Categories One-by-One: Makeup and Hairstyling

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Big Magilla
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Makeup and Hairstyling

Post by Big Magilla »

I thought The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared would be the last film of this year's nominees I would get to see, but lo and behold I was at Costco this morning and came across the DVD in the bins for $12.99, almost as much of a bargain as Costco's gas at $1.45 per gallon.

The film is an absolute delight in the mode of Zelig and Forrest Gump and would be an easy pick for me if I had a vote. Alas, I don't think the majority of the actual voters will even bother to seek it out and vote in the obviousness of The Revenant or the garishness of Max Max: Fury Road.

Should win: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Will win: Max Max: Fury Road
The Original BJ
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Makeup and Hairstyling

Post by The Original BJ »

A tip of the hat to the makeup branch for 1) choosing three obviously worthy nominees and 2) avoiding any films that make you want to leap from a bridge instead of endure. (Well, I guess your mileage may vary on the latter, but given some of the alarmingly bad films chosen by this branch, I say we all got off easy this year.)

I also enjoyed The 100-Year-Old Man..., though more for the journey than the destination -- I thought it had a genuinely inventive narrative, with a lot of laughs along the way, but by the end of the story I didn't feel like it had amounted to very much. Still, I'm glad to have seen it, and the makeup is clearly impressive, as the protagonist ages through many different periods of his life, gradually looking older flashback by flashback as the movie goes on. But I think this random nomination for a barely-seen movie has zero chance against the two nomination leaders.

And in both cases, I don't think either film is simply coasting on Best Picture heat -- Mad Max has a lot of sun-damaged skin, scars, and other imaginative grotesquerie on display, and The Revenant has the intensity of DiCaprio's wounds as well as the generally grungy hair and beards on all of the men. Neither would be a surprising winner, but I too am leaning in Mad Max's direction. When faced with choices between realism and fantasy, all other things being equal, the latter seems more often to be clearer path to the podium in this category.
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Makeup and Hairstyling

Post by Mister Tee »

The best thing the make-up branch did this year was direct me to the 100 Year Old Man..., a movie I'd otherwise have never known existed. The movie's not exactly great -- it gets less inventive in the later reels -- but, for much of the way, I had no idea where it was going next, and it had more "didn't see that coming" laughs than any recent movie I can recall. The make-up on the lead character was indeed impressive -- since it started with him at 100, I had no idea for a while the actor himself was so much younger. But it's just one effect, in an obscure movie, so I don't think it has much hope of triumphing.

Many of the tech categories will probably come down to a Revenant/Mad Max face-off, and I have no idea whether one will run the table or if voters will share the wealth (poor The Martian seems to have become an also-ran; in a normal year, it'd be competing for a lot of the tiny techs, as well). Here, I'll lean the opposite way from FilmFan: when I came out of Mad Max, sound, editing and make-up were the three areas I thought it most likely to dominate. The Revenant, as a leading best picture candidate, would certainly be a strong candidate most any year, but this year I think the garish effects on the pursuing army of Fury Road will carry the day.
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Categories One-by-One: Makeup and Hairstyling

Post by FilmFan720 »

You have to give it to the Makeup branch -- they consistently find some interesting, worthwhile nominees completely off the mainstream radar and nominate them here.

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared is a very fun Swedish Forrest Gump, and the makeup that ages the central character is very effective. I'm not sure if it is enough to win (after all, these one-off nominees very rarely win these days and when they do it is for Wolfman sized effects), but it is nice to have this on the list.

Best Picture nominees have won the past three years, and if The Revenant or Mad Max don't seem effect-heavy enough for a win, neither did Les Miz or Dallas Buyers Club. I would imagine that this will tilt towards whichever of the two nomination leaders starts to pick up the most tech awards, but if I have to guess now, I would say that Leo's chapped lips will triumph over the dust blown denizens of Mad Max.
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