8. Marisa Tomei
Easily one of the most controversial and murmured about Oscar wins in the history of the awards, rumour has run rampant for years that Jack Palance, either through idiocy or inebriation, read the wrong name on the envelope, given that Marisa Tomei was an absurdly outgunned contender at that year's Academy Awards. Still, she scooped the Best Supporting Actress Oscar against stiff competition - consisting of Judy Davis (Husbands and Wives), Joan Plowright (Enchanted April), Vanessa Redgrave (Howard's End), and Miranda Richardson (Damage) - to the surprise of just about everyone. This is liable to be a divisive entry given that Tomei has been nominated for two subsequent awards (In the Bedroom, The Wrestler), but each feels like the Academy picking one of its so-called "darlings" than actually nominating one of the five best turns of the year. Tomei has shown more promise in recent years, admittedly, but her CV is still coloured with some thoroughly misguided roles (Anger Management, anyone?) that make her plaudits as an Oscar hopeful just seem wrong. In so many films she is simply blandly forgettable and little else.