James Franco was a big Oscar fail, but I think that instead of sucking it up and putting on his game face like little miss try-hard he got really baked and just coasted through. (Did anyone catch the pre-Oscar interview with Franco backstage on ABC? He was playing with words for no reason and said “G – uess, Ge-hesss.”)
Franco knew that the material sucked, he probably tried to talk to producers about it, or maybe they sprung that sh*t on him at the last minute and he was too busy to do anything but show up and deliver the very bad lines they gave him. I still like Franco. I know that he’s all “I went to film school” at every moment, but he did, and education is important to him. I find him kind of quirky and refreshing. It’s not Franco and Hathaway’s fault that the Oscars blew, and if Franco faked a sunny disposition (as he’s more than capable of doing, even as stoned as he was) it would have been just as boring and hard to sit through.
US Weekly is reporting that Franco was scheduled to attend an after party in his honor, but he didn’t show up and just went straight back to New York, tweeting “Goodbye LA” and “It was fun! Time to head back to class.”
After the star severely disappointed many fans and critics as co-host of Sunday’s Academy Awards, Franco bailed on his own after-party, held at L.A.’s Supper Club.
While a few stars — Seth Rogen, Kevin Spacey and stars of the CW’s 90210 showed up — Franco, 32, was a no-show, a source confirms to UsMagazine.com.
The Supper Club bash, the insider adds, was a “bust.”
Indeed, Franco immediately boarded an NYC-bound plane following the ceremony — posting pics from his brand-new Twitter account.
“Goodbye L.A.,” he scrawled across one pic, in which the 127 Hours actor, still in a tux, sips what appears to be a Bloody Mary. “It was fun! Time to head back to class.”
(The multitasking hunk is famously a student at both NYU and Yale.)
Sniped The Hollywood Reporter of Franco’s stint co-hosting alongside Anne Hathaway: “The 83rd Annual Academy Awards will likely be remembered as the night James Franco couldn’t act like a host…Anne Hathaway at least tried to sing and dance and preen along to the goings on, but Franco seemed distant, uninterested and content to keep his Cheshire-cat-meets-smug smile on display throughout.”
Complaining that Franco and Hathaway suffered from an “absence of chemistry,” the New York Times said: “Mr. Franco looked a little distracted and even blase — not surprisingly for a multiplatform performer-writer who is working on an English doctorate at Yale.”
[From US Weekly]
People said that John Stewart bombed at the Oscars back when he did a highly competent job in 2006. If the show sucks, the tendency is to blame the host even when they’re just working with the script they’re given. Yes Franco was like “whatever” and like he didn’t want to be there, but consider the terrible lines he had to deliver:
“It was a good year for lesbians… ‘The Kids are All Right’ – Lesbians, ‘Black Swan’ – Dancing Lesbians, ‘Toy Story 3′ – Where’s the dad?”
“I am six degrees of Kevin Bacon separated from our next presenters. Look it up on the Internet.”
On the movie titles: “Winter’s Bone, Rabbit Hole, How to Train Your Dragon, that’s disgusting.”
Do you think Franco wrote any of that crap? Of course he didn’t. No one under 50 could write those stupid jokes. It’s a shame that the Oscars tried to pick on 2009 host Hugh Jackman when that was just about the only recent year that they tried to mix it up and were even remotely entertaining. Jackman even earned high ratings for them and reportedly wasn’t invited back.
Franco put up a lot of backstage videos and photos from the Oscars ceremony on his Twitter account if you’re interested. The Oscar people probably put him up to it as part of his hosting duties, thinking it was “young” and “hip” to Tweet. They obviously have no clue.
Image above via Franco’s twitter. Other images from the Independent Spirit Awards on 2/26/11 thanks to PRPhotos
God-what a tool.
i love his grandpa sweater.
I liked him up until yesterday. What a narcissist.
You’re kidding, right? It may not have been his or Hathaway’s fault that the material was ridiculous, but the fact that he didn’t put on a gameface says everything about him. He gave up less than half an hour in and was actively being an asshole. I know, James, this is beneath you… thanks for reminding us over and over again. He could’ve done a lot better if he’d just tried. I hate that Hathaway, who definitely was overcompensating, is going to be hung out to dry because the sucking was not her fault (and wouldn’t have been Franco’s if he’d been game). This was lame and he came off like a petulant child.
gross
I didn’t watch the Oscars. I don’t think I have ever watched the Oscars. However, James Franco can do no wrong in my eyes. LOVE him to pieces 🙂
I don’t know much about him, but from what I’ve seen in the last while he is passing off pretension and elitism as “devil-may-care”. You cannot be part of hollywood and be above it all. It will not work for him because if you are using the machine you must let the machine use you, at least a little. He should have cleaned himself up more for his duties, and he should have attended his party. If he wants to be “above it all” and so much better than everyone else, maybe he should stick to the stage. Not everyone in theatre is pompous, but he would fit in with the “I studied and suffered for my art” crowd in those circles.
