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Joel McHale Promises "Gentle" Snark at Spirit Awards and an Impossible King's Speech Sweep

The Independent Spirit Awards are known as the anti-Oscars, but something tells Joel McHale that the two ceremonies will have a lot in common this year."I think all the nominees will be read [at the Indie Spirits] and The King's Speech will win everything," he quips to TVGuide.com. "It cannot be stopped. It will not be ...

joyce-eng.jpg
Joyce Eng

The Independent Spirit Awards are known as the anti-Oscars, but something tells Joel McHale that the two ceremonies will have a lot in common this year.
"I think all the nominees will be read [at the Indie Spirits] and The King's Speech will win everything," he quips to TVGuide.com. "It cannot be stopped. It will not be stopped. I think it almost won the Super Bowl."

Check out photos of Joel McHale

Of course, The King's Speech is not up in any major races at the Spirit Awards, except for foreign film. But the Oscar front-runner — and every other 2010 flick — is fair game for McHale to target when he hosts the Spirit Awards Saturday."We know exactly what we want to poke fun at, which movies, so expect a lot of jokes about that," McHale says. Like? "Well, without giving away too much, I will say that No Strings Attached does not have a chance to win this year. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen does have a shot. But there are not enough CGI robots in Revenge of the Fallen. That's just ridiculous. If I had the $75 million set aside to come up with that, I would."In all seriousness, McHale says he's honored and very excited to have been asked to emcee what he considers the "most fun" awards show. It's hard to argue: The casual affair takes place in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., and attendees eschew gowns and tuxes in favor of sneakers, sandals and jeans. "It's definitely way more relaxed," McHale says. "I mean, I've never been to the awards, but I've wanted to go. I am a virgin when it comes to attending or hosting it, so we'll see how it goes."

Winter's Bone earns seven Independent Spirit Awards nominations

With Community and The Soup on his plate, McHale's been too busy to worry about his hosting debut — though he says he will probably be nervous right before he goes on. He and his team of writers have already shot several sketches to air, but if you're looking for the same blunt snark he brings on The Soup to make its way to the Spirit Awards, you may be a little disappointed."I'm not changing my sense of humor, but it's obviously a different beast if this were some sort of reality awards. Then I will be a lot harsher. Here is more gentle," he says. "The Soup is a green curtain and one camera. The nature of this show will be different. There will be jokes in the monologue, but the show doesn't end there. You have to keep things moving and you have to keep the ball in the air. Your job is more than just to tell jokes about the [independent film] community's awesome movies."So has he seen any of those awesome nominated films?"I've seen a few of them. They sent me, like, 400 screeners of all the nominees," McHale says. "It's hard to keep up with all of them. I love Exit Through the Gift Shop and Restrepo. They're great documentaries."And of course, The King's Speech," he cracks, without missing a beat. "Oh, wait. Damn it. I'll tell you what. I cannot wait for the sequel. In The King's Speech 2: The Reckoning, he will fight aliens with speech. It'll be in the future. Duh."The 26th annual Spirit Awards airs Saturday at 10/9c on IFC.