ITV’s Oscars host Jonathan Ross shares ‘major problem’ he had with Oppenheimer

Ross will host ITV’s Oscars companion show this Sunday

Jonathan Ross, who is hosting ITV’s Oscars coverage this coming weekend, has shared the “major problem” he had with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.

The 63-year-old talk show host was asked what he thought about this year’s Academy Award hopefuls ahead of the show on Sunday (10 March).

Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy as the eponymous father of the atomic bomb and has been a hit with audiences and critics alike. It is expected to win in several categories at the Oscars ceremony.

“As you get older and a bit more circumspect you realise that just because a film isn’t for you doesn’t mean it’s not a film which a lot of people adore and love and isn’t a good film, you know?” Ross said, according to the Press Association.

“Clearly Oppenheimer, the craftsmanship... I love the way it looks, I love the way it sounded... it was the script I had a major problem with.

“It felt meandering and somewhat unfocused. I’d be very happy for it to win. Christopher Nolan is an incredible talent, a real master of his craft.

“Some of his movies I’ve adored, some of them I haven’t liked, but I’d be very pleased to see him get it because he’s such a massive talent and, of course, British.”

Cillian Murphy in ‘Oppenheimer’ (left) and Jonathan Ross (Universal Pictures/PA)

Speaking further on this year’s nominations for Best Picture, he added: “I can see why they’re all nominated, I think they all deserve a nomination.

“Some of them, as a viewer and audience member, didn’t excite me as much as others, so I have been a little mystified at the praise heaped on Oppenheimer and Killers Of The Flower Moon, I’m not huge on either of those two.

“I love Poor Things; American Fiction I loved as well. It felt quite of the moment.

“Anatomy Of A Fall I think is incredible. I’ll be very surprised if that wins, but it might, you never know, Parasite pulled it off a few years ago.

“And Anatomy Of A Fall isn’t exclusively non-English language, it’s got a mix, so who knows.

“Barbie, that will be fun if Barbie got it. I love Barbie, though. I think that’ll be a very popular one with voters. Killers Of The Flower Moon I don’t think will get it and personally don’t think it deserves it, I know a lot of people love it.

“Maestro left me somewhat cold, Past Lives I quite liked... Poor Things and The Zone Of Interest both felt very fresh, very unique and very outside of the normal mode of storytelling so I’m pleased to see them there... I’d be surprised, I suspect it’ll go to Oppenheimer.”

Robert Downey Jr in ‘Oppenheimer’ (AP)

Ross, who fronts celebrity chat show The Jonathan Ross Show on ITV1, also considered what US TV presenter Jimmy Kimmel will be like as this year’s host.

“He’s an interesting choice because he’s edgy enough to make it interesting and fun, he’s got a bit more edge and he’s a bit more surprising than Jimmy Fallon for example, but he isn’t too edgy,” he said.

“You have to walk that fine line, you don’t want it to be completely anodyne and bland, which they’ve gone in that direction a few times over the years, but you don’t want to go full Ricky Gervais and have the actors sat there panicking thinking, ‘What are they going to say about me?’”

Oppenheimer leads the Oscars race with a whopping 13 nominations.

It is followed closely by Yorgos Lanthimos’s absurdist sci-fi comedy Poor Things and Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster fantasy Barbie, which have 11 and eight nods, respectively.

Alongside the Oscars companion show, which will be presented by Ross from 10.15pm on ITV1 and ITVX on 10 March, there will also be live coverage from the Oscars red carpet presented by Ross King from 9pm on ITVX.

Additional reporting by the Press Association