What exactly does Timothy Spall have to do to get a little bit of attention? Anyone who actually went to see Mr. Turner (which unfortunately isn't that many people) is likely heartbroken that Timothy Spall was missed out yet again for the Best Actor category at the Academy Awards. In it, he plays the famous British artist J.M.W. Turner, who had a role in elevating landscape painting from something that many considered just a hobby into a legitimate art form. His work was really strong there, and he won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, so very early on in this film season he had been getting a significant amount of buzz for Mr. Turner. It's a problem that's not exactly unique to the Oscars, though; he didn't end up garnering a nomination from the BAFTAs, either.