To be fair Hopkins had won Best Actor two years earlier for Silence of the Lambs. The Oscars have never been entirely comfortable giving Academy Awards that close together (when Tom Hanks won back to back Oscars in 1993-1994 it was the first time it had happened for any performer since Katherine Hepburn in 1967-1968. I think it's only happened three times in Oscar history and none of them after Hanks' second win.)

Still if an Oscar could be given for a body of work in a single year, Hopkins would have more than merited it in 1994. In addiiton to his incredible work in Remains, he gave an equally measured but brilliant performance as C.S. Lewis in the criminally underrated movie Shadowlands. That said, it was a strong field. In addition to Hanks, Daniel Day-Lewis was nominated for In the Name of The Father, Liam Neeson for Schindler's List and Laurence Fishburne for What's Love Got to Do With It. You mentioned that Al Pacino was left out for his work in Carlito's Way; they also ignored Harvey Keitel for The Piano and Clint Eastwood for In the Line of Fire. 1993 was a strong year.