The Makeup Artists & Hair Stylists Guild disagrees with the Academy
Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at 11:00PM
Cláudio Alves in Barbie, Best Makeup, Golda, Guardians of the Galaxy, Joy Ride, Maestro, Makeup and Hair, Oppenheimer, Oscars (23), Poor Things, Saltburn, guild awards

by Cláudio Alves

Is GOLDA a bigger contender than predicted?

Not every Hollywood guild is in perpetual agreement with AMPAS. However, for most of them, the disagreement is unnoticeable until Oscar nomination morning. Not so with the Makeup Artists & Hair Stylists Guild, MUAHS for short, whose choices significantly differ from the 15-wide Academy shortlist. Despite having five categories with five nominees each, the guild managed to "snub" over half of AMPAS' selection. The only titles to appear in both lists are Maestro, Poor Things, Oppenheimer, and Golda, while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is one of the MUAHS nomination leaders after getting surprisingly shut out of the Oscar shortlist. 

Discover the full list of film nominations after the jump…

 

BEST CONTEMPORARY MAKEUP

I'm forever confused by this guild's categorization. Why is Guardians of the Galaxy eligible here and in the Period/Character Makeup category? One guesses it's because each prize is meant for different work, but it's hard to grasp what even classifies as contemporary makeup in such a story. Is it just Pratt's mug? In other news, get ready to see Saltburn do well with guilds despite its contentious reception.

 


BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER MAKEUP

Doesn't Barbie's makeup fall better into contemporary classification than Marvel's sci-fi extravaganza? Again, these categorizations confound, even when the nominees are rather unimpeachable. Guess Maestro is going to take it all.

 

BEST SPECIAL MAKEUP EFFECTS 

Both Kazu Hiro and Mark Coulier are titans in the industry, having each won two Oscars. Coulier has also taken a MUAHS award for his work on Matteo Garrone's Pinocchio, while the Japanese artist already has four trophies. If things go according to predictions, he'll add a fifth MUAHS prize to his bounty. In other news, the possibility of Helen Mirren crashing the party at SAG seems likelier with every day that passes. As ever, expect the unexpected.

 

BEST CONTEMPORARY HAIR STYLING

Joy Ride is such a fun nominee, not to mention a deserving one. With no Oscar frontrunners in sight, what should be the beneficiary of the guild's love? Maybe this is Nyad's chance to shine with its salt and sun-fried locks, or perhaps the mid-00s glamour of Saltburn. Pain Hustlers and Candy Cane Lane are other showy streaming possibilities.

 

BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER HAIR STYLING 

The Color Purple unseen, this seems like a solid lineup. There's Barbie's blonde wigs, ever-changing to best fit a given outfit, and Chevalier's take on late-18th-century French styles. The latter is notable for including natural hairstyles for its Black characters. Guardians of the Galaxy is a strong achievement all around, while Maestro shows good work with period particularities and subtle aging. Notice, for example, how Carey Mulligan's hairline thins out over the years as Felicia enters middle age.

 

The MUAHS guild also announced nominations for TV, commercials, music videos, and stage work. Overall, they represent eighteen additional categories. You can find that information here. Some interesting tidbits include nominations for The Boulet Brothers' Halfway to Halloween TV Special and the 95th Academy Awards ceremony. 

What do you make of these nominations? Did any singular choice spark your attention?

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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