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Academy Narrows Make-Up Branch to 7
I’ve been waiting for this announcement and really couldn’t be more disappointed. Like several other categories, the Make-Up branch of the Oscars creates a shortlist of contenders before the actual nominees are decided. That list is made up of seven films.
Here’s the selection of films:
“Alice in Wonderland”
“Barney’s Version”
“The Fighter”
“Jonah Hex”
“True Grit”
“The Way Back”
“The Wolfman”
In all honesty, these are a joke. “Alice and Wonderland” and “The Wolfman” were expected, “The Fighter” well deserving a spot for it’s wounds, hairstyles and tattoo cover-up. Yet, the sheer absence of “Black Swan” from the shortlist is a true tragedy. Whether you look at the realistic gore make-up or the exquisite work done for the actual ballet scenes, this is a straight-up snub. Even worse is the exclusion of “127 Hours.”
The Academy make-up branch is either biased against or completely blind to effective gore make-up. They go absolutely apeshit for prosthetics and aging. I mean films like “The Wolfman” and “Alice in Wonderland” obviously require an immense amount of work. However, creating a scenario in which a man cuts off his own arm and actually make that completely believable is fully worthy of equal recognition. Always, gore make-up is overlooked. “No Country for Old Men,” “Moon,” “District 9″ and “A History of Violence” all have incredible wound make-up and none of them even received nominations.
My girlfriend is a special effects make-up artist and every year she is infuriated by these nominations and I’m beginning to understand why.
Best Original Song Contenders
I’ve been waiting for this to show up for a while. At long last, the AMPAS have released the official list of songs that are eligible to compete for the Best Original Song Oscar. It’s nearly impossible to predict this award unless you have a list to choose from.
Here is the full list:
* “Alice” from “Alice in Wonderland”
* “Forever One Love” from “Black Tulip”
* “Freedom Song” from “Black Tulip”
* “Bound to You” from “Burlesque”
* “Welcome to Burlesque” from “Burlesque”
* “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from “Burlesque”
* “There’s a Place for Us” from “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”
* “Coming Home” from “Country Strong”
* “Me and Tennessee” from “Country Strong”
* “Despicable Me” from “Despicable Me”
* “Prettiest Girls” from “Despicable Me”
* “Dear Laughing Doubters” from “Dinner for Schmucks”
* “Better Days” from “Eat Pray Love”
* “If You Run” from “Going the Distance”
* “Darkness before the Dawn” from “Holy Rollers”
* “Sticks & Stones” from “How to Train Your Dragon”
* “Le Gris” from “Idiots and Angels”
* “Chanson Illusionist” from “The Illusionist”
* “Never Say Never” from “The Karate Kid”
* “To the Sky” from “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole”
* “What If” from “Letters to Juliet”
* “Life during Wartime” from “Life during Wartime”
* “Made in Dagenham” from “Made in Dagenham”
* “Little One” from “Mother and Child”
* “Be the One” from “The Next Three Days”
* “If I Rise” from “127 Hours”
* “When You See Forever” from “The Perfect Game”
* “I Remain” from “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”
* “Dream Big” from “Pure Country 2: The Gift”
* “How I Love You” from “Ramona and Beezus”
* “Darling I Do” from “Shrek Forever After”
* “Noka Oi” from “Six Days in Paradise”
* “This Is a Low” from “Tamara Drewe”
* “I See the Light” from “Tangled”
* “Rise” from “3 Billion and Counting”
* “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3”
* “Eclipse: All Yours” from “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
* “Nothing” from “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too”
* “A Better Life” from “Unbeaten”
* “Shine” from “Waiting for ‘Superman’”
* “The Reasons Why” from “Wretches & Jabberers”
After briefly viewing this list, I believe that my rough predictions would look something like this:
“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from “Burlesque”
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong”
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours”
“I See the Light” from “Tangled”
“Shine” from “Waiting for ‘Superman’”
“Shine” is probably the most recognizable and publicized song on this list, so I would count it in. Plus, it has the whole cause tie-in which helped out “I Need to Wake Up” win for Guggenheim’s las big film “An Inconvenient Truth.” I would also go with “I See the Light,” as well as “If I Rise” due to the amount of pull that I’m sure Alan Menken and A.R. Rahman still have with the academy. Finally, I would pick at least one song from both “Burlesque” and “Country Strong,” because, well, they’re musicals.
Mike Fleming reports on the exact rules and regulations of how the songs are chosen at Deadline.com. Leave your thoughts or predictions, below, if you life.
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