Franco, Hathaway to host Oscars

“James Franco and Anne Hathaway personify the next generation of Hollywood icons— fresh, exciting and multi-talented. We hope to create an Oscar broadcast that will both showcase their incredible talents and entertain the world on February 27,” said Cohen and Mischer. “We are completely thrilled that James and Anne will be joining forces with our brilliant creative team to do just that.”

Eh. I suppose this confirms that Oscar wants that youth demographic no matter what. They're not bad choices to host the Oscars, but they don't exactly have me waiting with baited breath for February 27 to come round, either. Oscar night is something I both anticipate and dread: the former because it's the Oscars, after all; the latter because it's always so damn long and pretentious and self-indulgent. At this point they could get Barack Obama and Betty White to host the Oscars and I'd still feel the same way.

Also:
- David Zucker remembers the late Leslie Nielsen. (THR)
- The ballet community has not exactly embraced Darren Aronofsky's new film Black Swan. (Toronto Sun)
- A look at how evolving tastes in film over the years has affected the ratings system. (LATimes)
- Speaking of ratings, there's an online petition up in support of changing Blue Valentine's NC-17 rating. (The Petition Site)
- On filmmakers and their websites. (NYTimes)
- An interview with the last surviving member of the cast of Sunset Boulevard, Nancy Olson Livingston. (LATimes)
- Did you know Marlon Brando directed a Western called One-Eyed Jacks? (Blogdanovich)