By Rory Reynolds
FILM critics have tipped Scots star Tilda Swinton for a second Oscar after a blazing performance in her latest screen role.
The 49-year-old has received critical acclaim for her performance in Julia as a boozy party girl caught up in a kidnap plot.
The role, which sees the real-life teetotaller launch into alcoholic rages, impressed critics, despite not faring well at the box office.
US film guru Roger Ebert – whose column is published in more than 200 titles, said: “Julia is the most striking performance in the Tilda Swinton’s exciting career.
“She gave the best performance by an actress in 2009.“Her work in Julia is pure power channelled into a raging drunk who, by and large behaves as such a person plausibly might.
Great, great, and great again
“Swinton has been great, great and great again in movie after movie.”
Despite not nearly covering its budget of around £3.7million, the movie boosted its profile after the DVD launch.
Matt Mazur, contributing editor a PopMatters online magazine, also tipped Swinton for a second Academy Award.
He said: “Her off-the-rails work in Julia has been a strong presence on most critics’ year-end lists of great female performances.”
While Neil Morris of The Independent Weekly praised the Scot’s performance, adding that she was “a hidden gem”.
The nominations for the 2010 Academy Awards will be revealed on 2 February, with the ceremony taking place at the beginning of March.
In 2008, the Elgin-based actress won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of ruthless business executive Karen Crowder in the slow-burning thriller, Michael Clayton.
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