Tag: Gary Oldman

Celebrate Gary Oldman’s birthday with a double feature

Jeff Mitchell

Happy Birthday, Gary Oldman!  The consummate and immensely talented British actor celebrates his 60th birthday on March 21.   While Oldman certainly starred in understated supporting roles in colossal movie franchises like “Harry Potter” and Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy, he can electrify the screen with edgy, highly kinetic performances, when the character calls for it, beginning with his turn as Sex Pistols bass player Sid Vicious in “Sid & Nancy” (1986).  Known for diving into diverse roles, Oldman – of course – won the Best Actor Oscar for Sid Vicious’s complete…

Oldman’s performance brings light to ‘Darkest Hour’

Jeff Mitchell

“Darkest Hour” – “I am unwanted.” – Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) Untested, unappreciated and soon-to-be unwanted within Parliament, Winston Churchill became the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister in May 1940, because Neville Chamberlain resigned during Germany’s rapid advance through Western Europe during World War II.  Inheriting a country teetering between appeasement and conflict, Churchill sided with the latter.  Rather than negotiate peace, his instinct was to fight Hitler and his fearsome military, but with 300,000 British soldiers trapped on the French beaches of Dunkirk, treaties between Germany and/or Italy became much…