OVP: Best Makeup (2008)
The Nominees Were...
Greg Cannom, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan, The Dark Knight
Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz, Hellboy II: The Golden Army
John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan, The Dark Knight
Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz, Hellboy II: The Golden Army
My Thoughts: Ahh! Here we go team-our sixth Oscar Viewing Project is issuing verdicts! As always, we start out with Makeup, principally because it always has only three contenders (though we're going far enough now that there will be other categories that start to emerge as random "three-only" style fields). I'll start right out and say this, because it's something I'm not going to say very often in these write-ups (2008 was not my friend with Oscar), but I genuinely liked all of these nominees, and this is actually a pretty difficult to choose victor for me. Let's get started, shall we?
We'll begin with the film we're going to revisit most frequently these writeups, the 13-times nominated Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which, as we've noted before, managed to upend tradition and miss in Best Actress, which would have landed it a Titanic-level fourteenth nomination). The film is a tech-y delight, but with so much focus on aging, I suspect that Makeup in particular stood out to AMPAS voters. Indeed, while it's occasionally hard to tell when Makeup ends and a Visual Effect begins (this is also true for Hellboy II), it's hard not to see the vigor put in to make Brad Pitt look older and increasingly younger, eventually to the point where he looked like a Thelma & Louise-era Greek god again. I have to admit that I deeply admired this work-it felt pretty authentic, though occasionally a bit silly (when he was a young child, both the effect and the Makeup are clearly evident), which I have to deduct points for. It's worth noting that the other cast members, particularly Blanchett, have to age along with Pitt, and really this is a resoundingly showy nomination.
The same could be said for the gigantic monsters on display in Hellboy II (am I the only person who wants to put Cruise Control behind every film that has a II in the title...I am? Moving on...). The movie borrows pretty heavily from its previous installment, with Ron Perlman's Hellboy and Doug Jones' Abe Sapien standing out in a major way (though they did the first time as wel-I'm kind of shocked the original, a bigger splash, didn't get cited). Amidst the new creations for the movie, I do find that some of del Toro's creatures resemble past work. This is particularly true of the most incredible creation of the bunch, which would be the Angel of Death (pictured above) who resembles in many ways Pan from Pan's Labyrinth. Still, it's hard to argue that this is a really incredible collection of creatures and the Makeup is the centerpiece.
The least showy of the nominees is The Dark Knight, which is nominated chiefly for its two principle villains: Heath Ledger's Joker and Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face. Honestly, though, if you're going to create something truly magical onscreen and get an Oscar nomination for it, you could do far worse. Both of these characters, but particularly the Joker, are wonderful re-imaginings for the Nolan Batman universe. You can see the little nuances they took on the classic interpretations (the Joker's unkempt hair, Eckhart's reliance on black compared to purple as is customary of Harvey Dent), and the way that the makeup artists don't entirely de-sexualize these characters is intriguing (both Eckhart and Ledger are very handsome in real life, and they both retain that beauty instead of just a complete destruction of their faces). Honestly, the Joker himself is my favorite makeup effect of the year, though it's only one in a sea of relatively calm makeup, particularly when compared with Benjamin Button and Hellboy II.
Other Precursor Contenders: BAFTA threw in Hairstyling along with Makeup in its category (this would change for the Oscars in 2008), so we saw The Duchess and Keira Knightley's mile-high hair join more traditional nominees like Frost/Nixon, Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, and Milk (with Benjamin Button taking the trophy). The Saturn Awards also went with Benjamin Button for its trophy, and in addition to Oscar's two nominees they found room for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Tropic Thunder, and Doomsday (a film I have no recollection of that, despite what you could assume from the title, does not star Nicolas Cage). Finally, the Oscars' shortlist contenders for this category and release the list to the public, so the other finalists along with the three eventual nominees were The Reader, Synecdoche, New York, Tropic Thunder, and The Wrestler.
Films I Would Have Nominated: Honestly, as I stated above this is a very strong list, and probably what I would have gone with if I were selecting the nominees. I am always a pusher for five nominations here (why three here and nowhere else?), so if they had gone five-wide I would have liked to have seen Tropic Thunder (my guess for fourth place) which had a lot of impressive if controversial makeup work, as well as The Wrestler, which has low-key elements that pop onscreen, but this is that rare Oscar lineup that I'd genuinely go with the nominees and not some other pipe dream.
Oscar’s Choice: With thirteen nominations and an iconic star at its center, it's not difficult to see how Benjamin Button emerged victorious here.
