Wednesday, September 9, 2009

#7. gary oldman in sid and nancy

the greatest performance by an actor to never receive an oscar nomination was given, without a doubt, by gary oldman in alex cox's sid and nancy, the spellbinding biopic of punk rocker sid vicious. oldman is spot-on in one of those deliveries that come along once in a while (since 1987, i have seen maybe 5 male performances of near-equal quality). needless to say, i love this man. i can forgive him for lost in space. anyway, to prepare for his role, oldman maintained a strict, unconventional diet to mimic that pale, emaciated heroin-addict's body. you really can tell when an actor has done their homework. his mannerisms, accent, idiosyncrasies -- all matched. i always thought that the sex pistols' bassist was a smarmy bastard with no discernible talent, but oldman manages to draw sympathy and provide a deeply affecting human side to an otherwise despicable individual. i cannot say enough about my love for gary oldman. had he been nominated for an oscar in 1987, he would have been up against a lot of mediocre / shit performances, all of which pale in comparison: 
  • michael douglas wall street (winner)
  • robin williams good morning, vietnam
  • william hurt broadcast news
  • marcello mastroianni in dark eyes
  • jack nicholson in ironweed
the subject matter must have been too intense for stuffy academy voters. there is no excuse as to why gary oldman was not nominated. he is awesome. i love him.

greatest moment: see below

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