In a bid to interest those that generally tune out halfway through and adult ‘Dark Knight’ whiners still in mourning, Sid Ganis and the Oscars keep claiming, “watch out, there’s going to be lots of surprises!” at this year’s 81st annual Academy Awards ceremony. Let’s see Hugh Jackman singing and dancing, telling flat jokes about the international success of “Australia,” nodding and pointing out Nicole Kidman and Baz Luhrmann, along with the requisite, “hey, it’s Jack!” throw?
The nominees have actually been “warned.” “Your categories are being presented in a completely different way. Heads up,” Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences told actors and filmmakers at the annual Oscars nominees luncheon yesterday. “Cinematographers, editors, composers. All of you guys. You’re in for a big surprise.”
We shrugged. But people — especially Oscar bloggers — are trying to unlock the code to what that exactly means (one blogger actually, actually got a “frenzied call” that said: “Did you hear that there may not be a red carpet arrivals area at the Kodak this year?!?” Jesus, could you imagine? Then the terrorists really would have won).
Well, the New York Times has unveiled some of the big secrets. Most importantly is the fact that Bruce Vilanch, the one-liner gag writer’s role has expanded from supplying his hyuck! zingers to working on an elaborate script. Stop the fucking presses.
Vilanch hinted at what he called “the grouping” of awards, though he declined to elaborate. Whoa! Sounds like this ain’t your dad’s awards anymore, Dark Knighters!
But, the one thing that will hook all geeks, bloggers and supposed ‘Dark Knight’ “boycotters” (aside from ‘TDK’ being up for 8 awards and the irresistible need to see Heath Ledger win Best Supporting actor and have his family come up on stage): studios will be proving sneak-peeks of new upcoming films.
According to the NYT:
“Producers of the show are even trying to liven up the proceedings by asking studios and others to provide scenes from future films, according to a request sent to various companies last month. The idea, if the clips prove watchable, is for Mr. Jackman to sign off the broadcast with fresh 10-second snippets of two dozen new movies, to run on a split screen with the end credits.”
If the 20-second wet fart of “Land of the Lost” at the Superbowl was enough to drive movie fans to watch, then sneak peaks from what — “Transformers 2”? “Where The Wild Things Are”? “Harry Potter And The Pot of Gold” are probably too enticing for most to pass up.
And all these secretiveness seem to be working as bloggers and writers seem annoyed that the Academy won’t unveil who’s presenting at the awards and people are dying to know. Here’s a hint: usually the person who won last year, presents this year, duh!