I still like him. I admire the fact that he’s still pursuing his education.
I hear you Porscha, and I get that side of it. I just got the impression that he really hated the material and was trying to deal with it and couldn’t for whatever reason. Some people are going to call him a douche for it and that’s probably deserved. In the past the hosts have been blamed for the show sucking when it’s entirely the Academy’s fault. No matter what Franco did he couldn’t have made that material watchable and I think on some level he knew that. I get what you’re trying to say about how he gave up though and that’s a valid point.
-also edit- Consider if you had a job as an actor to carry that long bloated show on some of the really awful jokes that he was given. You may ask why they don’t change it up, get rebuffed and then be left up sh*ts creek without a paddle. So you just kind of drift there. That’s what I saw last night, while Hathaway was frantically trying to bail out the sinking ship – to continue that bad analogy.
It seems he got in over his head and Anne could not throw him a life-line which ended up bad for both. He has to feel like crap today. Pats on the head and this too shall pass.
hate him. he wasn’t even professional enough to pretend. PRETENDING IS HIS JOB!! of course james franco is way too cool to make an effort or go to parties. ugh.
You are giving him way too much credit. This guys is a douche. He was an ass during the ABC pre show and he was an ass throughout the Oscar show. So what if he was given bad lines. Anne was too and she still put on a brave face and did the best she could. Even if she was a try-hard, at least she tried.
I think I posted earlier that I tuned in and out to watch Big Love on HBO. Tuned back in for the final big awards and PS-22 from Staten Island, NY. Those kids made Franco look like an unprofessional ingrate. (Check out PS-22 on YouTube, you’ll thank me later).
ok… I’m confused…
I actually thought they did a really good job.
Sure as hell’s better than another lame Billy Crystal show.
For some reason, this doesn’t surprise me.
I could tell he was really bored whereas Anne Hathaway tried really hard to lift the spirits up. It was tedious nonetheless, but I still love the two (as actors). Plus, I agree, it’s not their fault that their lines were shitty. If they delivered the same lines like how they did in the Oscar promos, it probably would’ve been better.
I liked both of the hosts but I felt like no comedy was written for the show at all. I missed jokes.
My all time favorite host was Hugh Jackman. He was just awesome. With his cardboard setpieces and everything 😀
The May 1 parade in front of the soviet politburo was less poorly scripted than this tedious show. The only thing more boring would have required one to watch a random selection of the nominated movies.
Yes, the ABC pre-interview was so strange. It quickly became background white-noise gibberish to me. I bet Ricky Gervais had a good laugh last night and gave himself a pat on the shoulder.
I just read his Grandmother partied til 2am at the after-parties! At least she enjoyed it.
James Franco is always the laid back, “stoner” guy. That’s who they hired and that’s who they got.
He wasn’t acting in character, he was hosting as himself. Poor choice? Probably. But not surprising.
He is one of those people who thinks so highly of himself, but doesn’t have the goods to back it up.
Hathaway is a child star and is a natural performer / talent, this was right up her alley she can do it all and shes knows it, this girls around for the long haul and will soon be up there accepting her own best actress oscar very soon im sure.
Francos an intellect, a ‘real’ actor not a comedian or a ham, this was no fault of his, the suits or atleast the gays in charge over there should’ve seen this duo wasn’t going to click on stage for such a Huge Live production. The producers are supposed to be the seasoned pros and are supposed to instinctually know whats going to work and what isn’t that’s their job after doing this year after year but even an unseasoned pro would know this duo wasn’t going to be right for this gig. Anne and James are each individual accomplished talents in their own right i don’t think this one thing should take away from that at all.
Yeah, CB, I get your point. It was crappy material. However, it always is a relatively lame (jokewise) show. I find it hard to believe that they just sprung bad material on him before shoving him onstage in a tux. He knew what the job was, and he should have done it. That’s just professionalism. It bugs me that because the writing was poor, he seemed to get the idea that he didn’t have to actively participate anymore. GH has horrible writing and he was game for that, too, so I don’t understand why he couldn’t – for three hours – suck it up and pretend until it was over. He just came across as smug and bored to me, and I think that’s really tacky in a professional venue. I do understand what you mean about the material, but in my mind, you play the game until it’s over.
