Can Adam Shankman Make The Oscars Fun?
Filed under: Awards, Oscar Watch
Does a year go by where we don't hear news about some grand plan to bring the viewers back to The Oscars? It's like it's part of the yearly plan now: Step 1: Try to make the Academy Awards relevant. After the increase in nominees, it looks like the peeps in charge are sticking with the change from comedian stand-up to showman fervor. The Associated Press is reporting that Adam Shankman, the man behind the Hairspray remake is going to produce the affair with former 20th Century Fox boss Bill Mechanic. The former will bring the pomp and circumstance, of course, while the latter brings the management and producing."Oscar organizers are trying to put more razzle-dazzle into the show. Instead of the usual standup comic, the Oscars called on song-and-dance man Hugh Jackman to host the show this past year." In the team's press release, Shankman noted how "The last time I was on the show was as a dancer, and to come back as a producer is such an unbelievable honor." (He was on-stage in '89.) Also, Canoe quotes the director as saying: "I personally want to kick up the funny a little bit. Movies are an invaluable source of entertainment during a very tough time in our country's history. Since entertainment is what we're selling, we want to celebrate that aspect and not just have it be that we're sitting around congratulating ourselves and patting ourselves on the back."
They're always trying to make it fun. That's nothing new. But do you think he can? Is the song and dance man the way to really cut through the boring parts of the Oscars?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-21-2009 @ 11:41AM
Kaycee said...
No, he can't even make So You Think You Can Dance fun.
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10-21-2009 @ 12:58PM
Matt S said...
Well, he's a likeable guy, in my opinion, I dunno. Personally, I think the Oscars will not truly return to it's roots until more films that strive to be art, as well as entertainment are released again. Now adays it seems most films are either art or they're entertainment. As a result, a ton of artsy types hate the mindlessly entertaining films and the mindless entertainees think the art films are pretentious and boring. I have a problem with both, truthfully. I hate a film without a brain, 99% of the summer fare makes me wanna barf, but many art films, however thoughtful and skillfully crafted, are incredibly boring and act as if doing something exciting is below them. Now I'm not saying that there isn't a time and place for those types of films, but back when the Oscars were exciting it wasn't either of those types of films winning usually. The answer isn't to add five more best picture categories either, just so you can have Star Trek get nominated (by the way Star Trek getting nominated would be asinine, however entertaining and kinda-not-dumb it is, it doesn't deserve an Oscar nod one bit). The changes that need to be made starts with the film.
Rant over
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