5. Daniel Craig - Skyfall
His pursed trout-like pout might be something of a joke, but Daniel Craig's Bond is arguably the finest we've yet seen on screen in terms of the performance itself. Ignoring the occasional self-conscious parody of other Bond actors - though still exhibiting the famous ever-so-British dry wit - Craig's blonde Bond feels infinitely more layered, thanks to recent film-makers' attempts to break the surface of the character a little more. In Craig they found the perfect answer - he is teak-tough yet still retains that boyish vulnerability thanks to his piercing eyes - and he is utterly relatable, even despite the superhuman connotations of the character. In Skyfall, we saw even more beneath the surface, as it began to crack, and Craig's performance was an exceptional high-point in a film full of great performances.
Why The Snub? Repeat performances of the same character are usually less than fruitful for actors, no matter how they improve over time, and a Bond film is hardly the best breeding ground for Oscar-worthy performances - at least not in the Academy's eyes.