The devastated look in Leonardo DiCaprio's eyes as he lost the Oscar for Best Leading Actor to Matthew McConaughey on March 2, 2014 may never be erased from our minds.  Props to McConaughey for killing it in Dallas Buyers Club and for losing an unreal amount of weight for it, but we all know it was Leo's turn to win an Oscar. DiCaprio has been Oscar nominated a casual four times, including Best Actor in a Supporting role for the 1993 film, What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for The Aviator in 2005, Blood Diamond in 2007, and last but not least, Wolf of Wall Street in 2014.

But Leo's lack of little gold men to put up on his shelves is not my only problem with the Academy. I also feel there is a significant lack in nominations for his outstanding performances over the years. Although I might be a little biased, as the most respected type of award in Hollywood, I think Leo deserves at least one out of his 25 years as an actor.

The year 1997 was  magical.  Why, you might ask.  Because it was the release of Titanic, of course. This is where our love story with Leo truly began. While Titanic won a slew of Oscars in 1998, including one for James Cameron and Jon Landau for Best Motion Picture, there was no room for nominations for Leo -- just as there apparently was not room for him on that stupid piece of wood.

2002 was a great year for Leo as an actor, but unfortunately not as an Oscar nominee. I was blown away by his performance as a cunning con artist in Catch Me if You Can, but he was criticized in his film Gangs of New York for having no chemistry with his co-star, Cameron Diaz. Don't even ask me how that is possible.

Leo was shown his third glimmer of hope in 2007 with his nomination for Blood Diamond, another flawless performance by the greatest actor of our generation.  We watched as the hopes and dreams of walking onto the Academy Awards stage vanished right before his eyes. Not to mention, he lost to an actor who starred in a movie I had never even heard of.  Way to go, Academy.

How could we ever forget DiCaprio's performances in the following years in Inception, Shutter Island, and Django. Through these projects, he showed us his versatility and ability to blow audiences away by completely transforming himself into the characters he plays, down to the most specific details.

I think my heart stopped when I found out Leo was cast as the infamous Jay Gatsby from F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous novel, The Great Gatsby.  Although I did not think it was possible, the amazingly talented actor was even able to outshine the efforts of Robert Redford in the 1974 movie.

Now, for the moment we have all been waiting for -- it is time to acknowledge Leonardo DiCaprio's unbelievably amazing performance as Jordan Belfort in last year's film, The Wolf of Wall Street. Just when we thought he could not get any better, he gave the performance of a lifetime in this raunchy, yet incredible film. I mean, who could forget the "lude" scene in which Leo is crawling on the ground completely out of his mind?  That took some serious dedication. So after witnessing all of his incredible hard work, we truly thought 2014 was going to be his year. However, despite his loss, he showed his true character by respectfully congratulating McConaughey as we watched with broken hearts.  

While this year did not provide Leo with a project for an opportunity at an Oscar nomination, we applaud him for his amazing talent, devotion to his characters, and ability to impress us more with each film he stars in. So cheers to you, Leonardo DiCaprio. Keep doing you.