Del Toro (nominated, won, Best Supporting Actor for 1999’s Traffic)
Julie Walters (nominated Best Actress for 1982’s Educating Rita)
Ellen Burstyn (nominated Best Supporting Actress for 1970’s The Last Picture Show)
Joaquin Phoenix (nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 1999’s Gladiator)
Adrien Brody (nominated, won, Best Actor for 2002’s The Pianist)
John C. Reilly (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 2001’s Chicago, though he was very well-known among Paul Thomas Anderson fans well before that)
Jim Broadbent (nominated, won, Best Supporting Actor for 2001’s Iris)
Marisa Tomei (nominated, won, Best Supporting Actress for 1991’s My Cousin Vinny)
Terrence Howard (nominated Best Actor for 2005’s Hustle & Flow)
Kate Winslet (nominated Best Supporting Actress for 1994’s Sense and Sensibility)
Imelda Staunton (nominated Best Actress for 2004’s Vera Drake)
Jackie Earle Haley (nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 2006’s Little Children, a comeback film)
Thomas Haden Church (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 2004’s Sideways, a comeback)
Virginia Madsen (nominated Best Supporting Actress for 2004’s Sideways, a comeback)
Diane Lane (nominated Best Actress for 2001’s Unfaithful, a comeback)
Robert Forster (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 1997’s Jackie Brown, a comeback)
Burt Reynolds (nominated Best Supporting Actor for 1997’s Boogie Nights, a comeback)
There are many, many more. (Ok, not all go on to have a career that mainstream America would have followed, but several went to be nominated again and in some cases winning, such as Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett.).
Movies like Whale Rider, Winter’s Bone, The Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire, most of the others listed above, and dozens more throughout the year, were seen by more people because of the exposure during awards season and especially the Oscars. Whether a person thinks that exposure is warranted is another matter. I happen to think so most of the time.
That’s why I like the Oscars, and why I’ve disliked Crystal ever since his stupid, insensitive joke during the 1997 Oscars (for 1996 films). Finally, several quality arthouse films were nominated, bringing in a lot of new faces, true, but he made some dumb crack about “Who are you people?” as if they didn’t belong there. Yeah yeah, it was a joke, whatever. It made a lot of people very uncomfortable instead of feeling welcome. Several of those unknowns would go on to take home Oscars that night and go on to become household names.
He looks like he’s 75.
Your list is cute, but it includes a lot of people who were already well known before their Oscar appearance (Benicio Del Toro was unknown until 1999? Ian McKellan was unknown until 1997?) and a lot of the comebacks were nothing of the sort. Oh, and many of those names appeared in movies that were well-reviewed long before the Oscars ever picked the nominees.
Finally, I think there’s something to be said about the Oscars being a terrible showcase for indie films and mainstream movies. The Dark Knight is probably the greatest movie of the last two decades and if Heath Ledger hadn’t died would the Academy have given a shit? As it is, the movie (and Chris Nolan) didn’t get any other Oscar support.
They’re a joke and they always will be.
8 total nominations and 2 Oscars is nothing to sneeze at. And while they’re hardly the arbiter of long-term critical taste, I’m still more inclined to trust them over someone who actually believes the (albeit fine) Batman movie is the best thing cinema has had to offer in the last 20 years. Heck, it’s not even the best thing that Chris Nolan, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy or Gary Oldman have given us in that time period.
Aside from Ledger, they were all technical noms. That’s the Academy’s way of saying “We know people really liked you, but don’t forget your place.”
And aside from Leon, The Dark Knight is the crown jewel on all of those actor’s resumes for the last two decades. Slumdog has already been forgotten. In a few years it’ll be a maystay on the “This is What the Oscars Got Wrong” lists.
Ah, so you actually like that Luc Besson p.o.s. That does explain a lot…
Can’t you read? I said: