The Oscars will finally have a host again... but who?

by Nathaniel R

This just in: The Oscars will have a host again after two years of going without, two very tumultuous years! We assume that the Academy will select someone safe, like Jimmy Kimmel again, but we really hope they take a risk and think "entertainer" rather than "talk show host". Given the Academy's talk show host preferences we live in absolute fear of James Corden being asked to host. But the Oscars are not meant to be a conversation but a spectacle/party. The best hosts have nearly always been Oscar-ceremony loving actors who are naturally fun (funny is less important) and at ease with live performance like Hugh Jackman, Whoopi Goldberg, or Billy Crystal. We know Hugh Jackman is off the table as a returning host since he's in the middle of a Broadway run with the revival of The Music Man. We're not sure who started the "Tom Holland should host" thing on the internet (during the Spider-Man No Way Home Oscar-campaign frenzy) but he'd mostly fit that bill minus maybe the Oscar-loving part. We enjoy him onscreen but in interviews he doesn't sound remotely aware of THE MOVIES beyond his own tiny corner of them. Nevertheless he'd probably be a good risk.  He's charismatic, a great dancer, and very popular at the moment. 

In our actressexual world here at TFE we always dream of naturally hilarious actresses hosting...

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Days Until...

Today is October 22nd which means it's... 

0 days until Dune, The French Dispatch, Ron's Gone Wrong, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, and The Harder They Fall open in movies theaters (and in some cases at home). That's right -- they're out now!

60 days until the Oscar finalists list are announced in categories like Best International Film, Best Score, Best Documentary, and so on...

96 days until the Governors Awards when the Academy honors legends like Liv Ullman and Samuel L Jackson with their Honorary Oscars

109 days until the nominations are announced for the 94th Academy Awards

156 days until Hollywood's High Holy Night aka the Oscars.

How will you use the time alloted you? 

UPDATED OSCAR PREDICTIONS ARE HERE

Oscar picks a new date.

The Oscar prediction charts will be up soon but thought you should know if you haven't yet heard a couple of news items in relation to awards season. The Oscar ceremony is not reverting to February as we'd hoped (shame). The 94th Academy Awards will be held on March 27th, 2022 next year to be exact.

They're keeping the streaming eligibility rules but thankfully the eligibility calendar is back to the Calendar Year. Well sort of...

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My complicated feelings toward Frances McDormand's third win

please welcome new contributor Timothy Lyons

she likes to work

Frances McDormand’s performance in Nomadland was my favourite of the year. Full stop. Both the film itself and McDormand’s work as Fern blew me away with their deceptive simplicity quietly revealing hidden depths of feeling. Why oh why then did I feel such a crushing sense of disappointment when McDormand took her third Best Actress trophy at this year’s Oscars?

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And the Best Presenter Oscar goes to... Rita Moreno (with a peak at West Side Story)

Nathaniel R

In the matter of one of the "smaller awards" (haha) like Best Picture, the Oscars chose to go very big and noteworthy indeed. Screen star and EGOT legend Rita Moreno (whose classics include The King and I, Singin' in the Rain, West Side Story, and Carnal Knowledge... though Hollywood obviously never did right by her denying her the lead roles she clearly would have aced) did the honors. She was a perfect choice both for her all-generations appeal, and her estimable comic gift. In introducing the Best Picture category she memorably joked that the most important award was "Best Supporting Actress" and her winning role came in a movie that won some other 'smaller awards,' too. She remains a reliable energetic funny delight at 89. Sadly, this great great moment didn't come at the end of the broadcast (argh!) but a couple of prizes too early. To understand how big a deal it is that Rita Moreno presented you have to also understand the history a bit...  

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