# Actors Whose Oscars Should be Recalled & Melted **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124 "2007-08-27T17:39:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/1 "2007-08-27T17:39:19Z")
There’s only one I can think of right now, and I’m sure you all know who I’m talking about…Cuba Gooding Jr. I have NO idea if he has any talent. And at this point, I really don’t care. His taste in scripts is jaw-droppingly bad. Latest evidence: Daddy Day Camp. I grant I haven’t actually seen it, but wouldn’t that be a form of torture that no one should have to experience? I watched the trailer, that’s enough. And the Metacritic AVERAGE score is 13! “From Justin to Kelly” scored 14! (Not to mention the fact that I don’t think he deserved it in the first place, but even so.) And he’s been making choices like this since he won…his choices prior were actually much better! Sad. But take it away from him anyway. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/2 "2007-08-27T17:53:19Z")
I’ve never been all that impressed with Kathy Bates, but at least she wasn’t in Boat Trip. Sort of. For Mrs. Claus alone, Angela Lansbury should be beaten about the face and neck with all three of her Oscars. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/3 "2007-08-27T17:54:01Z")
Well, I came in here to mention Cuba Gooding Jr., but since you’ve already done that, I’ll leave now. ---
**Author:** ![I\_m\_No\_Saint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/977dab/32.png) [@I\_m\_No\_Saint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_m_No_Saint)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/4 "2007-08-27T17:55:29Z")
Halle Berry. _Catwoman_ alone should be reason enough. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/5 "2007-08-27T18:03:04Z")
Marisa Tomei, Julia Roberts, Helen Hunt, and Kevin Costner. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/6 "2007-08-27T18:07:29Z")
Isn’t the award supposed to be for that particular performance, and not for lifetime achievement? I agree about Cuba Gooding Jr.'s post-\*Jerry Maguire \*role choices, but he was pretty good in that movie. I don’t recall who was nominated against him though… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/7 "2007-08-27T18:19:53Z")
[QUOTE=Southern Yankee] Isn’t the award supposed to be for that particular performance, and not for lifetime achievement? I agree about Cuba Gooding Jr.'s post-\*Jerry Maguire \*role choices, but he was pretty good in that movie… [/QUOTE] Agreed. He was also good in _Outbreak_ and _A Few Good Men_, I thought. And _Rat Race_, come to think of it, in a very different role. I haven’t seen any of his other dreck. Frankly, I thought Kim Basinger didn’t earn hers for _L.A. Confidential_ in the first place. She was OK, but jeez, she did nothing Oscar-worthy there. Don’t know that she’s done anything else in her career to earn one. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/8 "2007-08-27T18:25:01Z")
[QUOTE=Southern Yankee] Isn’t the award supposed to be for that particular performance, and not for lifetime achievement? I agree about Cuba Gooding Jr.'s post-\*Jerry Maguire \*role choices, but he was pretty good in that movie. I don’t recall who was nominated against him though… [/QUOTE] It’s a fun performance, but a larger-than-life one, beating more subtle/nuanced/restrained work from William H. Macy (_Fargo_) and Edward Norton (_Primal Fear_)–not to mention the non-nominated Noah Taylor and Martin Donovan that year. Having a bad performance or two (Ms. Berry) is never enough to “revoke” an Oscar, but Gooding seems to have gone out of his way to make as many dreadful films as has been physically possibly in the last decade. Nice guy, it seems, but very sad. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/9 "2007-08-27T18:57:13Z")
Oh, I had forgotten that was the same year as _Fargo_. William H. Macy’s performance was better. But there are many performances that lost against inferior competition. I still don’t think that you should disregard a specific role because of a body of work. But I may change my mind if Ashton Kutcher ever has his name read from within the envelope… ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/10 "2007-08-27T18:59:26Z")
Oh, I had forgotten that was the same year as _Fargo_. William H. Macy’s performance was better. But there are many performances that have lost against inferior competition. I still don’t think that you should disregard a specific role because of a body of work. But I may change my mind if Ashton Kutcher ever has his name read from within the envelope… ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/11 "2007-08-27T19:00:38Z")
I feel so strongly I had to say it twice. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/12 "2007-08-27T19:07:23Z")
Although we’re crossing categories here, Ben Affleck’s Oscar should be taken away. Just for the Bennifer thing if nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/13 "2007-08-27T19:09:49Z")
> [@Southern Yankee](#): > > Isn’t the award supposed to be for that particular performance, and not for lifetime achievement? Except it has dawned on people (or at least me) that it wasn’t really a great performance, but just a particular role that suited his limited talents. It might have seemed good at the time, but in retrospect, it seems as if it was just him being Cuba Gooding Jr. and not really a great performance. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/14 "2007-08-27T19:11:45Z")
John Wayne won for _True Grit_ over Dustin Hoffman in _Midnight Cowboy_. It was wrong then and it’s still wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/15 "2007-08-27T20:19:28Z")
We really, really need to rescue Judi Dench’s Oscar from Gwyneth Paltrow’s mantle. The sooner the better. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/16 "2007-08-27T20:23:51Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] John Wayne won for _True Grit_ over Dustin Hoffman in _Midnight Cowboy_. It was wrong then and it’s still wrong. [/QUOTE] We’ll settle all that when The War’s over. Damn yankees. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/17 "2007-08-27T20:44:14Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] For Mrs. Claus alone, Angela Lansbury should be beaten about the face and neck with all three of her Oscars. [/QUOTE] Miss Lansbury would I’m sure be thrilled to have even one Oscar with which she could be beaten, let alone three. Alas, she has not yet been honored by the Academy. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/18 "2007-08-27T20:50:14Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Miss Lansbury would I’m sure be thrilled to have even one Oscar with which she could be beaten, let alone three. Alas, she has not yet been honored by the Academy. [/QUOTE] Actually she does; she got them for her performance breaking into Hepburn’s house just before the hearse pulled up. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/19 "2007-08-27T20:51:05Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] We’ll settle all that when The War’s over. Damn yankees. 😛 [/QUOTE] Fair enough. Ratzo Rizzo is about as yankeefied as they come. But Joe Buck was a good old boy. Voight was up for the award as well. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124/20 "2007-08-27T20:56:42Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] We really, really need to rescue Judi Dench’s Oscar from Gwyneth Paltrow’s mantle. The sooner the better. [/QUOTE] Judi & Gwyneth won the same year for the same movie. You’re probably thinking of Helen Hunt. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-oscars-should-be-recalled-melted/417124.md?page=2)