James and Anne Vs. The World

 ♪ A little ditty 'bout James and Aaaa-aanne... two American kids growing up in the heartland... ♫

THE OSCAR BALLOTS HAVE GONE OUT.

Since the Oscar race is all over but the gowns and speeches and the checking of ballot boxes --once the Weinstein Co have finished reediting their film shouldn't they just retitle it The King's Sweep ? --  what should we focus on in regards to Oscar? How about the hosts? I polled The Film Experience team to see what they most want to see from James Franco and Anne Hathaway on Oscar night and here's what they said.

Alexa

I'd love to see Anne and James reenact a scene from Bride Wars.  We all know he can do drag.

Kurtis

What I'd really like to see them do is reenact scenes from their own films, namely "The Devil Wears Prada," with Franco as Meryl Streep: "Everyone wants to be us!"

Two votes for James Franco in drag, heh? Whaddya think readers?

poll by twiigs.com

JA

They reenact scenes from each other's 2010 movies: Anne saws off her own arm on the stage in spectacular Grand Guignol fashion, spraying blood down onto Jack Nicholson and other folks in the front row; a large bed is wheeled into the middle of the stage where James Franco and Jake Gyllenhaal will reenact the most memorable moments from Love and Other Drugs.

Robert

Duke it out as Catwoman vs Goblin

I will co-sign all of these things. Except for maybe Anne sawing her own arm off. I'd prefer she keep all her pretty parts attached. And YES to Catwoman.

Craig

A series of pre-prepped comic sketches - live on stage with a lot of costume changes. Bring back the horrible/marvelous days of Rob Lowe and Snow White!

Finally, Jose and Michael step off of preexisting James & Anne movies. They do a little sidestep.

Jose

I'd love for Anne Hathaway to use the entire ceremony as a big audition for her future Oscar

winning role as Judy Garland and have her do a whole "Born in a Trunk" kinda number. "Mrs. Norman Maine" siiiigh.

Michael

I'd like to see James and Anne fight Oscar's seven evil ex-hosts for the privilege of hosting together

Yes. Musical numbers for Anne.

All praise the unexpected Scott Pilgrim vs. The World reference. Pilgrim for the win. It's too bad that skit/joke would fly over the heads of AMPAS because how undefeatable would that extended show narrative be.

It would mean cameo battles with the following people, the last Seven Evil Ex-Hosts:

• Alec Baldwin & Steve Martin
• Hugh Jackman
• Jon Stewart
• Ellen DeGeneres
• Chris Rock
• Billy Crystal
• Whoopi Goldberg

Our new favorite fantasy (thanks Michael) doesn't count Steve Martin both solo and paired, mostly so we can squeeze in Whoopi Goldberg. If any of those seven evil exes can't show you have to reach back to David Letterman who is next in line. Billy Crystal hogged the duties for so many years that you have to go back nearly a quarter century to get to Chevy Chase.

Your turn!
Oscar night is just three weeks away. What are you hoping to see?

"I Have a Link!" "Yes You Do."

The Pixar Blog Toy Story 3 gets a huge billboard in LA.
Basket of Kisses John Barry, oft-Oscared composer passed away at 77. RIP. True story: When I first became obsessed with the movies in the mid 80s, Out of Africa was one of the first LP film scores I ever bought.
The Telegraph Should you revisit beloved Disney films from childhood? Retrospectives have Tim Robey wondering. I've been contemplating revisiting the Disney oeuvre myself.
Your Movie Buddy plays an Oscar nominee name game. Love the finale.
The House Next Door 'The Conversations' takes on Coen Bros True Grit What's the hashtag for this? Oh yes, #longreads
Cinema Blend offers up a Sundance Sales Guide. I've been waiting for someone to compile this rather than report solely on them as they happen. Thank you!
Kenneth in the (212) lusts after Henry Cavill, our new Superman. Agreed that Cavill (of The Tudors fame) is a fine specimen but Brandon Routh was so perfect in Superman Returns. And his recent cameo in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was so funny that I longed ridiculously for him to take back up the cape.
Boy Culture I've been so consumed with awards season I keep missing other stuff. Like Geri from The Facts of Life coming out of the closet. She can't even walk straight!

It's Bertie's World. You're Just Living In It.
Playbill The King's Speech was conceived as a play and may head to the stage.
Gawker The Best Picture nominees in Legos. Figures that TKS is the most boring one (but I love the one for 127 Hours.)

"why should i waste my time listening to you?" "BECAUSE I HAVE A VOICE"

Finally, Tom Shone, a critic I personally love, has an unfortunate affection for The King's Speech. But his piece about the Oscar race upheaval and the falsity of projected versions of Oscar as either old fuddy duddies or young hepcats is fun.

The academy haven't lost their taste for Oscar bait. They just haven't been let near a healthy enough specimen. They're like drunks who've managed to stay dry for several years not because they have lost their taste for alcohol but because nobody has offered them a drink.

