History's Biggest Oscar Snub

As Oscar night rapidly approaches (TOMORROW! NIGHT! HOLY! SHIT!) I would like to take a moment to address the snubs; those performances that were overlooked or ignored when nomination time came around. For example, many people thought Anthony Perkins should have been nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of Norman Bates in Psycho. Still others felt that Cary Grant should've been nominated for Philadelphia Story. The list of overlooked performances goes on and on, however I firmly believe that I have pinpointed the biggest Oscar snub in the history of this stupid, self-serving, self-sucking award ceremony.

That's right:

Terry Kiser in Weekend at Bernie's.

Now you're probably asking yourself one question: "Andrew," you're asking, "don't you mean Weekend at Bernie's was snubbed all together? What about a Best Picture nomination?" The answer I give you is: No. No one should ever acknowledge Jonathan Silverman's work as 'best' anything. Don't try to tell me what I mean. I know what I mean.

Terry Kiser is a gem in this little film. He's not just the hilarious, rotting corpse the film is known for. He's also devilish when he's playing Bernie while he's still alive. The way he dastardly tricks Silverman and Andrew McCarthy into coming out to his beach house to kill them is just spine-tingling! This level of villainy is up there with legends like Robert De Niro in This Boy's Life or Robert De Niro in Cape Fear or even Robert De Niro in Backdraft!

Terry Kiser was not nominated for an Oscar for his daring, heartwarming, scary, intelligent, comedic, erotic role. For that I can only say "shame" on the Academy for this grandiose oversight. The only solace I can find in all of this is that Kiser was eventually able to bounce back (and the Academy was able to come to their senses!) and garner a nomination when, in 1993, he reprised his role as Bernie Lomax in the rom-com Weekend at Bernie's II; proof that people can make mistakes and in turn make up for them.

Oscar snubs happen every year guaranteed. Many feel that Keira Knightley was snubbed this year for her performance in Atonement. Hopefully next year the Academy will fix this large error and nominate her for the sure-to-be-grand performance in Atonement II: I Still Don't Give a Fuck.

- AJ