I too think he knew that the Oscars were going to suck anyways and he probably hated his lines, so he didnt even bother to hide how bored he was. Still, he was acting very weird last night, maybe something happened, and he got very frustrated with the whole thing. Idk, I am only speculating.
Fact is I still love him!
When are they going to realize that this ass-kissing approach is extremely boring? Gervais making inappropriate comments is so much more entertaining!
I didn’t think it was that bad..I got a few laughs. It was not boring, at least not to me.
“and education is important to him.”
No, it’s absolutely not. It is not possible for him to do all the random crap he’s doing and still focus on any way on all the courses he’s enrolled in. People who are in programs with him often say he coasts through classes and barely passes.
His entire goal in life is simply to be “that guy.” Last night really made me hate him. Not to mention he was high out of his mind. He didn’t even deny it when someone asked him this morning. Thinkng your material is sub par does not allow you to get baked while on the job.
it’s JON STEWART! not john… can you please correct that, CB? thanks 🙂
James Franco is a total douche. He is unprofessional (he looked high). He came across as a bratty child. If he is so unhappy and hated the show he can return his paycheck. He literally just phoned it in. I have no respect for him. I was nonchalant to him before but now I am disgusted by his behavior and overall attitude.
@Kaboom
“The May 1 parade in front of the soviet politburo was less poorly scripted than this tedious show.”
Yes, and the punishment for both is one year in a gulag.
I don’t like him at all
““and education is important to him.”
No, it’s absolutely not. It is not possible for him to do all the random crap he’s doing and still focus on any way on all the courses he’s enrolled in. People who are in programs with him often say he coasts through classes and barely passes.”
**************
@ Jane,
Oh gosh. I’m glad someone finally said it! I, and I’m sure anyone else dead serious about their education, had to work full tilt to get their degrees. It was largely a 24/7 gig. There is NO way he could be bringing his all to the work. I betya he IS coasting on his celebrity name. He’s a mere “wannabe” and I despise people who pretend to be something they’re not. He’s merely ‘acting’ like a PhD student.
And, though I only watched 10 minutes of the show, it sounds as if he was either frozen with terror or just completely unprofessional. In any profession, there are gag inducing times where you just suck it up and do your job.
I didn’t know who he was until the Oscar promos started and I only watched his pre-ceremony interview, and to me he came across either drunk or stoned. What a shame. Seems the ALL the awards producers are trying too hard. Stick with what you know works.
“No one under 50 could write those stupid jokes.”
????
Really? Cuz in our house, everyone had the opposite reaction. We’re all old enough to remember when the oscars were actually entertaining and far more unscripted than they’ve been the last decade. We had an oscar party & everyone was throwing popcorn at the tv and yelling “bring back billy crystal”. I haven’t been able to stand the oscars for years, they’re such a drag.
Someone posted a blast at Billy Crystal. I think that’s funny because when the man came out on stage he got a standing O and when he left the vibe was’
“Where are you going man? Billy! Please! Rescue us! BILLYY!!!”
Poor l’il Anne. t’sok sis. That’s a rough gig and as far as I’m concerned. You can do no wrong.
No loss. After boring everybody to death at the Oscars he probably would have bored them to death at his party.
The last good year was hugh jackman in 09. Last nights were the worst EVER! I think that Anne tried her best and James Franco was a douche for giving up. Mr. I went to film school is way up his own ass. Poor Anne couldnt save it. The writers are partly to blame but he just gave up. Its his job to keep the show going. Douche
He sucked as host. If the lines were so bad he should have done some ad-libbing like a more professional person would have. Instead he sulked his way through the 3 hours and left it up to Hathaway to carry the load. What an asshole. I hope his attitude hurts his career. It would serve him right and he would fall off the pedestal he has put himself on.
Did anyone see the Pre-Oscar interview with Anne and James? The interviewer was reading Ricky Gervais’ twitter aloud to them. James said something like “Oh, Ricky bombed and he’s giving us jokes?” Then, he took the phone and starting reading more. Making another comment like “That’s funny.” He was an ass during the interview. Of course, he thinks he is above Ricky Gervais. Ricky could mop the floor with that pompous stoner twit.
Anne was wonderful. James is a narcissistic tool who couldn’t successfully host a bake off, let alone the oscars.
So what, his lines sucked. The material sucked. But it’s still an honor to be nominated, and an honor to be asked to host. He could have at least pretended he gave a shit to be there. 127 hours wasn’t even that great a performance. I liked Franco and his pretenses just fine until I watched the awards last night. Now he’s just a douche.
It was soooo painful to watch.. the two of them. I just wanted to crawl under a pillow and die
Until Billy Crystal showed his face.. AHHHHH how I long for the time when he hosted the show.
