Fans of The Dishmaster know my love for Leonardo DiCaprio. He’s extremely skilled at picking roles, and he consistently churns out quality performances. But despite his artistic and financial success, Dicaprio is consistently overlooked by the Academy. When you add up the amount of times he didn’t recieve a deserved Oscar nomination, you might shed a tear on his behalf. I suppose his wads of cash serve as a nice consolation prize, but the disrespect still infuriates me. The greatest example of this happened in 1997, when everyone and their mother got an Oscar nomination for Titanic, except Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio skipped the Oscars that year, probably in silent defiance. Since then, he’s had numerous Oscar worthy roles, though the Academy disagreed. Examples include: The Aviator; The Departed; Blood Diamond; Revolutionary Road; Shutter Island; and most recently, Inception. So why do they hate him, and will they ever come around? I’m not sure, but perhaps Sean Penn will give him hope. When Sean Penn won the Oscar for Mystic River, he said, “I guess this proves it’s not a popularity contest.” If the actor most hated by the Academy can win, so can Leo.