My Award nominations: Makeup and Hair

Whatever the makeup branch of the Academy is doing, it has to stop. I know some people really adore how this branch constantly goes out of its way to honour outright terrible films that happen to have elaborate makeup work, but two years in a row now it has come at the expense of the actual best makeup jobs of the year. Last year it was the invisibly convincing period makeup of Lincoln that gave way to the obvious (and hardly buyable) prosthetics of Hitchcock on nomination morning. This year was even worse, as the best work of the year failed to even make the bakeoff! So now we have Academy Awards nominees Bad Grandpa and The Lone Ranger, which I wouldn't mind so much if their old age makeup didn't look so rubbery and fake.

Anyway, rant over. Here is the true Best Makeup and Hair of 2013:

American Hustle (Katherine Gordon, Evelyn Noraz)

All that hair! The elaborate coiffures, perms, and toupees of David O. Russell's groovy grifters are like something out of a disco fever dream, but there are subtler details to relish as well (like J-Law's accidentally tanned two-face look!).

Dallas Buyers Club (Robin Mathews, Adruitha Lee)

On a budget of less than a few hundred dollars, the hair and makeup team were able to transform McConaughey and Leto from their healthiest to their most ill, all throughout a condensed and unchronological shooting schedule. It;s amazing how subtle the work is and yet it manages to transform McConaughey and Leto into barely recognizable versions of themselves.

Lee Daniels' The Butler (Matthew W. Mungle, Debra Denson, Candace Neal)

Not only do these artists have the task of aging their principle actors gradually over the course of decades (a challenge they meet quite well to my thinking), but they also have period hairdos that span the latter half of the century and several famous politicians to create likenesses of.

Lone Survivor (Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger)

The grisly wound effects are so realistic that they cause cringing on sight, but that's part of what makes this such a visceral and unrelenting action film. The bruises and abrasions even appear to get worse as the story progresses, which is testament to the makeup team's attention to detail.

Rush (Mark Coulier, Fae Hammond)

Obviously, the unnerving burn prosthetics on Daniel Bruhl are what immediately come to mind when considering this film's makeup. It is quite the accomplishment, requiring no less than six stages of healing to be designed and fabricated. Not be outdone are the plethora of 70s hairstyles.

Just missed:
12 Years a Slave (Ma Kalaadevi Ananda, Adruitha Lee)
The Great Gatsby (Kerry Warn, Maurizio Silvi)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Richard Taylor, Peter King, Tami Lane)