Woe is James. *eye roll*
Hey, we all have to do crap we don’t want to do at our respective jobs from time to time, and the responsible people just suck it up and get their work done, while the self-important turds get their panties in a wad and publicly act like dicks.
Yeah, the writing sucked. But James undoubtedly made more money for this one gig than my bank account will see in years, so I won’t be weeping for his suffering any time soon. At least Anne had the decency to try and make the best of it, and, you know, DO HER DAMN JOB.
I was studying for a test while watching the Oscars on a huge projector screen at a super duper cafe downtown, and I have to say I really enjoyed them!
I don’t normally watch the Academy Awards, and I would have watched them at home except my mom was being all crazy-face.
I thought he and Ann were hilarious, especially the montage at the beginning. They were pretty good and the show was good, and yeah ok, James def seemed a little wonky during the latter half of the show but that doesnt mean they were boring.
So I’m team Oscar! Good job.
yikes, I didn’t think they did that bad. The inception skit was funny as was him coming out in drag.
I looked at the stuff he posted on Twitter during the Oscars and it was funny. I liked the one where he put his phone in his pocket and left it on.
I liked it. As hosts, I liked Anne way better. James wasnt there, like, literally. But at the end the real thing was the winners, who deserved it, who dint.
I give kudos to Anne who came off as totally uncomfortable around him and compensated by being ultra bubbly. If it wasn’t for her overdoing the sweetness, the show would have been much worse.
As much as I adore Franco, he looked wooden, uninterested and frozen most of the show while Hathaway was trying way too hard… Well, the show was poorly scripted and maybe I shouldn’t be too harsh on these two. I actually loved the opening montage, but after that, it started falling apart. Franco could have put on a little smile and tried to enliven the show. The show itself and the winners except a few made the 83rd Oscars probably the worst in decades. Bring back Billy Crystal. Or even Kirk Douglas to add some thrills.
I thought they were both funny and did what they could with what they were given. I laughed. That’s all I care about.
Love Billy Crystal. Bring him back!
Ann rocked because she really tried. For Franco to bail out on his own party because he was bummed is being a baby. We know men can be a baby, while women suck it up and do what we have to do, like Ann.
Totally agree, Jayna. Big baby.
I only watched the last half hour, it was pretty boring. No one mentioned the mistake Jeff Bridges made when he announced “The Kids are Already” instead of the “The kids are alright”. I liked when they gave Billy Crystal a standing ovation, they seriously should consider bringing him back.
They should have done what Chris Nolan did: replace him with Joseph Gorden-Levitt. Wonder if he regrets that? Interesting that they used Inception’s premise for their opener. Betcha it crossed his mind (it sure did mine).
I still think he is totally spunky. Not the best hosting job – I missed Hugh, but like Billy Crystal. It seemed less formal or something
honestly I think the poor guy was scared shitless, both by the hosting and being nominated. Did anyone notice how as soon as he lost he completely loosened up and started to smile? I feel like it was one of those “shyness coming off as arrogance” situations, but replace the shy and arrogant with fear and douchiness. He probably knew his material was crap and spent all day ruminating about how 40 million people were going to watch him embarrass himself. Professional? No. But still understandable.
I thought Franco was basically catatonic, with an attitude. It was inexplicable. He did get paid for that gig, no? And he’s an actor. So…act! Just don’t get it.
I loved Billy Crystal as a host and, of course, the old Bob Hope shows when I was a kid (OMG – SO dating myself!). They were classy.
The Academy should find someone great to do it every year and bring back that tradition. I’m thinking Steve Carell. Didn’t he do it once? Or how about Tina Fey? Or the TWO of them? That could be rocking.
CB, you’re giving him waaay too much credit. Douche all the way.
I feel like he didn’t even try. Yeah the material was crap, but be a pro, do the job you signed up for, and make the best of it.
I feel bad for Anne, she really tried and because of his lack of anything, it made her seem over the top.
Complete douche.
I haven’t had a chance to look at the Academy’s payroll, but I’m sure this pseudo-intellectual got *PAID*. And he still couldn’t be a better host.
It doesn’t matter that the writing sucked. He was an ass.
CB, unless you have a vested interest or an insatiable crush on Mr. Franco, there is truly no reason to defend him. He sucked. And we was a dick about it.
Eta: I meant “he” not “we”.
Sorry!
He was unprofessional (from what I read, I didn’t watch the show), but I still like him. He’s odd and cute. And LA sucks, so I can’t say that I blame him.
I do feel bad for Anne Hathaway, who killed it with her fashion, if not with her apparently boring personality. She looked awesome at all times, from the photos I saw.
