Brett Ratner: Oscar Producer
Oy.
Someone mentioned that he wanted the job a year or two ago and I laughed out loud. Impossible.
I was wrong.
And I would love to be wrong about how desperate and sad this choice is. Ratner’s made money… but he has never made a film that really rates an invitation to attend the Oscars, much less to be a nominee. Condon had. Bruce Cohen had. Bill Mechanic had.
The Academy has become like your grandparents, trying to be hip by buying you a really expensive Walkman… today.
What possible argument can The Academy make that this is a good idea? It’s not like they can’t get celebrities to show up. It’s not like he’d ever produced live television before. It’s not like his work has shown a great and abiding passion for the magic of the movies.
He always seems like a nice enough guy. He manages up as well as any human alive. But this job is a lot like him coming in as a last minute replacement on X-Men 3. There’s not very much room to maneuver. So the shows end up being defined by the 20% of so that the show’s producer really control. One hopes for passionate inspiration in those moments. But you know, The Academy has had photo booths backstage for a couple of years already. What else do we see coming from Brett Ratner.
Last year, we saw a reach for something cool with young hosts that was a bust. Does Ratner know someone we don’t? I tweeted earlier today that it would be Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller… which is unlikely. But Stiller and Vince Vaughn and Salma Hayek? Maybe.
Worst of all for The Academy, Ratner will be the butt of jokes from now until the the show ends next February… and we’ll wait for the EXCLUSIVE about him not producing again.
You know, when I was a child, I worked on a TV show and last minute guest hosts were booked… and everyone on the show HATED the idea because they assumed the pair were showbiz hacks. Turned out to be one of the best shows of the season because the new guests were game and were slick professionals. One never knows.
I pray that Ratner stays cool and collected and understated and shocks the hell out of everyone… even if everyone is not going to include an expanded audience because the director of Rush Hour is producing the show.
I guess I understand why they want to find some youth to change an aging show. How many times did JJ Abrams and Judd Apatow say “no” before they went to Ratner?
Actually what this is a lot like, desperation-wise, is the Oscars hiring Allan Carr. And we know how well that went.
I see a difference between knowing what’s good for the show and being a good director. The show has sucked for 11 years. You know where I am going with this but maybe Ratner, has figured something out, and that will lead to an entertaining show. Seriously, you’re whole dismissing of him completely ignores your love of the RAINBOW OSCARS a few years back, and how awful they were. If you can embrace that tripe sir. You should be able to give RATNER A CHANCE!
RATNER RULES.
Hope it’s chockful of HOT CHICKS and like the Entourage version of the Oscars, with James Toback and James Caan hosting, and special presenters Warren Beatty, Peter Bogdanovich, Chris Tucker, Woody Harrelson, Michael Bay, Peter Berg, Jerry Ferrara, Billy Walsh, Noah Emmerich, Milla Jovovich and the 2011 Hawaiian Tropic Girls.
My initial reaction was to scoff, but he actually has enough respect for old Hollywood traditions that I think he might be able to pull it off.
It’s not as though any of the changes made the last few years have worked. If he can give it more of the vibe it used to have in the ’70s, bring back the actual glamour and jettison all the horrible ideas like holographic Bob Hopes and endless smartass “insert the celebrity in a film clip” segments, it just might work.
Suggestion #1: Fire Bruce Vilanch and make sure you keep Chuck Workman away from the clip reels.
Agree with everything DP is saying. Just the fact that Lex is in love with this guy makes it worse. Wish Ratner would shave. He gives all us cool guys with great beards a bad name.
There is no magic person that they could hire that would make the show not suck. It is always going to be a bit of a chore to sit through. Everything is just rearranging the same chairs on the same deck. We remember the long ago shows as much better, because we have suppressed and forgotten all the bad, or boring bits. Our memory contains only the highlight reel of the show. In reality it was just as bad then as it is today.
I feel like the show is always going to be too long and contain stuff I hate no matter who produces it. If they hired a filmmaker I love to produce it, I wouldn’t get too excited because I’m not convinced it would lead to a great show. I’m also not convinced Ratner’s involvement means it’s going to be all that much worse than any other show.
Maybe (MAYBE) Ratner will have Lalo Schifrin as the composer/conducter for the live orchestra at the oscar telecast.
Just saying, bringing in the Schif to score his movies is by far the best thing Ratner has ever done with anything ever.
I don’t get it. Every year people always complain about how long the Oscars are. What’s your problem?!? I look forward to the Oscars every year, its a fun celebration of the movies that happens once a year. So what if it takes three hours, I’d watch it if it was six hours- and probably enjoy it more! The way people complain, you’d think they want a one minute television interruption, read off the names, then back to your regularly scheduled program. I don’t have any strong feelings one way or the other about Ratner, just so long as he doesn’t rush it! (get it? ‘rush’ it? hello?)
Bashing on Ratner is fine, but this announcement wouldn’t have been any more promising if you put Christopher Nolan or Rodrigo Garcia in his place.
The telecast is only going to get worse because you have way too many organizations giving out awards now, and consensus picks are welded into place weeks before the Academy’s nominees are even announced. By the time the show reaches the airwaves, everybody is so freaking sick of reading about every possible outcome that nothing truly surprising will actually happen.
I’d like the In Memorium to quit cutting out actors for agents.
I’d like Billy Crystal to have another crack.
When has the Academy not been like my grandparents?
Maybe Rattner can also consult with Lucas on the bonus featurettes of his precious Blu-Rays.
No Oscar broadcast has ever been in the ballpark of deserving an Oscar, so I can’t hold that against Ratner.
You know that moment in a movie when everything seems lost? The heroes have no more options, evil is about to win, and some idealistic fool utters up the most threadbare, insane, implausible solution. And someone replies
“That’s so crazy…. it might just work”
I have a feeling that line was uttered after this sentence
“What about Brett Ratner?”
Every year, everyone pisses and moans about how awful the Oscars are, and then every year the minute they announce the producers, everyone immediately shrieks about what a disaster it’s gonna be. I hold no brief for Ratner (though I’m awful fond of AFTER THE SUNSET), but give the poor S.O.B. a chance to get his bags unpacked before ripping him to shreds.
Maybe Nero Angelo is on to something…