This guild hadn't regularly given out awards for some time, until they decided to revive the tradition last year, honouring several films among which was the eventual Oscar winner Dallas Buyers Club.
Leading the field this year are Guardians of the Galaxy and Into the Woods, each receiving three nominations across five categories. Guardians is looking good for an Oscar nod (and possibly the win), but Into the Woods failed to even make the short list.
Besides Guardians, other Oscar finalists which find representation here include The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Theory of Everything each with a pair, and Foxcatcher and Maleficent each with a single citation for their transformative prosthetics. Noah and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 were shut out entirely.
One final side note before we dig into the nominees: This guild needs to do a better job with their categorizations. How do they determine what counts as contemporary as opposed to period makeup/hair, and how do they account for fantasy offerings? Hunger Games gets called period, while Guardians of the Galaxy gets called contemporary? I haven't exactly seen a lot of modern day folks walking around looking like this:
Best Contemporary Makeup
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Allan Apone, Nicole Sortillon, Lisa Rocco
Gone Girl - Kate Biscoe, Gigi Williams
Guardians of the Galaxy - Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou
Interstellar - Luisa Abel, Jay Wejebe
Nightcrawler - Donald Mowat, Malanie Romero
I gotta go with Nightcrawler on this one. Gyllenhaal can only lose so much weight, but it's up to the makeup folks to embellish his skeletal features. This category was won by Prisoners last year, so maybe Nightcrawler actually has a half decent shot at winning this too?
Best Period and/or Character Makeup
Mockingjay - Part 1 - Ve Neill, Nikoletta Skarlatos, Conor McCullagh
Into the Woods - Peter Swords King
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Frances Hannon, Julie Dartnell
The Theory of Everything - Jan Sewell, Lesley Smith
Unbroken - Toni G., Nik Dorning
Unbroken deserves to be given a good hard look here for its brutally authentic battering of Jack O'Connell's face in just about every scene. That said, it'll probably be Grand Budapest or Theory of Everything, and I can't argue with either of those options.
Best Special Effects Makeup
Foxcatcher - Bill Corso, Dennis Liddiard
Guardians of the Galaxy - David White
Into the Woods - J. Roy Helland, Matthew Smith
Maleficent - Rick Baker, Toni G., Arjen Tuiten
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - Gino Acevedos
I think most would agree that Guardians has this sewn up for both quality and quantity. But I wouldn't be shocked if fellow Oscar finalists Foxcatcher or Maleficent take it instead.
Best Contemporary Hairstyling
Birdman - Jerry Popolis, Kat Drazen
Guardians of the Galaxy - Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou
Interstellar - Patricia Dehaney, Jose L. Zamora
St. Vincent - Suzy Mazzarese-Allison
Winter's Tale - Alan D'Angerio and Jasen Sica
Guardians has the most elaborate work, but toss a die.
Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling
Get on Up - Carla Farmer, Shannon Bakeman
Into the Woods - Peter Swords King, J. Roy Helland
Selma - Melissa Forney, Pierce Austin
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Frances Hannon, Julie Dartnell
The Theory of Everything - Jan Sewell, Agnes Legere
Might go to Get on Up for James Brown's distinctive 60's mop, but I'd vote for Grand Budapest.
