So this week sees the release of Your Highness, the new comedy starring Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down), James Franco (a crazy dude) and... Natalie Portman? Yep, the Oscar-winner for Black Swan is the following that flick up with a 100% improvised stoner fantasy movie that has been absolutely savaged by critics. So what makes actors take roles like this after winning the biggest prize the industry has to offer? Let's take a look at some other post-Oscar choices that boggle the mind.

Jamie Foxx shocked the world when he took home the Best Actor award for Ray - who would have thought that the former stand-up and sitcom star could show dramatic range? - but he quickly eradicated any measure of goodwill Hollywood had for him with the release of next year's Stealth. The flick, also starring Jessica Biel and Josh Lucas, was one of the biggest money-losers in film history, costing $138 million to make and taking in barely half of that worldwide.

Long-time character actor Philip Seymour Hoffman won dozens of awards for his portrayal of the titular writer in Capote, but it's obvious that arthouse movies about fey wordsmiths don't pay the bills, because he was next seen mugging it up as black market arms dealer Owen Davian in Mission: Impossible III. Hitting theaters right after Cruise's insane antics on Oprah didn't help matters much.

Helen Mirren took home an Oscar in 2007 for The Queen, but the next time she was seen on the big screen was in Nicolas Cage sequel National Treasure: Book Of Secrets. This seems like a horrendous step down until you realize that the flick she was in before The Queen was Shadowboxer. Haven't seen it? It was directed by the guy who made Precious and it features lots of banging between Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr. If she can win an Oscar after that, anything is possible.

The youngest dude to ever win a Best Actor Oscar, Adrien Brody dazzled the world in 2002's The Pianist. Unfortunately, his next leading role was anything but dazzling. The Village was the point where the world began to turn on director M. Night Shyalaman, as his hackneyed arsenal of twist endings began to get a little threadbare.

Italian actor Roberto Begnini's acceptance speech for Life Is Beautiful is one of the most awkward moments in Oscar history, with the star clambering over seats to reach the stage and take the statue for both Best Actor and Best Director. That didn't help him a few years later, when his atrocious Pinnochio hit screens. Miramax released the flick with no press screenings on Christmas day, a vote of no confidence if we've ever heard one, and the movie was savaged by critics and audiences alike.