The Academy has recently been hard at work shaving the field of contenders over in the Best Visual Effects category — you’ll recall that the crop was initially cut to 15, and then, just last week, snipped even further to 10 — but they’ve finally changed gears today by zeroing in on the Best Makeup category. Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar, for very evident reasons, was widely considered a firm contender, even if Armie Hammer’s facial dressing-up was, to put it lightly, iffy. Green Lantern, in addition, also seemed to be hovering on the outside, for the extreme reworking done on Peter Sarsgaard. But the Academy had their say today, and they nixed both films from contention.
The Iron Lady, another project recognizable for its era-hopping makeup assignment, made the cut of seven, and Phyllida Lloyd’s Meryl Streep-starrer, despite mixed reviews, is beginning to look like something of a frontrunner in this category. Also featured in the shortlist were The Artist, the presumed juggernaut of the season; Hugo, perhaps the second-most prolific awards fighter in play; and Albert Nobbs, which, like The Iron Lady, packs a potential Best Actress nominee.
I personally thought that Anonymous had the most consistently striking cosmetic output of any film I saw this year, so I’m please to see it show up here, even if, overall, Roland Emmerich’s Shakespeare revision hasn’t received nearly enough technical support over the past couple of months.
The entire seven-title shortlist can be found below. Three of them will be cited on nomination morning, January 24.
Best Makeup Contenders