Tarantino, Almodóvar to Present Academy Awards

We don't have a whole lot to go on here but Thompson on Hollywood (or, if you prefer, Anne Thompson) writes that Quentin Tarantino and Pedro Almodóvar will be among the presenters at the 144th annual Academy Awards in March. Thompson reports that Bill Mechanic, the Oscar telecast producer, confirmed the iconoclastic filmmakers' duties during that other Oscar show, Saturday night's Governors Awards. As it happens, QT introduced Roger Corman, long overdue for some kind of official industry merit. Corman joined Lauren Bacall and cinematographer Gordon Willis as this year's recipients of honorary Academy Awards. Having Tarantino on hand for Corman's honorarium is a natural fit, and bringing him into the fold for the big show in March is at least something the producers can promote, even if Inglourious Basterds comes up empty in the nominations scramble. I can't see that happening, not with the screenplay being what it is and Christoph Waltz firmly planted in the Best Supporting Actor category, but it's a nice back-up plan to have Tarantino on the stage in any case. For Almodóvar, the Spanish director whose Broken Embraces might get his muse Penélope Cruz some additional Oscar heat, it's a chance to broaden his audience a bit more. Just a hunch: Could he be presenting Best Foreign Language Film? He's not going to be up for that one this year.