By Terence Johnson
Managing Editor
The process of short listing nominees isn’t a new and neither is the “snubbing” of perceived contenders. However, even seasoned Oscar watchers had to find themselves perplexed when the Academy announced the short list for the Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar. When the makeup artists convene on January 11 to watch the 10 minute reels, they’ll be in for an interest experience.
Here are the shortlisted films for Makeup and Hairstyling:
“American Hustle”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“The Great Gatsby”
“Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters”
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa”
“The Lone Ranger”
Yes, you read that list correctly. In a vacuum, a list like this might not seem too terrible but there are so many notable exclusions here that it’s tough to reconcile. Surely a film like Rush or Lee Daniels’ The Butler or The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug or any number of other films (and there are a great many) could have placed here over say Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters.
This branch has been overhauled in the past few years, including Hairstyling as criteria and adding it to the title of the category. But even then, most serious prognosticators weren’t predicting any of these films, save for American Hustle, in the top 10 of possible nominees. What’s perhaps most perplexing that the nominees offer a pretty broad range of genres that are at least adjacent to what they normally like. Over the past twenty years their favorite things to honor in this category are:
-Period Pieces: 13 wins
-Films with Old Age Makeup: 10 wins
-Rick Baker movies: 5 wins
(This is an analysis of the 20 year trends. Not all of these wins attributed to each category are for separate films as many like Les Miserables combine old age and period makeup.)
Just looking at those three categories, the only nominee shortlisted that doesn’t really fit into that is The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and perhaps Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters (though the Academy regularly awards fantasy epics, they’re not big fans of horror).
So what nominees are we going to get from this field? Of the ones listed, American Hustle seems like the safest bet for a nom. It’s showy work (period costumes and that glorious, glorious hair) and with Best Picture heat, this could certainly get in rather easily. After American Hustle, the nominees become just a game of pick and choose. In the last five years of this category, there has been only one year where there wasn’t a film that had less than a $120 million domestic gross, which should bode well for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire which is looking to score some nominations. The addition of hairstyling to this category leads me to believe that The Great Gatsby will get the last slot (that movie was nothing if not a visual feast). The Lone Ranger is a good presentation away from being nominated for an Oscar and Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa could easily fill in the Norbit/Click slot they sometimes have. However, the “spoiler” is probably Dallas Buyers Club, which after picking up three SAG nominations, including Ensemble, could be headed towards a Best Picture nomination.
For now, the nominees look like: American Hustle, The Great Gatsby, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, with Hustle winning in a walk.
Tags: American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club, Hansel & Gretel With Hunters, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, The Great Gatsby, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Lone Ranger
Source:
http://scottfeinberg.com/oscars-2013-makeup-and-hairstyling-snubs-weirdest-short-list-ever