ICYMI: Makeup and Hairstylists Guild Winners

by Nathaniel R

Mike Marino, who assisted Rick Baker for years, working on prosthetics for Coming 2 America

The Make-Up and Hair Stylists Guild held their awards this past Saturday so you might have already heard who won. The big winner was Amazon's Coming 2 America which won three prizes: Contemporary Makeup, Contemporary Hairstyling, and (most surprisingly given the competition) Special Effects Makeup. This does not necessarily mean it's going to win the Oscar as it has formidable competition from Cruella and Dune and the voting body is different. The winners are after the jump...

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Yes No Maybe So: Baz Luhrmann's 'ELVIS'

by Nathaniel R

Baz Luhrmann's career began explosively with two of the most endearing, unusual, and entertaining films of the 1990s (Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet). His promise as a Great Showman was realized with his masterpiece Moulin Rouge! (2001) which was only his third feature. Unfortunately in the 21 years since that very modern movie musical revitalized its genre, he mostly vanished from movie screens. He's made only two features since, the disjointed epic Australia (2008) and a box office hit adaptation of The Great Gatsby (2013). Nearly a full decade later we finally have a sixth feature. His latest, which was untitled long enough that its official title Elvis is hysterically anti-climactic, is a biopic of the rock n roll superstar. The movie hits theaters on June 24th, so let's break the trailer down with our Yes No Maybe So™ system...

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Oscar Volleys: What do voters want in Best Makeup and Hairstyling?

Continuing our Oscar Volley series at The Film Experience. This morning Glenn Dunks and Ben Miller on Makeup and Hair.

Ben Miller: Alright Glenn, let's get into one of the more fun craft categories, Best Makeup and Hairstyling. This category has sometimes gravitated towards being the MOST makeup, as opposed to the best.  Some presumed frontrunners include Dune, Cruella, and The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Do you have a personal preference and what do you look for in a potential nominee?

Glenn Dunks: I really like the make up and hairstyling category in theory. They are one of the most individual branches, often choosing lousy movies or those otherwise outside of the Oscar conversation strictly because they appreciate the technical work on display. I have to respect that...

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Makeup and Hairstylists Guild Nominees

by Nathaniel R

Somehow in this very very very very overcrowded precursor award week, we missed the announcement of the Makeup and Hairstylists Guild nominations. The most curious thing to ponder is the differential between Oscar's makeup branch and this much-larger guild. While for the most part their lists are similar, Being the Ricardos scored two nominations here but did not make the 10-wide Oscar finalist list. The reverse was true of Nightmare Alley which was nowhere to be seen on this guild nomination list yet Oscar gave it the thumbs up in their first round of voting. West Side Story received only 1 nod here but made Oscar's list. (The complete shunning of both The French Dispatch and The Green Knight from this guild and Oscar's parallel branch feels absurd but awards season gonna awards season, you know?)

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Review: Jessica Chastain and those "Eyes of Tammy Faye"

By Nathaniel R

A makeup artist fumbles, discovering she can't undo what Tammy Faye hath wrought. It's not a matter of removing the makeup and starting fresh as some of it is tattooed right on. The former televangelist's lips are permanently lined and the raccoon eyes are there to say; mascara as monument. Was this scene at the beginning or the end of the new biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye? One can never remember with framing devices that flashback to tell you the whole story that got us there but it hardly matters. The point that comes across is not so much how we got there -- though perhaps the filmmakers think go given the framing device-- but that Tammy Faye's clown makeup bioqueen persona is an absolute. She didn't will into it existence so much as uncover and reveal its eternal nature. 

Is this laying it on too thick? The prose, I mean, not the mascara. Of course! But "too much" is just right for anything Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker related...

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