The Great "Make-Up and Hairstyling" Bake-Off of 2016
Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 7:01PM We just wanted the blog post title to sound fancy. Who knows if the screening/meeting/deliberation at the Academy was anything like a superlative adventure this year? But let it suffice to say that they narrowed down some unknown number of films (why no semi-finals list, AMPAS?) to seven films which will compete for the 3 Oscar nominations in Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Those films, with photos to jog your memories, are after the jump with some commentaries about their specific follicular and beautifying achievements...
You look like an avocado had sex with an older more disgusting avocado -- not gently, like it was hate-fucking. There was something wrong with the relationship and that was the only catharsis that they could find without violence.
Deadpool
Achievements: Mildy melted scarface whilst maintaining basic Ryan Reynolds symmetrical hotness, burnt everything including penis (one can assume prosthetic), numerous exploding heads and maimed body parts (classy!) and various effects like those memorable baby hands (one can assume both CG and prosthetic)
The Dressmaker
Achievements: Mastering both Beauty AND anti-beauty techniques: Kate Winslet is ultra-dolled up whilst she hottifies Sarah Snook, whilst Judy Davis is uglified as a shut-in without health care or a dental plan for decades.
Florence Foster Jenkins
Achievement: WIGS and more WIGS plus period hair
Hail, Caesar!
Achievement: Old Hollywood glamour with farcical twisting
A Man Called Ove
No comment as we haven't yet screened but it seems like one foreign film usually sneaks into the bakeoffs to everyone's surprise.
Star Trek Beyond
Achievements: Idris Elba in various states of transformation (oops, spoiler alert), pointy ears and ridge faces (it's Star Trek!) plus the very cool look of supporting actress Sofia Boutella (pictured above)
Suicide Squad
Achievements: craploads of crappy characters dutifully styled up because something to look at is the only thing that saves the movie from utter unwatchability. From the annoying overworked rethink of The Joker to the far more successful hot mess style and makeup of Harley Quinn, and probably that Killer Croc guy to give the prosthetics team lots of work to do.
SURPRISE OMISSION
We really thought Hacksaw Ridge would get a nomination in this department but for maybe the first time in recent memory these voters seem to have leaned more heavily towards films with a lot of wig work rather than prosthetic heavy-lifting... albeit in ther service of war gore here.
LESS SURPRISING OMISSIONS BUT WHY AREN'T THEY THERE?
No Jackie which has awesome 60s wig and style recreations?
No Doctor Strange which has all that funky eye cracking caving into extra dimensional portals plus the goatee--oh, never mind I get it.
No Legend of Tarzan with a makeup team working so hard to powder and soak and detail Alexander Skarsgard's bare fle--- uh, excuse me where were we. Oh yes, Best Makeup and HairStyling.
No Miles Ahead for Don Cheadle's Miles Davis fro?
No barely-living pilgrims in The Witch?
No ultra glammed up Brad & Marion in Allied?
Etc...
P.S. ANNUAL GRIPE
Now is that moment where we shame the Academy about their terrible treatment of Makeup and Hairstylist craftspeople. Seriously, get right with yourselves! Every single live action film uses this department so why do they only get three nominations when literally every other Oscar category now gets five? That is a special kind of second class citizen bullshit. Especially since there are departments / skills not really used by every single live action film (hello song composition!) that still get five-slots.
Reader Comments (20)
Now I'm led to wonder: Will Suicide Squad get in just because of Margot Robbie?
I think A Man Called Ove selction has to do with ageing the lead.
My love goes to Hail, Caesar!
Deadpool, FFJ, Star Trek Beyond.
alt: Hail, Caesar!
Rooting hard for THE DRESSMAKER even though I know it won't make it in.
Paul Outlaw: I'd guess Deadpool, Star Trek Beyond and either The Dressmaker or FFJ for slot 3. Suicide Squad is too hit or miss, A Man Called Ove isn't as showy as the last one of these foreign surprises and Hail, Caesar! seems a bit too simple, makeup and hair-wise, for something not competing in major categories.
Go THE DRESSMAKER! An unlikely nomination, but if it's gotten this this... hopefully they're feeling fanciful.
I reckon the nominees will be Florence Foster Jenkins, A Man Called Ove, and Star Trek (remember the first of JJ's reboot *won* the make up contest in its year). Although Suicide Squad could come on strong thanks to Harley Quinn - having a character made for Halloween can actually help.
