Oscars to boast two hosts

The 82nd Academy Awards will be held on March 7 and be hosted by comedy gurus Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.  This is the first time in more than 20 years that there will be two hosts.

The other times in Academy Award history when there have been multiple hosts was in 1929, when then president of the academy Douglas Fairbanks and vice president of the academy William DeMille, hosted the show together.

The last time there were multiple hosts on the Oscar stage was in 1987, with Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan.

Martin has hosted the show twice before, in 2001 and 2003, and has appeared as a presenter many times, whereas Baldwin is a novice to the hosting gig, but was a co-presenter in 2004.

Not only is the academy shaking things up with the hosts, but also when it comes to the nominees.

For the first time since 1943, 10 films are nominated for best picture. “Casablanca” was the last film to win best picture in a category of that size. Other years with more than five nominees include eight best picture nominees in 1931 and 1932, and in 1934 and 1935 there were 12 nominees.