Franco: I Knew Oscar Material Would Bomb

Melissa Leo's faux pas is sure to be watercooler fodder

(NEWSER) - Worst Academy Awards ever? E! thinks so, calling it “clunky, amateurish, and pretty much lacking in actual entertainment value for those of us not picking up awards," and New York suggests that the obituary reel "should include a mention of this show." Some of the highlights—or, in many cases, lowlights:

• Two opening montages? One too many—but anything involving Alec Baldwin and Morgan Freeman can’t be all bad. Watch that montage here .
• Bad material, worse transitions: Example? “One minute Hathaway is yelling something about lesbians and then … Tom Hanks comes talking about Gone With the Wind," writes Erik Pederson on E!.

James Franco and Anne Hathaway, Academy announces

(NEWSER) - Your 2011 Academy Awards hosts: James Franco and Anne Hathaway. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tweeted the announcement today, adding that you should "tweet them your advice!" Oddly, both actors could potentially be nominated in the lead categories, Franco for 127 Hours and Hathaway for Love and Other Drugs, PopEater notes . The 32-year-old and 28-year-old will be the youngest pair of Oscar hosts ever. Perhaps the Academy is trying to fix last year's mistakes ? More»

Best Actress winner donates $10K to struggling Central Falls school

(NEWSER) - Meryl Streep's Best Actress win over Viola Davis was the big upset of the Oscars; even Streep herself seemed surprised, calling the whole process "a crapshoot." But now she's making it up to Davis—in a big way. Streep donated $10,000 to a struggling school in Rhode Island in Davis' honor, Reuters reports. Davis has been championing the bankrupt Central Falls, Rhode Island , where she grew up, inspiring Streep to send a check to the Segue Institute for Learning, a charter school in town facing the loss of its building. Click for more on Central Falls' woes . More»

Angelina gam busting out all over Internet

(NEWSER) - No one can quite shake the image of Angelina Jolie obsessively flashing her toned right leg from the slit up her dress at the Oscars. So what to do? Turn to the new "leg bombing" meme that's a runaway hit with Internet fans. The burgeoning meme has Angelina's leg handing (booting?) an Oscar to a winner, attached to Napoleon and Mahatma Gandhi, being raised at Iwo Jima by soldiers, and sticking out of a lamb carcass being hoisted by Meryl Streep playing Julia Child. Check out lots of variations at Pinterest here or the Sun to get a thighful—or follow AngiesRightLeg with 32,000 others on Twitter ("I just can't get enough of myself," gushes the gam.). More»

Blade Runner star struck guard: cops

(NEWSER) - Blade Runner vamp Sean Young was busted outside a post-Oscars party after she slapped a security guard when she was told to leave, according to officials. Now she's demanding an apology, reports TMZ . "She was trying to get into the party and couldn't," a Hollywood police commander tells AP . But the 52-year-old actress—who starred in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, No Way Out, Wall Street, and most recently, Celebrity Rehab—says the guards were overzealous, and she wasn't doing anything wrong. "I was just standing by the little line," says Young, who earlier in the evening had posed for photos with Angelina Jolie, Michelle Williams, and Sandra Bullock . "I wasn't bothering anybody." More»