The analysis has begun with a vengeance as to a) why the Academy has chosen this morning as its latest Oscars telecast hosts the handsome young duo of James Franco (32) and Anne Hathaway (28), and b) whether or not this will help make the moribund program relevant again to younger audiences.

Here at FishbowlLA, we have our own take on this bold choice away from the usual stand-up comic, late night talk show host and Social Security nipping candidates. In no particular order:

- Given that the Oscar telecast usually feels like it lasts about 127 hours, and that watching it sometimes induces the feeling that you would rather gnaw off an arm than sit through till the end, Franco is imminently well qualified.

- Since many attending divas wear Prada, parking Hathaway on the red carpet beforehand for a couple of quick Q&A’s would seem like a perfect, synergistic way to get younger eyeballs to tune in. Especially if Meryl Streep happens to walk by.

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Hollywood funnyman Judd Apatow has been busy making the PR rounds on behalf of I Found This Funny, a collection of curated essays scheduled to be published November 1st by McSweeney’s. While some of the book’s content is quite serious, the 42-year-old literary virgin’s recollections of his muse James Franco are anything but.

Apatow tells The New Yorker how he came to realize that his friend and long-time collaborator, a leading contender in this year’s Best Actor race, was more than just a pretty face:

“I remember when James was on the set of Freaks and Geeks and in between takes he’d be reading Freud and I would think, ‘Is he actually reading Freud, or is he trying to impress people? Is he actually processing this information?’ And he proved that he was not kidding.”

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Though they’re sometimes reduced to thumbs up/thumbs down criticism, the country’s major broadcast critics are always keen to be heard as “Milk” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” both earned eight nominations for the 14th Broadcast Film Critics Assn.’s Critics Choice Awards, Variety says.

Both were among the 10 films named for best picture. “Milk,” which got off to a strong platform start last month, also picked up key nominations for lead actor Sean Penn, supporting co-stars James Franco and Josh Brolin, and director Gus Van Sant. “Button,” which opens Christmas Day, drew mentions for actor Brad Pitt, actress Cate Blanchett and supporting actress Taraji P. Henson.

Other titles nommed for picture were “Changeling,” “The Dark Knight,” “Doubt,” “Frost/Nixon,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Wall-E” and “The Wrestler.”

What have we learned from our immersion in fanboy land? Well, we learned that James Franco has shockingly bad teeth. A PR-type person sitting next to us during the Pineapple Express panel, turned around to someone sitting next to us pointing at her mouth and shook her head in disapproval.

Call that completely useless information.

Anyway, below is a picture of this Fishie at the G4 party. Unless we’ve missed something major, we think this might be the final Comic Con 2008 post.

We have one quote that we haven’t found any other place to put. It’s from Kevin Smith at the Entertainment Weekly panel. He said,”Geek culture is here to stay.” I’m sure someone said that about Disco and Grunge…but with 123,000 people in the nerd herd. What do we know?

The Pineapple Express panel was moderated by producer Judd Apatow. On the panel was director David Gordon Green, writer Evan Goldberg and cast members Amber Heard, Danny McBride, Seth Rogen and James Franco.

“Can we combine a weed movie with a Jerry Bruckheimer action movie?” Was the rhetorical question offered by Apatow.

The crowd was shown some clips of the movie and let in on the fact that a lot of the dialog was improv. Seth Rogen was totally on the whole panel. A fan asked about the script to the movie being leaked early on the internet.

“If you want to read it – you’re an idiot. Because you can watch it – its a movie.” Said Rogen.

The thing that struck us was that the panel was very much like all Apatow movies: Seth Rogen was funny, he talked about his balls a lot and the gorgeous blond female stock character was a one dimensional prop. There’s your synopsis.

Moment of Truth(iness): Comedian Stephen Colbert has until today to file the requisite paperwork to run for president. “But South Carolina officials said that as of Wednesday evening, they had not received the paperwork or filing fees — $2,500 or 3,000 signatures for the Democrats, $35,000 for the Republicans — to have Colbert join either of the parties’ ballots.” Hmm. Cagey.

Most surprising em-dash clause of the day: “For far too long, Los Angeles — the largest book-buying market in the country — was stuck with an undeserved reputation as a cultural wasteland where nobody reads.” We’re not a cultural wasteland where nobody reads? Cool. BTW, we’re sure there’s a reason the LAT ran a photo of James Franco with this piece. We just didn’t read far enough into the story to find out.

No Prison Break For Lane Garrison: Actor Lane Garrison was sentenced to 40 months in state prison for vehicular manslaughter. He was also ordered to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution, mostly to one 15-year-old girl who was badly injured in a May accident that claimed the life of a 17-year-old boy.