VFX Oscar Upset: Rainbow Bridge of Asgard Shut Down For Repairs
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 12:56PM 
This post is only illustrated with Hugh Jackman because I'm still reeling from that LES MIZ story! It's like a huge robot shaped like Taylor Swift just punched me!!!This just in (if this post were written last night. Pretend with me!)... The Academy has narrowed their Visual Effects race to ten players.
They'll have to cleave this list in half again by Tuesday January 24th, 2012 when the Oscar nominations are announced. Which five films will remain standing?
Captain America: The First Avenger
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life
X-Men: First Class
GOODBYE TO YOU
What does this mean? Only that five previously eligible semi-finalists have been kicked to the curb.
No more Cowboys & Aliens (though the ADG bit). No more Sucker Punch (later lobotomized ladies!). No more Sherlock Holmes Part 2 (is it just me or is this movie feeling strangely nonexistent to the world despite being in the box office top ten) No more Thor (the hammer is his penis). No more Super 8.
The latter rejection seems like the biggest surprise to me. It's seemingly the only Movie about Movies containing scenes of the filming of other Movies to not catch on with awards voters this year since The Artist and Hugo and even Drive seem to be doing just fine, thank you).
Which half of the finalist list are you all in for?
Related: Current Visual Oscar Predictions
Reader Comments (5)
I think the list will be
Harry Potter
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The Tree of Life
X-Men: First Class or Captain America
Wow, Super 8... I semi-forgot about that movie. Remember before it came out when people were all like, "could this be the summer movie that gets a Best Picture nomination this year?" such innocent times, those were...
^ LOL!
Can anyone give me some examples of the special effects from The Tree of Life? I know the dinos and I assume shots of Earth and the asteroid crashing into earth, but am I missing anything major?
It seems to me that compared to its blockbuster competition, The Tree of Life might be a little short on actual effects. I know that "Best Visual Effects" does not equal "Most Visual Effects," but as functional as the ToL effects were, I wasn't all that impressed by them.
That's exactly why I love that The Tree of Life is here. Because you don't really notice the visual effects that much and there are quite a few. The thing about visual effects is that most people think you have to notice them for them to be worthy of awards, when really I believe that the best visual effects are those you don't notice or those that look so real you're not thinking about a computer when looking at them. Which is why it's always a shame to see so many blockbusters in the shortlist, because in most of them you notice the visual effects. Not that it makes them less worthy (in fact, I love the visual effect work in most of these films) but it's that kind of thinking that has left films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind off this list, because they're not films you remember for their visual effects. The Tree of Life may not be a film you remember for its visual effects and that's why I believe they are so effective.