We'll begin with the film we're going to revisit most frequently these writeups, the 13-times nominated Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which, as we've noted before, managed to upend tradition and miss in Best Actress, which would have landed it a Titanic-level fourteenth nomination). The film is a tech-y delight, but with so much focus on aging, I suspect that Makeup in particular stood out to AMPAS voters. Indeed, while it's occasionally hard to tell when Makeup ends and a Visual Effect begins (this is also true for Hellboy II), it's hard not to see the vigor put in to make Brad Pitt look older and increasingly younger, eventually to the point where he looked like a Thelma & Louise-era Greek god again. I have to admit that I deeply admired this work-it felt pretty authentic, though occasionally a bit silly (when he was a young child, both the effect and the Makeup are clearly evident), which I have to deduct points for. It's worth noting that the other cast members, particularly Blanchett, have to age along with Pitt, and really this is a resoundingly showy nomination.
The same could be said for the gigantic monsters on display in Hellboy II (am I the only person who wants to put Cruise Control behind every film that has a II in the title...I am? Moving on...). The movie borrows pretty heavily from its previous installment, with Ron Perlman's Hellboy and Doug Jones' Abe Sapien standing out in a major way (though they did the first time as wel-I'm kind of shocked the original, a bigger splash, didn't get cited). Amidst the new creations for the movie, I do find that some of del Toro's creatures resemble past work. This is particularly true of the most incredible creation of the bunch, which would be the Angel of Death (pictured above) who resembles in many ways Pan from Pan's Labyrinth. Still, it's hard to argue that this is a really incredible collection of creatures and the Makeup is the centerpiece.
The least showy of the nominees is The Dark Knight, which is nominated chiefly for its two principle villains: Heath Ledger's Joker and Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face. Honestly, though, if you're going to create something truly magical onscreen and get an Oscar nomination for it, you could do far worse. Both of these characters, but particularly the Joker, are wonderful re-imaginings for the Nolan Batman universe. You can see the little nuances they took on the classic interpretations (the Joker's unkempt hair, Eckhart's reliance on black compared to purple as is customary of Harvey Dent), and the way that the makeup artists don't entirely de-sexualize these characters is intriguing (both Eckhart and Ledger are very handsome in real life, and they both retain that beauty instead of just a complete destruction of their faces). Honestly, the Joker himself is my favorite makeup effect of the year, though it's only one in a sea of relatively calm makeup, particularly when compared with Benjamin Button and Hellboy II.
Other Precursor Contenders: BAFTA threw in Hairstyling along with Makeup in its category (this would change for the Oscars in 2008), so we saw The Duchess and Keira Knightley's mile-high hair join more traditional nominees like Frost/Nixon, Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, and Milk (with Benjamin Button taking the trophy). The Saturn Awards also went with Benjamin Button for its trophy, and in addition to Oscar's two nominees they found room for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Tropic Thunder, and Doomsday (a film I have no recollection of that, despite what you could assume from the title, does not star Nicolas Cage). Finally, the Oscars' shortlist contenders for this category and release the list to the public, so the other finalists along with the three eventual nominees were The Reader, Synecdoche, New York, Tropic Thunder, and The Wrestler.
Films I Would Have Nominated: Honestly, as I stated above this is a very strong list, and probably what I would have gone with if I were selecting the nominees. I am always a pusher for five nominations here (why three here and nowhere else?), so if they had gone five-wide I would have liked to have seen Tropic Thunder (my guess for fourth place) which had a lot of impressive if controversial makeup work, as well as The Wrestler, which has low-key elements that pop onscreen, but this is that rare Oscar lineup that I'd genuinely go with the nominees and not some other pipe dream.
Oscar’s Choice: With thirteen nominations and an iconic star at its center, it's not difficult to see how Benjamin Button emerged victorious here.
My Choice: This is so tough! I really want to go with Hellboy II, but I think that it borrows too much from past films, while The Dark Knight totally reinvents the Joker in a way that is instantly classic. So I'm going against the grain already (ooph, and this is one of the best shots Benjamin Button had at an OVP trophy) and pick Batman with Hellboy next and then Brad Pitt after that.
And those are my thoughts-what are yours? Are you with me that The Dark Knight is too classic to ignore? Or are you part of the sweep that wanted Benjamin Button to make it? And why is it that this category only has three nominations when literally every movie uses makeup? Share your thoughts in the comments!
And those are my thoughts-what are yours? Are you with me that The Dark Knight is too classic to ignore? Or are you part of the sweep that wanted Benjamin Button to make it? And why is it that this category only has three nominations when literally every movie uses makeup? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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