I gotta disagree here — Franco signed up for the job (of course, saying in his pretentious “film school” way that it was “performance art), got paid a pretty penny to do it (I’m sure) and knows what the writing on the Oscars consists of, yet he couldn’t even be bothered to put on his “game face” for his “performance art.” The material might have sucked, but his delivery was 100% his fault. He ran away rather than face the critics in person.
Hathaway, OTOH, only came off as “trying too hard” because she was trying to compensate for Franco not trying AT ALL. I think she did a great job considering who & what she had to work with — and she looked fabulous in all her gowns. I’m not even a Hathaway fan, but I definitely warmed up to her last night for her effort. She came across as charming (where I’ve usually seen her as blah).
Also got to disagree the Oscars were hard to sit through — it wasn’t exciting or glamorous, but at least it moved more quickly than usual, clocking in almost on time instead of an 1 overtime.
Also, (OT) I will bet a $1000 that Franco has a vitamin D deficiency. I’ve seen vampires with better coloring.
eta: also read (on deadline, I think), that Hathaway came out during the commercial breaks to talk with the audience & that most people actually there had a great time mainly because of her (which we didn’t get to see on tv). That is what a host does — not just “quit” like Franco did. Again: he knew what kind of material gets written for this show, but once he agreed to do it, he should have honored that agreement. What he did, instead, was act like a spoiled brat. I’m cutting him no slack for that.
They should have had RDJ and Jude Law to be the hosts. They wou;d have rocked it. The material was bad but I don’t honestly think that was the problem … the problem was Franco was all wooden and laid back and looking high … Anne was fake to the point of nausea. I only watched bits and pieces cause I had a few moves I was rooting for else I’d have tuned off hours before it ended.
The two had no chemistry together and were too young to do it properly. You need seasoned comediens to do it not two pretty actors who know how to do their job when a director is there telling them what to do but have no clue when they are alone and the spotlight is on them.
Kirk Douglas and a few of the actors who won stole the show …. I was bored when the hosts came back on …
I really like him even more now.
A professional sucks it up and does the job they’re paid for, even if they don’t like the material or the people they’re working with. That’s what we all do, until you find something better. You don’t check out and make everyone miserable. So, Franco was hired to do a job and if he had had any professionalism and maturity, he would have declined because he clearly wasn’t capable or desiring of hosting, OR, he would have done SOMEthing to elevate the material, or be gracious, or kind or SOMEthing…be a HOST while he was there. He’s an English studies type? Look up the meaning of “to host”. I’m flabbergasted that he does’t seem to realize what a poor impression he made, and that other people think he did fine. He was AWFUL.
Poor Anne. She wasn’t at her best, but she did way better than he did anyway. She’ll recover from though.
I felt bad that Anne had to overcompensate for poor writing, poor producing and lack of a partner.
Franco is a good actor. As a student, I don’t know because when I completed my doctoral, it was all about school. I couldn’t do much else.
I watched about all of 15 minutes. It was awful.
I think Anne would have been better paired with Jake G. He would’ve pulled his weight and then some.
As for next year, dvr again, watch the only entertaining moments that occur.
RDJ would be a great host but he would never do do it.
I truly thought that James was pretty good and I wasn’t bored with the broadcast for once. Comedians can be a but much for my tastes I suppose. I thought the two of them had very good chemistry. He seems like a decent guy, ppl are so quick to call guys “douches”. WTF??
@The_Porscha
100% you said it!
I wouldn’t have cared that they sucked, because the oscars sucked full stop.
but i hate people who dont try.
anne AT LEAST tried, and in my books, she deserves a clap for trying.
but franco, is like “ohhh im an artist” blah blah dude, you were in spiderman.
seriously, lighten up a*hole, the guy thinks he is clint eastwood or something, and clint still cracks jokes and stuff.
he is the same as justin timberlake, who thinks WAY too highly of himself.
its like those actresses i.e reese witherspoon, or halle berry, who think they are too good, honey you aint meryl streep, and even meryl streep does silly movies for the fun of it.
now natalie portman will join that “elite” club of bleh actresses, overrated.
seriously blackswan wasnt that amazing.
I still don’t get what the problem is. James Franco ALWAYS comes off as stoned and distant. That’s him. If that’s not what they wanted, why did they hire him? The material is pretty much always complete crap, the writers for this thing always suck. But to blame him for sounding and acting the way he pretty much always does in front of a camera is stupid. Why set someone up to fail like that?
i think James was nervous. the guy was nominated for an oscar – his first nomination – so maybe he had other things on his mind. and he’s been working the award show circuit for the past three months. he was probably burnt out.
I used to like him. But now: I’ll just say that I never knew a person could get their head so far up their own ass.