The Academy likes to spray its golden shower of recognition onto films that deal with “serious” issues but don’t push the skinema envelope. The tiniest whiff of an NC-17 can send Hollywood producers into a cutting room frenzy of piranha-esque proportions, and it’s the three B’s they usually skeletonize in their dig for Oscar gold. This year, Blue Valentine was released initially as an NC-17, but when awards talk started buzzing around star Michelle Williams , the film was changed to an R. Mr. Skin ain’t afraid of no X, so we’re proud to present this tribute to the skintrepid blue movie pioneers of the Academy Awards! The only X-rated film to win an Oscar for Best Picture is 1969’s Midnight Cowboy , starring Jon Voight as a baby-faced hustler. Jon’s dreams might have been shattered by the mean streets of New York, but we’re still enchanted by the magical mammage of his first john (Jane?), played by Brenda Vaccaro . X-rated skinema took a twisted turn with Stanley Kubrick ’s antisocial opus A Clockwork Orange (1971) , nominated for Best Picture. Alex had a taste for the sex as well as the ultraviolence, and his perverted fantasies naturally include plenty of boobies for the droogies. Director Roberto Bertolluci and actor Marlon Brando were both honored by the Academy for their parts in Last Tango in Paris (1973) but we think Maria Schneider deserves a special lifetime skinchievement award for her full frontal fearlessness in this wanktastic classic. In more recent times, the X rating has been replaced by the less xxxplicit sounding NC-17. Henry & June (1990) , the first film ever released with an NC-17, is also the only one to be nominated for an Academy Award (for cinematography). There’s plenty of (well-lit) skin in this celebration of la vie boheme (aka bisexual horndoggery) in 1920s Paris. Perhaps someday a randy redeemer will come along and liberate the Academy from their hangups, and a titillating tide of nudity will come washing over the Oscars like a cleansing flood. But until that sexcellent day, blue movies (and Mr. Skin) stand stiffly alone. We can only get down on our knees and, uhm…pray. Stay tuned for more Academy-Award winning nudity all this week on the Mr. Skin blog !
See the article here:
Oscar Nudity: X (and NC-17) Rated Oscar Nominees [PICS]
