Hugh Jackman gathers mixed reviews as Oscar-host

Hugh Jackman has managed to gather mixed reviews from US critics for hosting the recent Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

Jackman, who opened the event with a musical tribute spoofing this year's best picture nominees, also managed to up the US telecast ratings by as much as 6 per cent.

However, the Aussie actor held assorted criticism as the first-time-Oscar-host.

"Jackman did his best. His mission just wasn't accomplishable," News.com.au quoted the New York's Daily News, who were also less impressed with his "human excrement" joke in the opening song, as saying.

To the New York Post, Jackman "performed like a cheesy cruise-ship entertainer to the endless hours of awards to dull men we've never heard of for categories we don't care about".

The Los Angeles Times said it did not care for "chorus boy spaz-out" and found it "weird" when he sat on nominee Frank Langella's lap.

But, the New York Times praised Jackman as a "shrewd, even thrifty choice for a recession-era Oscar night - the hosting equivalent of a value meal."

The Toronto Star credited Jackman for turning the ceremony "vastly more entertaining than it has been in years".