Cru Jones Society

We’ll continue our Academy Awards week with a look at some of our favorite Oscar winning performances. Keep in mind my couple of years of high school drama in no way make me an authority on acting, but I know what I like. And this is in no way a list of the best actors to ever win an Oscar. That list would be filled with Daniel Day Lewis, Marlon Brando, and George C. Scott. No, these are just the performances that keep me coming back to these movies and want to check out other works from these thespians (sadly not as dirty as it sounds).

I can’t promise you I won’t give away any spoilers, but I will do my best not to. So consider this a warning. But with our pop culture, um, culture you probably know how these movies end whether you’ve seen them or not. But I digress, on with the show.

Now in no particular order, the winners are…

Heath Ledger
Year: 2008
Film: The Dark Knight
Character: The Joker

When Batman Begins ended with the hint of the Joker making an appearance I thought no way are they going to top Jack Nicholson. Then it was announced Heath Ledger would be in that role and I thought, “What? That goofy Australian from 10 Things I Hate About You? I don’t think so.” Then I saw Heath take the character into the most sociopathic way possible and I ended up enjoying some crow. Ledger demonstrated how a villain in a super hero movie could be menacing and more than just some cartoon who is easily defeated. Ledger had no real motive, he was just sinister for the fun of it. Additionally, from the first moment he took the screen, until the end you didn’t see Ledger, you saw the Joker. And that is the true demonstration of what it takes to win this award.

Reese Witherspoon
Year: 2005
Film: Walk the Line
Character: June Carter

My favorite role of Witherspoon’s is actually Tracy Flick from Election, but she is overlooked in that movie, more on that later. Since then I have been waiting for her to do something to showcase her talents again, and Legally Blonde just didn’t cut it for me. Then she portrayed music superstar June Carter, and in a Johnny Cash biopic we were more enthralled by her. Best performance of a real person since Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman, and that was just uncannily real.

Alan Arkin
Year: 2006
Film: Little Miss Sunshine
Character: Grandpa Edwin Hoover

Alan Arkin’s “Grandpa” shatters the stereotypical idea of “Grandpa.” Instead of some distinguished patriarch or crazy old coot, Arkin brings some reality to the role. After living a full life, including service in World War II, he has decided to say screw it all and resorts to snorting heroin and living how he wants to. He talks like a real person and dispenses real advice (fuck a lotta women kid, not just one woman, a lotta women.). Giving a different and real perspective of a grandpa. And playing it completely straight is how Arkin won this award and made Little Miss Sunshine one of my favorite movies of 2006.

Frances McDormand
Year: 1996
Film: Fargo
Character: Marge Gunderson

In any Coen brothers film you can easily find one breakout star. And well before Javier Bardem was creeping people out in No Country for Old Men, Frances McDormand was keeping Minnesota safe from low rate killers and auto defrauders (Is that a real thing? Perhaps grand fraud auto?). In any event, McDormand nailed that goofy accent and managed to be intimidating despite being knocked up. She was able to be a bad ass cop and a kind hearted prego dame. She can take the time to be a sweet wife and pick up some bait for her husband, yet still keep her composure while Mr. Pink is going through a wood chipper. Marge Gunderson is a positive female role model and that is due largely to McDormand.

Kevin Spacey
Year: 1995
Film: The Usual Suspect
Character: Verbal Kint

A couple of years ago I was re-watching 12 Monkeys. Not a great movie, hard to get past the time travel stuff and Terry Gilliam’s crazy vision, but I took special notice of Brad Pitt. His performance in that movie is incredible, and when you consider he did it during the time when he was known mainly as the shirtless guy in Thelma and Louise and the hot guy in A River Runs Through It, it makes him look that much better. So watching this performance I wondered if he was nominated for an Oscar, and if so, who beat him out because he was probably robbed. I looked it up and saw it was Spacey in The Usual Suspects and I immediately knew Pitt was not robbed. It could be argued the writers deserve the credit for Verbal Kint being so bad ass, but Spacey was able to make us believe it. Kint says, “The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” Well, Spacey was more convincing than the devil.

