5 Oscar Worthy Comedic Performances

Comedy is probably my favourite genre in film, and it is often ignored by AMPAS. Here are five performances from the past decade that weren't even nominated for an Oscar, but probably should have been (or won).














1. Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker in "In the Loop" (2009)
This is one of the big ones for me. When people were raving about Christoph Waltz, I was raving about Peter Capaldi in the hilarious movie "In the Loop". He curses and yells, and delivers the best dialogue from last decade (really, how did this not at least win Screenplay?) He's scathing, hilarious, and brilliant. Peter Capaldi should have been nominated for Supporting Actor, as his lack of a nomination is harder to swallow than the Oscars not awarding one of the best performances of the decade with a much deserved Oscar.

Best Moment: Yelling at Simon Foster at the beginning of the film.















2. Sally Hawkins as Poppy in "Happy-Go-Lucky" (2008)
This falls under the WTF category. Sally Hawkins gave one of the most beloved performances of 2008. She won a ton of precursors, including a Golden Globe, but somehow managed to miss out on the big prize. This was one of the biggest snubs from the last decade as Hawkins commands the screen, and while many found her annoying, there was just the right amount of annoyance.

Best Moment: Talking with the Hobo, or her final scene with Scott.














3. Colin Farrell as Ray in "In Bruges" (2008)
This was the other Lead in a Comedy Globe winner that was left out in the cold come Oscar night. It was the right amount of comedy and the right amount of drama blended together into one masterful performance. After several rewatches, Farrell soared up my Best Actor list to surpass the eventual winner Sean Penn as my winner.

Best Moment: Midget Fight















4. Bill Nighy as Billy Mack in "Love Actually" (2003)
Bill Nighy plays an aging Rockstar in the movie that Valentine's Day only hoped to be. He's hilarious, obscene, and gives one of the best performances in an ensemble that's one of the best this decade. Bill Nighy is one of the most reliable actors around, and is as usual, great.

Best Moment: His naked promise.














5. Parker Posey as Meg Swan in "Best In Show" (2000)
In my opinion, Miss Posey's snub is one of the worst ones in the history of the Oscars. She's been in my top 10 Supporting Actresses of all time for quite a while, and I don't see her moving from that position any time soon. Her performance is one of the funniest I've seen, and it makes me sad that she's never been nominated for an Oscar.

Best Moment: Finding the Busy Bee

Ways to Win An Oscar (Or at least be nominated for one)

Winning an Oscar is one of the most prestigious honours anyone could have. Yes, even more prestigious than the Noble Peace Prize. Okay, maybe not, but it's one award that film professionals hope for. Unless your name is Katharine Hepburn or Marlon Brando. Before this year's Academy Awards, I have decided to write about ways one can win that little gold naked guy named Oscar.

Die

Yes, in Hollywood one way to gain attention is by biting the bullet. If your name is Tupac or Elvis, you can even profit from your death. It may sound grim, but if you give a performance that's anticipated, or a performance that will eventually gain praise and then die in a tragic accident, get murdered, or even overdose shortly after, you will most likely be nominated, or if you're lucky enough, win an Oscar. It's even better if you're a well beloved actor, or if you're really young. You can even be a producer or writer. The most recent posthumous win was Heath Ledger in that Batman movie. Young Heath was not the first posthumous winner in fact. In 1939, the writer of Gone With the Wind died. Sidney Howard died in a tragic accident at the young age of 48. According to wikipedia, he was "crushed to death in a garage by his two and one half ton tractor. He had turned the ignition switch on and was cranking the engine to start it when it lurched forward, pinning him against the wall of the garage." You may say, "but Sonia, it was Gone With the Wind. That was always going to win!" Sure, it's one of the most beloved movies of all time, but Howard's death certainly didn't hurt his chances. Here's a list of all the Posthumous winners, and what they won for:

Howard Ashman - 1991, Original Song for Beauty and the Beast
Walt Disney - 1968, Best Short Film (Animated) for Winnie Pooh and the Blustery Day
Peter Finch - 1976, Best Actor for Network
Thomas C. Goodwin - 1992, Best Documentary (Short Subject) for Educating Peter
Conrad L. Hall - 2002, Best Cinematography for Road to Perdition
William A. Horning - 1958, Best Art Direction for Gigi
William A. Horning - 1959, Best Art Direction for Ben-Hur (YES TWICE!)
Sidney Howard - 1939, Best Writing for Gone With the Wind
Heath Ledger - 2008, Best Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight
Eric Orbom - 1960, Best Art Direction for Spartacus
Raymond Rasch - 1972, Best Original Score for Limelight
Larry Russell - 1972, Best Original Score for Limelight
Geoffrey Unsworth - 1980, Best Cinematography for Tess
Victor Young - 1956, Best Original Score for Around the World in 80 Days
Sam Zimbalist - 1958, Best Picture for Ben-Hur

Now, it should be of note, the two gentlemen who won for Limelight died decades before Limelight was eligible for the Academy Awards. One of those strange technicalities.

Uglify yourself.

The Oscars love people who go that extra mile for a performance. People who transform their appearance usually fair pretty well come Oscar time.

Case 1, Charlize Theron















Charlize Theron is considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, but she scares the bejesus out of everyone in Monster.

Case 2, Nicole Kidman















Sure she wasn't ugly, but she won by "a nose".

Case 3, Marion Cotillard















You either think she's gorgeous, or overrated, but Marion Cotillard definitely made herself uglier in La Mome.

Case 4, Robert DeNiro















He goes from not bad looking, but completely disgusting personality wise in Raging Bull to a poor excuse of a man at the end. Eat it up AMPAS, eat it up!

Case 5, Linda Hunt














Er ... scratch that.

Make a Holocaust movie

The Oscars are full of jews, and they want to reward those movies that deal with the gruesome past. Maybe not all the time, but there's a pretty good chance if you do a Holocaust movie, you're guaranteed an Oscar. Just ask Kate Winslet.

Branch Out

If you're a comedic actor do a comedy. If you're a dramatic actor do a mild comedy (not too raunchy, the Oscars hate that). Two big examples, that both caused an uproar, that I can think of are Sandra Bulllock and Reese Witherspoon. Both were known for being Hollywood's sweethearts. Witherspoon, the star of Legally Blonde, shocked many with her performance in the Johnny Cash Biopic Walk the Line. She sang, played an instrument, and gave a pretty good performance. She was rewarded with an Oscar. Sandra Bullock, the star of such movies as Speed, and crappy Keanu Reeves romantic comedies, won an Oscar for her blonde wigged performance in the Football movie The Blind Side.

The Weinstein Effect

Let's face it folks, the Weinsteins are known for hypothetical AMPAS dick sucking. The truth is, they are brilliant execs, and really know how to get a film noticed. Basically look at most of the Best Picture nominees each year, and I guarantee a lot of them were produced by the Weinstein Company.

A Combination of Techniques

While there are plenty of more reasons for a movie to get nominated, nothings better than a combo of several of the reasons I've listed. What would you tell me if I told you there was once a movie that had not one, but two posthumous nominees, a movie that took place in the holocaust, AND a movie that was produced by the Weinsteins? "It won a million Oscars, didn't it?" No, but it did win one, and caused a bunch of controversy by becoming a "filler". That movie is the Reader. It was produced by Anthony Minghella, and Sidney Pollack, who both died before the ceremony. It took place during the Holocaust, and yes, it was produced by the Weinsteins. It also starred "overdue" actress Kate Winslet, and had plenty of nudity, a nearly retarded main character, and pedophilia. What a blast.