Forget who'll win the trophies tonight at the Critics' Choice Awards. Everybody's wondering what will happen on stage during the ceremony (VH1, 9 p.m. PST/ EST). Last year, the awardcast was emceed wonderfully by Kristin Chenoweth, who crooned and charmed her way through the two-hour show, but there will be no host tonight.
That shouldn't really be a cause for concern, though. For more than 20 years the Golden Globes were staged successfully without a host. Ricky Gervais presides on the Globes stage nowadays, of course, but – let's face it – he's not really essential.
Instead, an inside source tells The Envelope that the Critics Choice Awards show will open with a guest appearance by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He'll address the audience with words to this effect: "I'm not here as your former governor, but as an unemployed actor looking for work."
The Critics' Choice Awards have a reputation for being an Oscar crystal ball, so all eyes are on the Hollywood Palladium when the Broadcast Film Critics' Assn. doles out trophies Friday night (VH1, 9 p.m. PST/EST).
Among the hottest contests is best supporting actress. Over the last 10 years, the winner has matched up with the Oscar champ five times: Jennifer Connelly ("A Beautiful Mind," 2001), Catherine Zeta-Jones ("Chicago," 2002), Renee Zellweger ("Cold Mountain," 2004), Jennifer Hudson ("Dreamgirls, 2006) and Mo'Nique ("Precious," 2009). Maybe six, if you want to cut the Critics' Choice Awards folks some slack and give them credit for Kate Winslet, who was honored by the BFCA in supporting for "The Reader" (beating Penelope Cruz), but in lead at the Oscars in 2008.
-- Tom O'Neil
Left photo: Melissa Leo of "The Fighter." Credit: Paramount
Middle photo: Mila Kunis in "Black Swan." Credit: Fox Searchlight
Right photo: Helena Bonham Carter in "The King's Speech." Credit: The Weinstein Co.
The Critics' Choice Award has a pretty good track record of predicting who'll win the Oscar for best actress. Over the past seven years, it forecast the Academy Award in that category correctly five times – kind of.
Last year, Oscar champ Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side") tied Meryl Streep ("Julie & Julia"). The Critics' Choice Awards love ties and they just can't say "no" to Streep. Two years ago, she won for "Doubt," tying Anne Hathaway ("Rachel Getting Married"). (Oscar champ Kate Winslet won in the supporting category for "The Reader.")
The Critics' Choice Awards will be bestowed Friday at the Hollywood Palladium, telecast by VH1 (9 p.m. PST/EST).
-- Tom O'Neil
Photos: "Black Swan" (Fox Searchlight), "The Kids Are All Right" (Focus Features)
The Critics' Choice Movie Awards is offering a plethora of populist presenters for this year's award show to be held Friday. In addition to Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, nominees Josh Brolin and Julianne Moore, and Golden Globe nominees Emma Stone, Jon Hamm and Sofia Vergara, the show announced Wednesday that the Kardashian sisters will be on hand along with Joan Rivers and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Maroon 5 will be the house band for the night while Emily Blunt and Jimmy Kimmel will present Matt Damon with the Joel Siegel Award.
Tim Roth will present Quentin Tarantino the inaugural Critics' Choice Music+Film Award for his creative use of music in his movies.