Jack Palance
Year: 1991
Film: City Slickers
Character: Curly

City Slickers is a funny movie and one I will often watch when I notice it on some Sunday afternoon. But it is in no way Oscar worthy, which makes Palance’s win for it that much more awesome. He clearly understands that no matter what the movie is, or what the role is, there is no excuse not to bring your all and kick as much ass as you can. Palance does such an incredible job with the role he makes the Academy take notice of some movie that has no business amongst Oscar talk. If you want to stand out in a movie with Daniel Stern and Billy Crystal playing off each other you have to give the performance Palance gave.

Kathy Bates
Year: 1990
Film Misery
Character: Annie Wilkes

In the same vein as Ledger’s Joker, Annie Wilkes brings the psycho to a scary level. She puts on the façade of an everyday normal woman, but behind close doors she is obsessed to the point of dangerous. But that normal façade leads us to think anybody could be like this. She brings the evil so well and is so frightening we completely buy the idea she could hobble James Cann without hesitation. While the brutality of that scene stands out, it haunts me because she doesn’t bat an eye about it. Because Bates is able to draw us into this character so well we are haunted by her actions. My legs hurt just thinking about, so let’s move on.

Joe Pesci
Year: 1990
Film: Good Fellas
Character: Tommy DeVito

When one thinks of Joe Pesci two characters come to mind instantly: one of the robbers from Home Alone and Tommy DeVito. In a movie with Ray Liotta and Robert DeNiro, Pesci was able to carve a nice little niche with his short fused, constantly hacked off Tommy DeVito. Pesci played this gangster so well it became what he was best known for. I can’t say for certain, but I suspect there are people who truly believe their lives are in danger when they see Pesci on the street due entirely to this role. And who can misinterpret a compliment better than Tommy DeVito?

Dustin Hoffman
Year: 1988
Film: Rain Man
Character: Raymond Babbitt

Tom Hanks’ slow witted Forrest Gump was a commanding performance. But well before Gump charmed us, Raymond Babbitt’s desire to watch Wapner, buy underwear at K-Mart, and recite “Who’s On First” made us feel good. Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man showed actors that a sure fire Oscar nom comes from playing a retard; and an Oscar win comes from doing it in a sincere and non-offensive way. Sean Penn missed that note. Despite the neuroses he exhibits (taken out of his element the way he is, you can’t blame him), I sometimes find myself envious of Raymond Babbitt. He finds satisfaction and contentment in simple things, like Wapner and “Who’s On First.” Hoffman is able to make me feel for Raymond’s plight as well as make me envious of him and for that he wins a spot on this list.

Michael Douglas
Year: 1987
Film: Wall Street
Character: Gordon Gekko

Where The Joker and Annie Wilkes are psychotic, surreal villains, Gordon Gekko is a real life villain and the epitome of money centric yuppie of the 1980s. A recurring theme on this list is the realness that can be felt from the characters. Douglas created Gekko with the perfect amount of arrogance and dickishness. He comes with the charisma often extolled by evil men of the past. His “Greed is good” speech is not unlike the speech Brutus delivers to the Romans after slaying Caesar. He is the perfect bad guy; the guy you want to see fail.

Louise Fletcher
Year: 1975
Film: One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
Character: Nurse Ratched

This is one of the few movies I saw after I read the book. While it was easy to picture Nicholson as McMurphy, the real test would be Nurse Ratched, the authority figure who has to deal with a loose cannon like Murphy. Louise Fletcher nails the character. She just brings that certain I don’t know what. It feels like the perfect casting, like Patrick Stewart as Professor X. It makes me think that with anyone else in the role the movie would have not been nearly as good.

I am sure there are a ton of actors and roles I have left off this list. Many I would probably add if I had seen more of the movies. But as it stands right now these are my favorites, and just a few of the reasons I love movies. We would love to her about the Oscar winning performances you love, so take a look over this list and post your favorites in the comments.

See ya in the balcony…

lee.s.hart@crujonessociety.com