8. Snubbing Matthew McConaughey for Best Supporting Actor
For reasons that are completely beyond my comprehension, one of the most praised performances of the year is Matthew McConaughey's turn as an aging stripper in Magic Mike. McConaughey has already won multiple critics circle awards, placed very high on many end-of-the-year polls, and has garnered multiple high-profile nominations for his performance, including the Indie Spirit awards, the Broadcast Film Critics Association awards, and more. And for the life of me I simply do not understand why. Setting aside the fact that the film itself, Magic Mike, is mediocre at best and has been receiving way more praise than it deserves, McConaughey himself is really nothing to write home about. It isn't a bad performance per se, but I can't help the feeling that McConaughey is essentially just playing himself in the film. His performances in Bernie and Killer Joe this year were more impressive than his turn in Magic Mike anyway, though neither of those performances were Oscar-worthy either.