Somehow, Academy members neglected to recognize the towering performance of David Oyelowo as civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr in Selma. Maybe some of the blame can go to the producers for not mounting as aggressive a campaign as some of the other films, but it doesn't seem right that he didn't at least get a nomination. And as good as Bradley Cooper was in his film, it feels sort of cruelly ironic that he was nominated for American Sniper while David Oyelowo was snubbed for playing one of America's greatest historical figures whose life was cut tragically short by a gunman. Not many people thought that Selma was a major contender Best Picture, but most would have pegged Oyelowo's performance as something powerful and captivating, and before today he probably would have been seen as a definite nomination and possibly even a dark horse possibility for the award itself. So for him to not even get nominated is a huge deal.