Categories One-by-One: Makeup

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Sabin
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Post by Sabin »

Benjamin Button, but with a little doubt in my mind. I had no idea that some of the makeup on Brad Pitt wasn't digital effects. Cate Blanchett certainly looks convincingly aged but I don't know if anyone really enjoys those scenes of the film. I think it's going to win, but both The Dark Knight and Hellboy 2 have an outside chance.

I'm personally rooting for Hellboy 2.
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Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

Button without a doubt.
Mister Tee
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Post by Mister Tee »

The nominees are:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

Hellboy 2 has exponentially more makeup than del Toro's winning Pan's Labyrinth -- everywhere you look, there's another grotesque creature. But Hellboy, however enjoyable, isn't the sort of serious movie Academy voters prefer to honor here if there are stronger options.

The Dark Knight has, essentially, two notable makeup achievements: Eckhart's short-lived Two-Face look, and the Joker's grotesque mask. Oscars have been won for limited work, assuming it impressed voters enough (Mask, Ed Wood) or was simply the only option they found palatable (Mrs. Doubtfire). Here, though, I think they'll go for a more elaborate option.

In Benjamin Button, makeup is virtually a character. It's not just the old age look of Brad at the beginning and Cate in the hospital. It's the many ages of Brad -- often subtle differences, showing the passage of just a few years by the disappearance of a few worry lines. This film uses makeup in a dramatic way that few contenders in the past have. Driving Miss Daisy might be the most relevant precedent, but even there the makeup wasn't as essential to the film's text as it is here in Button.

I see makeup and visual effects as virtually a paired award for Button, and expect both wins to be fairly easy.
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