Ok, don't like him if you want. But calling him a hack is a little off. I mean, a plurality of professionals in the movie making industry decided he was the best of the five. A plurality of actors alone decided he should be nominated. So, when that happens I figure the people who actually do the work, make a living at it and know the craft say someone has got chops, they are probably not far off.
For the longest time people have been saying that the Academy hates Penn and that he'll never win despite the fact that he's one of the greatest actors of his generation. Guess they were wrong. Depp will probably get another shot, but he doesn't tend to take the kind of roles that cry out for nominations. Murray, while a great actor, unfortunately waited very late in his career to start doing the kind of work that catches peoples attention.
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Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds
-Albert Einstein