Though I warn you: this may be a depressing read if you've been convincing yourself that the Academy has changed due to the last few winners.

Birthday Bale

Here's to Christian Bale, future Oscar winner (unless this King's Speech thing *really* gets out of hand), on his 37th birthday! He might even win the SAG Award tonight on his birthday.

It's hard to remember that he's not even 40 yet. He's been in the movies for so long!

Christian Bale, the 12 year old star of "Empire of the Sun"

Since that auspicious debut in Steven Spielberg's Empire (1987) which was nominated for 6 Oscars (but strangely didn't catch fire in any of the top categories, despite being a World War II epic) it's been quite a trip: He assisted a royal Oscar powerhouse (Henry V); ended his teenage years dancing (Swing Kids) and singing (Newsies); got curiously soft and swoony (Pocahontas, Little Women); was overcome by hormonal confusion in his mid 20s (Velvet Goldmine, Metroland, A Midsummer Night's Dream); played God and then the Devil back to back in his late 20s (Mary, Mother of Jesus & American Pyscho) as if to warn us, spiritually, of his physical yo-yoing to come; and then the films came fast and furious with the actor jumping genres and personas and body types left and right (Laurel Canyon, Reign of Fire, Equilibrium, The Machinist, Batman Begins, The New World, Rescue Dawn, The Prestige, I'm Not There, etcetera).

[gif source]

It's been hard to keep up with him. He's dancing as fast as he can through the cinema.

What's your favorite Bale performance?

Amy Westcott on Her "Black Swan" Costume Snub

Wescott's Nina sketchesGiven my fascination with Costume Design, you'll recall I already named my nominees (which included Amy Westcott and Rodarte for Black Swan) and said a few words about Westcott's own work on Black Swan, I drank up this interview in Clothes on Film with the designer post-Oscar snubbing. And I'm alarmed that I missed it two days ago.

A week or so ago film sites were discussing whether or not it was fair that Rodarte could not be nominated alongside her (everyone assuming that Black Swan would be nominated). Perhaps I was just naive but I didn't realize that ill feelings were brewing behind the scenes. Is life imitating art given the rivalry in the Black Swan plot.

Here's what the talented designer tells Clothes on Film about Rodarte's lack of credit and the interviews and press that followed once the film caught fire.

Clothes on Film, Chris: Are you aware of the controversy surrounding yourself and fashion house Rodarte (the Mulleavy sisters) in the press; that they should be credited alongside you as costume designers?

Amy Westcott: Controversy is too complimentary a word for two people using their considerable self-publicising resources to loudly complain about their credit once they realised how good the film is.

CoF: Do you feel as though you are being vilified for something out of your hands?

Westcott: I was happy for Rodarte’s persistent publicity efforts at first; I’m so proud of the film and anything that brings it to an even wider audience is genuinely welcome. I tried to put aside my ego while being airbrushed from history in all of their interviews, as I’m just not that kind of person anyway. But when articles were planted that attacked me personally as if I had conspired against them I felt nothing but despair and betrayal. I don’t have a publicist working for me, needless to say, and I was asked to stay quiet –“not to engage”, to avoid any bad press towards the film. Unfortunately this seems to have proven detrimental to the perception of my work on Black Swan. I didn’t make the rules that the Guild and the Academy set and I am proud of my professionalism and commitment to my work, so to have my name dragged into such ill-informed gossip is galling and hurtful to say the least.

Sad that things went in that direction. Westcott also talks about how she feels about the snub, working with Aronofksy, whether she'll work with fashion design labels again on a film, and what was hardest to achieve on the visually stunning film. Well worth a read.

Hooper Wins DGA. In Other News, The Fat Lady Sings

Who'da thunk it? I realize some people predicted that Tom Hopper would win the Directors Guild of America prize for The King's Speech but these predictions were surely made in panic, given the obvious Oscar love for the film on nomination morning. But I mean a week ago who would have suspected that his able direction of British actors  in a light royalty drama would be heading into the Oscars looking like a sweeper, even for direction, even with an overdue genuine giant of the industry leading  like David Fincher (The Social Network) leading up until now. Not me. I'll be the first to admit it.

I'll also come right out and say that I don't understand it. Fincher captured lightning in a bottle; Russell resuscitated a tired genre with humor, humanity and noisy originality; Nolan displayed skyscraper sized ambitions and vaulted technical obstacles; Aronofsky went for broke, chasing his ballerina's madness in his own inimitable way. What did the Director's Guild see in Hooper's work that surpassed these achievements? I'm genuinely curious.

The King's Speech is well directed so this isn't the travesty of a situation like Ron Howard beating four auteur legends for his own muddled work on A Beautiful Mind. But it's still... well... "people just love this film," one must admit, shrugging one's shoulders and calling it a year for a cute British triumph-over-personal-adversity film.

Next up: Winning SAG tonight (live blogging right here starting at 7 PM EST), BAFTA soon and then on to 8 or 9 Oscars apparently (sigh). The night we wait for all year just got super monotonous 28 whole days in advance.