The Big Night Is Almost Here!

I'm gettin' pretty excited!

The Oscar telecast producer, director and Academy president held a press conference on Friday -- here are a few of the tidbits:


TALKING OSCAR: The 80th annual Academy Awards show promises lots of surprises and less than 3 1/2 hours running time, producer Gil Cates said Friday as he, director Louis J. Horvitz and film academy President Sid Ganis took questions from the press about Sunday's show.

Sitting beneath a clear plastic rain tent that shielded the red carpet and its occupants from drizzly skies, Cates promised a dry Oscar day.

"I'm confident the weather is going to be OK Sunday," he said, ignoring a current forecast to the contrary.

Viewers can also expect a thrill when they tune into the Academy Awards, Cates said, which will reflect Oscar's 80-year history.

Jack Nicholson and Keri Russell have been added to the roster of A-list presenters, he said, and the telecast will open with a 90-second film "that is arguably the most exciting piece of film that has ever opened an Oscar show."

(Courtesy of huffingtonpost.com)

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Wow.....I always look forward to the show opening, that film sounds great. I'll also be interested in Jon Stewart's monologue -- especially since it is an election year, I'm sure he'll throw in a few political zingers as well. Should be interesting, hopefully funny!

The list of scheduled Oscar presenters for this year was also released recently. There are some good names on there, and some real head-scratchers.

The first four are a given.....last years' acting winners always present the same category, opposite gender.

Alan Arkin
Jennifer Hudson -- You go, girl!
Helen Mirren -- lookin' forward to the dress
Forest Whitaker

Here are the rest of the presenter names they have released so far:
(With a few comments from me!)

Amy Adams -- Good, I like her....so does Hollywood right now
Jessica Alba -- Blah. I'll be interested to see her baby bump though.
Cate Blanchett -- Bet she'll wear something cool
Josh Brolin -- He'll bring Diane Lane, I like her
Steve Carell -- Please let him be funny, love him
George Clooney -- Yay! Georgie in a tux always makes the night worthwhile
Penelope Cruz -- Whatever
Miley Cyrus -- Huh? Hannah Montana? OK....ABC/Disney definitely had a hand in that choice
Patrick Dempsey - Go McDreamy, hope he presents w/Amy Adams
Cameron Diaz -- Ugh....bet she wears somethin' kooky
Colin Farrell -- Hope he showers and brushes his hair
Harrison Ford -- Yay! Go Indy -- bet he presents Best Picture
Jennifer Garner -- She almost slipped last time. Like her a lot, so sweet
Tom Hanks -- Another fave, bet he presents something like the "In Memorium" piece
Anne Hathaway -- Like her also.......wanna see her dress
Katherine Heigl -- Yay....like her, can't wait to see her dress and hair
Jonah Hill -- He's funny....hope they let him be funny
Dwayne Johnson -- "The Rock".....blah, blah, blah
Nicole Kidman -- Can't wait to see the dress, hair and baby bump
James McAvoy -- Love him, he's very cool. From "Atonement"
Queen Latifah -- Kinda boring
Seth Rogen -- Yeah, yeah....he's funny. Whatever
Martin Scorsese -- I like to hear him talk
Hilary Swank -- Curious to see what she'll wear
John Travolta -- I heard he's gonna do a Scientology waltz
Denzel Washington -- Love him, very cool
Renee Zellweger -- Another dress I'll be interested in seeing........

Overall, not a bad list.....but where are the funny guys?

We need Will Ferrell and Jack Black.....


Hope they're comin' and they just haven't released their names yet.

They have presented together twice in the past few years.....and both times have been hilarious.

(And one thing we can all agree on....the Oscar show needs more hilarity, that's for sure!)

I just watched a hilarious clip on YouTube of Will and Jack (with a little help from John C. Reilly) performing a musical number together at the Oscars last year.

Check it out.......

Click Here: Will Ferrell & Jack Black Sing At The Oscars Last Year

If you're interested in checking out their other Oscar appearance together (and many more of Oscar's memorable moments)......click the link below to head on over to the official Oscar channel on YouTube.

It's chock full of all sorts of video clips of various Oscar acceptance speeches and fun show moments, etc.

Ya know.....Cuba Gooding's excited speech, the Halle Berry kiss, Jack Palance one-armed push-up.....you get the drift.

As I mentioned, there are 2 clips of Will and Jack singing together.....both very funny.

(Unfortunately, I'm not able to embed them on my blog -- Oscar won't let me...., but you can click the link below to check 'em out.)

It's definitely worth a peek.

Click Here: The Oscar Channel on YouTube

OK.....that's all for this post.

If you're interested, I will be posting my official Oscar predictions on Sunday morning.

Now....I gotta go work on my costume for our big party tomorrow night --

I'll be posting a complete Oscar wrap-up (including pix from our shindig) on Monday.

Later,

Cagey :)