10 Oscar-Worthy Recent Performances The Academy Will Ignore

Bear with me on this one. Everyone knows Jake G is a national treasure, but why do people only applaud his heavier performances? I’ll be the last to argue that Brokeback Mountain, Donnie Darko, Prisoners, Nightcrawler, Stronger, Enemy, or End of Watch aren’t each Oscar worthy in their own right, but I’d just as quickly argue for his take as Morf Vandewalt in Velvet Buzzsaw.

Director Dan Gilroy followed up Nightcrawler and Roman J. Israel, Esq. with a comedy/horror that follows a critic in the world of art profiteering. Gilroy brought Gyllenhaal back but in a much, much different role than Louis Bloom.

The wacky, overconfident, showy, and discourteous Morf is a character we’ve never seen Gyllenhaal take on and one few would have predicted. Whether he’s writing in the nude or deliciously and articulately ripping apart a painting, every frame Gyllenhaal’s on screen is a memorable one.

Velvet Buzzsaw saw negative to average reviews for its strange and surreal concept, but anyone who witnessed would agree that one undeniable positive from the Netflix original is the spectacular and atypical performance.

While so many are commending his role in Spider-Man: Far from Home, take a moment and look at the other side of what the actor can bring.