Like
it was this time last year, I find myself running around in illogical
circles trying to determine the winner of this year's Oscar for Best
Makeup and Hairstyling. Do I go with the most liked film, the coolly
received but star-transforming biopic, or the fantasy with the “most”
makeup?
Howard Berger, who last won this award in 2006 for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, could take home his second Oscar for (sort of) morphing Anthony Hopkins into Alfred Hitchcock. Transforming stars into other well known figures has turned the trick in the past, such as with last year's The Iron Lady or 2007's La Vie en Rose, but those films also had extensive aging effects to bolster their claim to the trophy. There's also the possibility that many might not find the transformation all that convincing, but I wouldn't rule Hitchcock out.
The
most typical-looking winner of the three is The Hobbit, whose
makeup team includes Oscar winners Peter King and Tami Lane. The
whimsical dwarf designs and all other manner of goblins and orcs give
the makeup a high profile that could indeed carry it to a win (it
would be the third of Peter Jackson's Middle Earth series to do so),
but then some voters might consider the movie's virtuoso visual
effects a larger contributor to the realization of its fantasy
creatures. I still maintain that it has a very good chance to win.
Finally,
the nominees I'm tepidly laying my chips on are Julie Dartnell and
three-time nominee Lisa Westcott for Les Miserables. Being a
Best Picture nominee already makes this film a very viable winner,
but perhaps its true ace in the hole is the variety of work on
display. It ages characters across decades, applies gruesome
prosthetics on plagued peasants and wounded revolutionaries, and
imposes details of period and social class that are just noticeable
enough for voters to recall. This may be one craft category where Tom
Hooper's decision to shoot so many tight closeups will actually
benefit the film's chances of winning.
Will
win: Les Miserables
Runner-up:
The Hobbit
Should
win: The Hobbit
Should
have been nominated: Lincoln (worst snub of the year)
