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The 83rd Academy Awards took place Sunday night with first-time hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco, and their performance drew negative reactions from critics.
There were heartfelt moments during the Oscars, like when legend Kirk Douglas — who presented the supporting actress Oscar — made the nominees sweat in their cushy seats at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre, but for every memory, there were several odd ones during the three-hour ceremony.
Here’s a list of the hiccups and the more uncomfortable exchanges that took place during the Oscar telecast:
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After the opening video, which featured Hathaway and Franco in scenes from the 10 best picture nominees, the co-hosts appeared onstage. Hathaway looked visibly excited, exclaiming, “Wow, you’re all real! This is actually happening,” to the crowd — or to herself. When Hathaway asked Franco if he was nervous as a best actor nominee, his first, he responded simply, “No, no.” After explaining the prestige of winning an Academy Award and having the honor of being known as an Academy Award winner to everyone, Franco acted confused: “Even my mom?” The banter continued on for a few minutes, but with Hathaway seemingly relaxed and Franco not so much, it garnered mixed reactions.
Watch the monologue below:
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Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis‘ back-and-forth fell flat. Timberlake, who also referenced an earlier joke Douglas made with the delaying of the envelope opening (“No, no, tell me, what?,” Kunis said laughing; “Nevermind,” Timberlake replied jokingly), deadpanned that he was indeed the mysterious Banksy, the one behind nominated documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. Kunis’ response didn’t help either, when she said, “That’s amazing,” which led right into a riff about an animated backdrop.
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Jennifer Hudson introducing performer Gwyneth Paltrow as “country music’s newest star.” Paltrow starred as a washed-up country singer in Country Strong.
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Opening the show after a commercial break, Hathaway said, “There are many cool things about this job. One of them is wearing a dress that does this,” before shaking her hips and making the fringe on her gold Oscar de la Renta dress swish. Then she said, “Sorry, that was a personal moment.”
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Cate Blanchett reacting to The Wolfman clip for best makeup: “That’s gross.” The film won.
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Hathaway declaring it “the young and hip Oscars!” after Oscar winner Melissa Leo let an F-bomb slip during her acceptance speech.
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A replica of the Titanic boat appearing onstage with Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” playing in the background during presenter Tom Hanks’ schpiel about art direction.
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A hologram of Bob Hope projecting at the podium while comedian Billy Crystal, who last hosted the Oscars in 2004, who talked about Hope’s legacy. Hope began hosting the awards show in the 1940s, and led the ceremony a total of 18 times.
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During a commercial break, Hathaway handed out sushi, and Luna bars were taped to the seats of the Oscar nominees.
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The best picture nominees montage was scored to The King’s Speech, while the first video shown at the telecast — before Hathaway and Franco’s Oscar video into Alec Baldwin’s mind — of all 10 films led with The Social Network and ended on Inception. (The score from Network played during the first video.) Inception (four wins), The King’s Speech (four wins) and The Social Network (three wins) were the top three films of the night.
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Hathaway getting flustered during her introduction to presenter Bullock. It “is a big moment for me,” she said.
- The announcer flubbing Oscar presenter Reese Witherspoon‘s name.
Annie Yuan contributed to this report.
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