2008 Seems To Have Been The Year Of The Australians – And Now Jack Hugh Jackman Tops It Off As the Oscars’ Host
By Mary Montserrat-Howlett
HOLLYWOOD (RushPRnews) 02/05/09–Australians are certainly no strangers to the red carpet, and are once again making a big hit at this year’s Oscars. Back in 2002, Nicole Kidman became the first Australian to ever win a Best Actress Oscar Award for her role as Virgina Woolfe in “The Hoursâ€. Cate Blanchett won Best Supporting Actress for “The Aviator†in 2005. Heath Ledger was nominated for Best Actor in “Brokeback Mountain” in 2006, and is now up for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of The Joker in “The Dark Knightâ€. This makes Ledger the seventh person in the Academy’s history to receive a posthumous nomination for an Acting Oscar.
Australia and “Australiaâ€â€™s very own Hugh Jackman, will be playing host for the big event. He will be the first Australian to ever host the Oscars. Seeing Jackman as the evening’s leading man should be an interesting twist on the usual stand-up comics that audiences have been used to.
Is this Jackman’s chance to show his funny side or is this a different take on the Oscars altogether? Oscar hosting can be a pretty rough place to test out new jokes, especially when you know one sixth of the planet is watching you. Jackman certainly has the charm, but will it feel the same without the quirky jabs of Billy Crystal; the outrageous, remarks of Whoopi Goldberg or the witty wisecracks of Ellen Degeneres? Not to mention the stick-it-to’ em honesty of Jon Stewart: “Even Norbit got a nomination, which I think is great. Too often the Academy ignores movies that aren’t good.”
Though “Australia†has received one nomination for Best Costume Designer, the film went overlooked in other categories. Neither Jackman nor Kidman received any Acting nominations. Director Baz Luhrmann also didn’t receive any nominations for Best Picture or Directing. “Australia†was a project true to the director’s heart. Luhrmann has said that the making of the film was a journey of self-discovery.