I'm going with Deadpool because I think it will get *one* nomination and here is as likely a place as any (Oscar® nominee Deadpool...) Hail, Caesar!'s large cast = Most Make-up and Hairstyling. The other two are pretty self-explanatory.
Glenn Dunks: If it were five, I'd guess FFJ and Suicide Squad would make it. Ove isn't an impressive achievement and, even though it has the same team as 100 Year Old Man, I'm very surprised it even made it this far. How hard is it to help make a 60-61 year old man (the age of the actor) look like a cynical 59 year old man, exactly? (A year of aging, especially for an actor, isn't THAT much, outside of the teen years.) Certainly much less difficult than making a 49 year old (the age of 100 Year Old Man's actor at it's original release) appear 100.
My love goes out to The Love Witch.
Random mention of great old-age make-up from this year: I thought whoever did the work on Michael Fassbender in The Light Between Oceans did a really superb job. It was just one actor and barely featured on screen more than 5 minutes, so it's not surprising that it's not on the radar, but the work itself is thoroughly realistic and not distracting at all.
Amanda, I thought that too. Looked extremely natural and realistic.
Surprised that JACKIE didn't make it given that it''s "sweeping" the make up awards. :/
Amanda -- good call. I had forgot about that epilogue (because it's my least favorite part of the movie -- which i think is underrated) but yeah, it was good work. Not too showy.
Would love to see THE DRESSMAKER land a nod here, or even just in Costumes, so it brings more awareness to this interesting film.
The real question is - who is going to WIN this? I can't even properly nail down who might be nominated, but we're looking at an actual Oscar winner right in this list of seven, and I can't imagine any of them being called onto the stage.
I guess I can only envision Deadpool finally being voted for and called up to the stage, because of general popularity (once it gets to the membership at large voting for the winner) and because it's quite showy.
Seriously, I can't imagine the third, unbuzzy Star Trek movie winning. They would never want Suicide Squad to be known as an Oscar-winner. Ove would be too small I imagine, even if the makeup work is great. And Caesar, Dressmaker and FFJ would be nominated primarily for their wig work, and I don't think anyone is going to win an Oscar just for that when they would be up against prosthetics.
The Jack, I doubt many people know what is what when it comes to this category. Dallas Buyers Club won with a make up budget of $25, wasn't it? I imagine if it's nommed then Florence Foster Jenkins will take it - the most prestigious inevitably usually wins.
The Jack, I doubt many people know what is what when it comes to this category. Dallas Buyers Club won with a make up budget of $25, wasn't it? I imagine if it's nommed then Florence Foster Jenkins will take it - the most prestigious inevitably usually wins.
I'm thinking Deadpool gets in. It's one of the "most" nominations because the film did create or reinvent many superheroes and villains with makeup. Deadpool's prosthetics are strong, but so are the designs of characters like Negatonic Teenage Warhead and Angel Dust (that wig). There's also the bizarre and disturbing medical experimentation scene where Ajax is creating brand new mutants in various states of disarray that shows a lot of strong digital and prosthetic work.
The Dressmaker might sneak in. There's always room for a smaller surprise film in this category and none fits the bill better than The Dressmaker. It's super showy beauty styling on those wigs.
Florence Foster Jenkins or Hail, Ceasar! could grab the third slot.
FFJ is an entertaining but bad movie cloaked in prestige, which means it will probably win several Oscars. Makeup, costumes, maybe production design.
Glenn, 'Dallas Buyers Club' had a best picture nomination, and relatively showy make-up compared to something like 'Florence Foster Jenkins'. You had the practical makeup on the transgender characters and the makeup to allow the characters to look gaunt (although obviously the actors weight-loss helped). You could physically see the makeup team's work on screen.
'Florence Foster Jenkins' would be an anomaly if it ended up winning if you look back over the previous winners. Even the hair work wasn't particularly showy or impressive from a superficial point-of-view. Same with a lot of the other nominees. I guess you could make a case for 'Hail Caear', which has the Hollywood element as well as a glossy aesthetic helped along by the other design elements.
But for the win, right now I can only see it going to 'Deadpool'. Let's face it though - it hasn't exactly been a vintage year.