Categories One-by-One: Costume Design

dws1982
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Post by dws1982 »

The Original BJ wrote:Maybe I'm the only one with too much time on my hands -- but anyone else can start one of these if they so desire!
I'd like to do some categories like I have in the past, but I'm waiting until there's a category where I've seen all of the nominees. I've only got one left in a few categories, though, so I should be able to do some soon.

Agree about The Duchess being the frontrunner here. Lord knows it needs something to justify its existence, and a costume design Oscar would be justification enough.

Also agree with Oscar Guy that Benjamin Button could win here without necessarily meaning much about its Best Picture chances. Button has all kinds of styles of costumes, from about seven different decades, and could easily win. But those big gowns from The Duchess are hard to bet against.
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Post by OscarGuy »

Magilla, only Milk winning this award would mean positive things for its Best Picture chances. Benjamin Button is already a strong contender, and like The Aviator, may win this category for being one of the biggest costume pieces of the year.
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Post by flipp525 »

rain Bard wrote:b) you're doing such a fine job with these posts that the bar has been set intimidatingly high.

I agree. Excellent work, BJ!




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Post by Big Magilla »

This category in recent years has been one by the film with the most costumes and/or the prettiest costumes despite the quality of the film- Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Marie Antoinette, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Aviator and so on. I'd be shocked if anything other than The Duchess won this.

If either Button or Milk pulls an upset in this category it means that film is on a bit of a roll and has a much stronger shot at the big one than we think.
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Post by rain Bard »

I suspect the two reasons why most of us are not creating these threads are: a) not all of us have seen all the films yet (for my part, the only category where I've checked off all the nominees is Best Song), and b) you're doing such a fine job with these posts that the bar has been set intimidatingly high.

That said, I do think your analysis of this race, while mostly sound, overlooks one potentially important factor: the Duchess showed far weaker box office clout than even Australia. It is in fact the lowest achiever of the five nominees, even though it opened on more screens than the next-lowest-grossers Revolutionary Road and Milk have thus far peaked at.

The question is, how many voters have even seen the Duchess? Not that Oscar voter attendance necessarily matches with that of the general public or even contributes to it in the tiniest of ways; they get private screenings, free passes to commercial engagements, and of course screener DVDs. (and it may help the Duchess that it's been available on Blu-Ray for the entire voting period- does anyone know if Academy screeners are Blu-Ray yet these days?)

Oscar voters are supposed to see every nominee in a category or else leave it blank. But I wonder how many actually do, except in those categories in which this protocol is enforced, like the Documentaries? Maybe not enough to overwhelm the votes by those who like the costumes in the Curious Case of Benjamin Button well enough, and want to avoid letting the highest-grossing BP nominee lay a goose egg, therefore marking their ballot for it in this category whether they've seen all the other nominees, or not.
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Post by The Original BJ »

Maybe I'm the only one with too much time on my hands -- but anyone else can start one of these if they so desire!

I'm not really crazy about a lot of the down-ballot categories this year -- certainly the tech races aren't as exciting as last year -- but the costumers still managed to cull together what I think of as an exciting and diverse group of the nominees. Each of the nominated films is full of clothes that not only look great, but also contribute substantially to the essence of what these films are trying to accomplish.

And sometimes, those films might not be great. Case in point: Australia, a lumbering mess of a movie. But the clothes sure look purty, and they fit the film's outsize theatricality in a way that doesn't go overboard like some of the film's elements do (like the photography, yikes!) There's enough eye-popping on glamour on display that I guess a win is still possible, but the film's poor box office and single nomination make it seem unlikely.

A lot of us were happy about Milk's nomination here, myself included. It seems to reflect an exciting trend among the designers the past couple years to recognize contemporary (or, in this case, at least MORE contemporary) work. One of the finest non-narrative aspects of Milk is its ability to evoke an era, and the fun clothes go a long way to helping accomplish that -- doesn't it feel like these outfits are what the characters would just have in their closets? (Pardon the pun.) Still, I think the non-glam factor obviously makes it a real non-contender for the win.

Kate and Leo look aces in Revolutionary Road, a gorgeously-designed film. I love the way some of the clothes don't really seem to fit the actors -- Kate felt awkward in one or two of her dresses, and Leo still seems to be playing dress-up in those shirts and ties. How perfect, then, for a film about characters attempting and failing to fit some immaculate portrait of perfection. Those clothes also don't feel lived-in, as if they are more for show than actual functional garments. I'd definitely think about voting for it -- but then again, I mostly liked Revolutionary Road, an opinion the Academy didn't seem to echo. This wouldn't necessarily be the biggest killer, but with more likely options on the ballot, it doesn't help.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button could possibly win based on popularity, as well as on sheer number of costumes, and number of time periods covered. The cast looks splendid and the clothes are a big part of signifying the different eras as the film hops through American history.

But in the end, I think voters will pick The Duchess. After Benjamin Button, I heard people exiting the theater discussing many aspects of the film; after The Duchess, all anyone could talk about was how beautiful those clothes looked. The film practically seems to exist to show off those costumes, and the not-certain set design nomination signals a bit more support than maybe would even be necessary to win this prize. (After all, Marie Antoinette's similarly lush gowns snagged the trophy with its only nomination.) And, as obvious a choice as it might be, I think The Duchess deserves the prize -- if the film's nothing more than a fashion show, at least it's a pretty luminous one, which never devolves into the sheer garishness of some costume dramas. (Not that that would hurt its win chances either: see Elizabeth 2).

So to me, recent history would suggest that The Duchess is pretty much a go. But what do y'all think? Can Benjamin Button pull off a mini-sweep of the techs, pulling in a prize here? Or can Mrs. Baz Luhrmann survive the Australia sinking ship and win again?
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