Oscar: The Morning After

Interesting Oscar telecast last night. First, congratulations to The King's Speech on its four awards, including Original Screenplay, Director, Actor and Picture. It's nice to actually have a film worthy of being called Best Picture again. I think the Academy forgot what that title meant the last couple of years.

No real surprises as far as awards. Now the program, that's a different story. Some observations below.

Can't say I was thrilled at the prospect of James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosting this year's show. Unfortunately, neither did anything last night to change that. Franco looked bored throughout the broadcast and Hathaway gushed over every presenter she introduced like some starstruck teenager. This isn't the MTV Movie Awards or the Golden Globes, it's the Academy Awards. Is it so hard to find an experienced host that can actually engage and entertain an audience? More on that in a second.

Nothing against Kirk Douglas, but was he really the best choice to present Best Supporting Actress? Where was last year's Best Supporting Actor, Christoph Waltz? Probably stuck in security behind last year's Best Supporting Actress, Monique.

It's obvious from his standing ovation that the Academy still loves Bill Crystal. I was seriously hoping he was going to do an intervention and take over hosting the show. He's still the best they've ever had. No one knows how to engage and entertain an audience like Crystal. Billy, other than 700 Sundays, I don't know what you've been doing for the past decade, but it's time for a comeback.

Was it really appropriate for Hilary Swank to assist Kathryn Bigelow in presenting Best Director? If Bigelow didn't want to speak, at least have another director present the award.

The Irving G. Thalberg Award is presented from time to time to individuals who have consistently maintained a high quality of film production over their careers. Past winners include Cecil B. DeMille, Walt Disney, Bill Wilder, Robert Wise and Steven Spielberg. This year's recipient was Francis Ford Coppola. This award is a big deal and deserves to be a an important part of the broadcast, not quickly referenced in highlights from a dinner three months ago.

One more plea, Billy. The Oscars need you. We need to party like it's 1991.