Worst Actress Oscar

Hollywood lost a great man the other day in Tony Scott. Since coming on the scene in 1986 with Top Gun, he had consistently directed entertaining films. Although he was never really recognized for his contributions critically, his films often led to box office success. He worked with Denzel Washington five times, making him the actor's closest and most trusted friend in the industry. He was a true champion of his genre. RIP, Tony.

Here is part two of the commentary on the worst Actors ever to win Oscars. Who is the worst actress ever to win the Best Actress Oscar? It's hands down Halle Berry from 2001's Monster's Ball. That film is amazing, despite how dark and depressing it truly is. The ensemble is well cast, and it tugs at every emotion possible from loss, to racism, to poverty, capital punishment, obesity, family dysfunction, and the list goes on and on. My contention is that you could put just about any black actress into that role, and she would have won the Best Actress Oscar. It was a relative weak year for that category, and proof is that Renee Zelweger was nominated for Bridget Jones' Diary.

She became the first African American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar, and speculation and conspiracies abound about how that particular race barrier had been a target by the academy, and they jumped at their first legitimate chance to break it. Well done, academy.

What earns her the distinction I'm bestowing upon her has nothing to do with race, or even her performance in Monster's Ball, which was commendable. No, my criticism of Halle Berry is the rest of her body of work.

Her personal troubles have been widely publicized, and it's safe to say that she's established a career based on her enduring beauty (she's still got it at 46 years old). She started doing films in 1991 with Spike Lee after a couple of years of forgettable television series'. Let's take a look at her poor choices.

I think it's safe to say that things started going downhill for Halle in 1994 when she agreed to take part in The Flintstones. Until that point, she was in films that catered to a mostly African-American audience. She worked with Spike Lee, Damon Wayans, Eddie Murphy, and Wesley Snipes. A good start to a young woman's career. I'm not sure what about The Flintstones made sense at that point, but I hope she had fun spending her paycheck. It's one of the worst films of the decade, and there were some pretty awful films in the 90's.

She then did a string of African-American movies, including the commendable made for TV Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, which earned her an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of the late singer and racial pioneer.

Here's where she mixes things up a bit. She enters the action genre with a role in the original X-Men franchise, which displayed some of her worst acting to date. She did Swordfish, which was a vehicle for her to display her breasts, and for which she openly bragged about how much she was paid for her efforts. I think it was $500,000 per breast if I remember right.

Then she wanted to be a Bond Girl. This was a dark time for 007, and although I like Pierce Brosnan, he had some of the most awful Bond Girls of all time. The string of Teri Hatcher, Denise Richards, and Halle Berry were all terrible decisions. Just embarrassing.

Fast forward to 2004. Arguably the worst movie of that decade. Catwoman. Just three years after winning an Oscar in the midst of bad action films, she takes on this project that she has publicly regretted. It wasn't just a bad movie, it was a "have your friends over, make popcorn, and laugh your ass off" kind of movie. Ultimately and deservedly, it won the golden Razzie superfecta of Actress, Director, Picture, and Screenplay. Did I say it was a bad movie?

She redeemed herself ever so slightly about 5 years ago with two decent performances, and two good film choices in Things We Lost in the Fire, and Frankie and Alice. They were exactly what her career needed at the time and about the ceiling of what she's capable of. Then came Dark Tide. I had the misfortune of watching this film recently, and it might be one of the worst performances of THIS decade. Wow, three decades of bad movies. I'm not sure I can name many actors who have accomplished this feat.

She's got 3 projects coming up, including the intriguing Cloud Atlas by the Wachowskis' starring Tom Hanks in 4 different roles. Berry has 2 different roles. Should be very interesting at the least, and could bring her career out of the depths of shame.

Here's a little something to satiate your sense of humor. You will get it if you saw her emotional breakdown at the Oscars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-7s_yeQuDg.

Here's a look at Berry as Catwoman in a little montage set to music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P5l36B8qPw.