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Every year when you look at the Oscar slate, there’s bound to be a few things that jump out at you and cause you to ask, “What the fuck?” The obvious one this year is Norbit actually being nominated for an Academy Award. (For more on that, see WTF: The Academy Award Nominated Norbit)

The only other nomination that really sends my head in a spin is Ruby Dee for Best Supporting Actress.

I mean, Ruby Dee? As Denzel Washington’s mom in American Gangster?

What the fuck?

Nothing against Ruby Dee. I think she’s a pretty good actress, and she’s a Cleveland girl, so you’ve gotta love her for that. But her role in American Gangster was hardly Oscar-worthy.

The most obvious reason why this is a clear BS nomination that she got probably because she’s just so damned old (83, which is the second oldest actress ever nominated) is how long she’s in the film. Apparently she’s in the movie for only slightly more than five minutes of screen time. Considering the movie’s 157-minute running time, she’s getting the nomination for being in just north of three percent of the film.

This makes Judi Dench’s Oscar-winning 8-minute cameo in Shakespeare in Love look like a leading role. You’ve just gotta think this is equivalent to nominating Stephen Root for his bit part in No Country for Old Men… or maybe Rob Schneider from The Waterboy.

To make things worse, her role was pretty much a throwaway part. When the nominations came out, I had forgotten she was even in the movie. After all, when you think of the most memorable scenes from American Gangster, I’ll bet you think of Denzel shooting a guy in the head on the open street… not Ruby Dee smacking him upside his.

At least Judi Dench played the frickin’ queen of England. I guess you could say that this award is a smack in the face to all the other nominees, but it was a smack in the face that got the nomination for her.