The first Guild Nominations are here!

by Cláudio Alves

THE SUBSTANCE continues to be a hit with precursors. A rare feat for horror cinema.

So far, the season has been dominated by critics' awards, which, while worthy of attention, don't offer great help when it comes to predicting the Oscars. After all, AMPAS is formed by industry people rather than critics. So, the guilds are a better indicator of what might be a hit with the Academy and, at long last, we're starting to see the first guild nominations. These past few days, the American Cinema Editors (ACE) and the Makeup Artist & Hair Stylist Guild (MUHS) announced their yearly honors. The Producers Guild of America (PGA) also announced their documentary contenders. Let's see what we can deduce from the results so far…

Click to read more ...

When will AMPAS embrace Horror makeup?

by Cláudio Alves

Between its box office numbers and pop culture footprint, The Substance has been one of the year's most unexpected success stories. MUBI's biggest release is also its most profitable, growing steadily through word of mouth and an aggressive campaign unafraid to highlight the picture's extreme body horror, its sheer grossness. Indeed, the Cannes Best Screenplay prizewinner is among the year's most-watched original films, having found its audience without the aid of IP recognition or all those shiny notions that excite Hollywood execs. In a world where genre bias wasn't a thing and snobbery didn't run rampant in film circles, one might expect Coralie Fargeat's provocation to factor heavily into the awards season. We don't live in that world. 

While one might suppose The Substance's rhapsodies of aged and mutated flesh, exaggerated voluptuousness, and grandiose gore would score an easy Best Makeup & Hairstyling nomination, that's not a safe bet. As the genre most dependent on makeup effects and where technical innovations often manifest, horror should have a place of honor in the category. Sadly, it doesn't. It hardly ever did…

Click to read more ...

The Makeup Artists & Hair Stylists Guild disagrees with the Academy

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…

Click to read more ...

Is "Elvis" going to win the Makeup and Hair Oscar?

by Nathaniel R

Austin & Elvis. Image via YouTube comparison

The Makeup and Hair Stylist Guild (MUAHS) gives out prizes in multiple categories and this weekend at their ceremony three Oscar-nominated films in the Makeup category emerged as winners: Black Panther Wakanda Forever, The Whale, and Elvis.

 Only one of them can win at the Oscars. So which might it be? The last five Oscar winners  Darkest Hour, Vice, Bombshell, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and The Eyes of Tammy Faye only have have one thing in common: they all featured at least one famous actor, sometimes multiple famous actors, remade to look like another famous person via prosthetics. This bodes well for Elvis but it's not over till it's over and it has at least one formidable competitor, probably two. The MUAHS awards ceremony and complete list of winners is after the jump...

Click to read more ...

"Elvis" and "The Batman" lead the MUAHS nominations

by Cláudio Alves

"Elvis" | © Warner Bros.

The Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild have announced their nominees in this, their awards' tenth year. Some surprises abound, mainly regarding what films were shut out, but plenty of the Oscar finalists show up throughout their categories. The Batman and Elvis lead with three nominations each, while, in the land of TV, American Horror Stories and Pam & Tommy rule over with triple nods. Though, if one wants to point towards the MUAHS favorite production, we must venture into their Live programming portion, where Legendary dominates with a total of five nominations. HBO recently canceled the show, so it's good to see it go out with a bang among the guilds.

After the jump, discover the full list of nominees and some stray observations…

Click to read more ...