By Anna Geannopoulos
I’m sorry James Franco, but you sucked at hosting the Oscars. Fortunately for you, and the rest of America, Anne Hathaway saved the night. Not only did her hair and makeup change eight times during the night (including the red carpet look) but she didn’t appear, shall we say, out of it the whole time.
You failed to understand that the Oscars are the biggest spectacle Los Angeles gives us all year. If you think it’s all about appreciating cinematography and having a good time you’re ignoring the true heart of the Oscars. It is a ritual where perfect movie stars parade around for us peasants to harshly judge.
Hathaway on the other hand accepted this challenge. She was poised and entertaining despite the fact that Franco looked like he wanted to kill her after each teleprompted exchange. Perhaps Franco was incredibly nervous due to his Oscar nomination for best actor, or maybe this is just one single thing that he cannot do well. Either way I’m glad Hathaway was there to pick up the slack.
To be fair, anyone attending the Oscars is under a lot of pressure. They have to look good for a very long period of time—red carpet, the entire three-hour ceremony, the countless after parties and press junctures that follow. That’s a long time to go without scratching your nose or making a less than perfect face.
Additionally, our hosts this year were awarded the task of attracting a younger demographic. But, let’s be real here, no one expects the Oscar hosts to be that entertaining.
What we really care about is what everyone is wearing. Although somehow fashion police have attempted to make the standard male tux interesting, the stars of this fashion marathon are the beautiful actresses and their hopefully beautiful ensembles.
I don’t even remember what Franco was wearing but on stage Hathaway’s costume changes were a fun way to keep the visual interesting. Not all eight looks were flawless, but overall her styling was well put together. My favorite look of hers was hands down her red-burgundy silk chiffon gown by Atelier Versace.
On the red carpet my top three picks for best dressed were:
- Mila Kunis in a stunning pale lavender Elie Saab dress
- Gwyneth Paltrow in the form fitting silver Calvin Klein dress
- Cate Blanchett’s Givenchy haute couture structured gown
Despite mixed reviews on the subject, for me, Blanchett’s dress was the perfect mixture of structure and flow. If you don’t find it beautiful you can at least admit that it’s interesting and something fresh to look at.
Of course everyone feels differently when it comes to fashion and there is no way for celebrities to please everyone visually. What actors and actresses are able to do is win us over with their personalities, however groomed by PR they may be.
I really like James Franco, but as a host he let me down. Like Best Supporting Actress nominee Helena Bonham Carter, Franco clearly did not want to be at the ceremony. But Carter didn’t agree to host. The whole time Franco was on stage I cringed for Hathaway and wished she would just turn to him and say, “You’re getting paid, honey. Smile like you mean it.”
