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Categorized: Award Show News

Name the Noms: Oscar Make-up and Visual Effects Finalists

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A little bit of crossover here...

Brad Brevet
By:
Published: Tuesday, January 6th 2009 at 11:38 PM

So that's how that works…
Photo: Paramount Pictures via "New York Times"

Yesterday In Contention got revealed the seven finalists for the Oscar Best Makeup category and today the Academy sent over the seven finalists in the running in the Visual Effects category at the 2009 Oscars.

You will remember back on December 12 we published the list of 15 Visual Effects contenders and the three I took a guess at receiving the nominations (Benjamin Button, Hellboy II and The Mummy) are still in the running. Here are the seven remaining as three will be announced on January 22.

  • Australia
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • The Dark Knight
  • Hellboy II: The Golden Army
  • Iron Man
  • Journey to the Center of the Earth
  • The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

As for the makeup contenders I am not so sure Button will be able to carryover as a lot of that I believe was CGI as you can see from the animated GIF at the opening of this article taken from this slideshow at the New York Times.

Nope, if I had to guess on this one I would go with Hellboy and The Wrestler and I am torn between Tropic Thunder and Synecdoche. Here's the shortlist.

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • The Dark Knight
  • Hellboy II: The Golden Army
  • The Reader
  • Synecdoche, New York
  • Tropic Thunder
  • The Wrestler

What do you think will be the three noms in each category?

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There are 10 comments so far. Scroll down to share your thoughts.

Showing 10 Comments

  1. atl roller`

    benjamin button should win this award hands down! the movie was amazing and the make up and visual effects were outstanding. i was blown away by the whole movie

  2. Scott

    I think if we're going purely on incorporating digital effects seamlessly into a live action film I'd go with The Dark Knight because I can't really specifically think of one time where I 100% noticed a visual effects shot (and I'm assuming that this Oscar doesn't solely mean digital effects either). Ben Button did a great job, but I still thought the face wasn't 100% photoreal (something that I still am amazed they were able to do in Pirates 2, I think Davey Jones looks 100% photoreal).

    My nominees would be:

    – The Dark Knight*
    – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    – Iron Man

  3. Brad Brevet (Post Author)

    @Scott: Come on… Two Face was anything but photo real. That is the one big thing I wish I had mentioned in my review, but I was doing my best to keep all mention of the Two Face makeup quiet so as not to spoil it for anyone.

  4. kassiopeia

    It's a toughie – I'm guessing with these awards if you DON'T notice their work then they've done a great job, but whoever did Maggie Gyllenhaal's make-up for TDK should be ashamed of themselves for making a beautiful woman look so, well, rough!

  5. Ethan

    I have to say… even though I'm not a particularly big fan of Iron Man, that suit was probably the prettiest thing I've seen in a movie this year. It's a testament to its general potency when I was unable to distinguish what was CGI and what was real. For this reason, Iron Man deserves a nomination for visual effects.

    So, for visual effects:

    -Iron Man
    -Benjamin Button
    -Either Hellboy or TDK. Probably Hellboy.

  6. adu

    Button should win both.

  7. joker47

    Visual Effects
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    Iron Man
    Hellboy 2

    Make-Up
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    Tropic Thunder
    Hellboy 2

  8. JM

    Here's what I think:

    Visual Effects:
    * Australia
    * The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    * The Dark Knight

    Makeup:
    * The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
    * The Dark Knight
    * Tropic Thunder

    Actually, that seems rather inaccurate. I haven't watched all the films, though, so I'm working in the dark. I think they'll nominate "Australia" for visual effects because last year they nominated "Golden Compass" even though it bombed in the U.S. And both movies had great special effects. I just hope they don't nominate Mummy 3.

  9. Tracy Jordan

    Well, no thoughts on visual effects, but I think that Synecdoche, New York is a thousand times more likely to get on the makeup shortlist than The Dark Knight or Tropic. I'm not quite as confident about my number three, but

    makeup
    1. benjamin button
    2. synecdoche, new york
    3. The Reader

  10. Charles Thompson

    Hellboy 2 is the winner for makeup. I f you haven't seen it, you should if only for the brilliant character designs, the massive body of spectacular work and the spellbinding 'Angel of Death' makeup. Truly remarkable, innovative stuff here.

    The other two who deserve a nom are:
    Tropic Thunder
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

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