You know what? That was a pretty solid Academy Awards last night. Kathryn Bigelow and The Hurt Locker got the accolades they deserve, Avatar didn’t win anything it shouldn’t have, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin had the clout to poke fun at Hollywood, there was a nice John Hughes tribute, and only once did I have to say “Shut up, Sean Penn.” I can’t even hate Sandra Bullock winning for The Blind Side after she picked up her Razzie in person and said that she’ll display it next to her Oscar (also, she and Bigelow were the only winners who recognized the other nominees in their acceptance speeches).

The only thing that bothered me about the night was finishing second in my Oscar pool by a single pick. I nailed the telecast’s end time by calling 12:02 a.m., so I would have won the tie-breaker if I’d gotten one more pick correct. DAMN YOU, DOCUMENTARY SHORT! How was I supposed to know one of the choices was about a handicapped African girl?

(Most images via bohemea. Bonus GIF action of Samuel L. Jackson reacting to Mo’Nique below.)

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As you’ve likely already heard from FilmDrunk or 800 other places, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will co-host the 82nd Academy Awards next March. Or late February. Whenever it is. Sometime after football ends.

“Very early on, we talked about a pairing as part of our concept of the show, having tradition and also freshness walking hand in hand,” [telecast producer Adam] Shankman said in an interview Tuesday. “Steve anchors it in so much tradition and Alec … besides being a former Oscar nominee, he is just hot, hot, hot right now. And the two of them I know adore each other.”

A pair of hosts helmed the inaugural Oscar ceremony in 1929: Douglas Fairbanks and William DeMille, then president and vice president of the film academy, co-hosted the show. The last time multiple hosts graced the Oscar stage was in 1987, when Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan shared hosting duties. [SF Gate]

This could be worse. For example, it could’ve been the Second Annual Hugh Jackman Super Gay Broadway Singalong. But Steve Martin has his moments, and Alec Baldwin is amazing. Think about how good he is. We’ve forgiven him for all three of his brothers and even the message where he called his 11-year-old daughter a thoughtless little pig. He could burn down an orphanage, and if you showed me his scene in Glengarry Glen Ross I’d be all, “Whatever, those kids didn’t even have parents.”

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