This is always a depressing category for me. Five years running the winner here has been a
terrible movie. That may not bother me so much if I ever thought the costumes were deserving, but the Academy's "more is more" philosophy often clashes violently with my own tastes. But I remain hopeful we might see a film of quality (or at least quality costumes) reclaim the throne this year.
Sandy Powell will be looking for her tenth career nomination via Martin Scorsese's
Hugo Cabret, set in lavish 1930s Paris. Powell is a versatile designer who excels no matter the film's period or genre, and she is certainly respected by the costume branch.
Michael O'Connor won this category a couple of year's ago for
The Duchess, and could be back for another British corset-fest in the form of
Jane Eyre. But has it been released too early? It may well be forgotten by year's end, but you can always count on the costume branch to throw a bone to forgotten movies (
I Am Love for instance).
Jacqueline West, last nominated a couple of years ago for Benjamin Button, has two solid opportunities this year in
The Tree of Life and
Water for Elephants. In spite of its spring release, I'm guessing she stands a better shot with the latter, which allows her to combine the sparkly glitz of the circus with the dusty drabness of Depression era America.
David Cronenberg's sister, Denise, has been designing the costumes for all his movies since
The Fly in 1986. She has her most awards-friendly project to date with
A Dangerous Method, Cronenberg's period piece about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. If the film catches on with the Academy, I wouldn't be surprised to see its design elements earn some love.
Sharen Davis is no stranger to styles of the 1960s, having earned Oscar nominations for
Ray and
Dreamgirls. She'll be outfitting the many women of
The Help, set in 1960s Mississippi, with period-appropriate and class-defining threads. Again, if the movie tickles the Academy's fancy, I'd say she has a decent shot at nomination number three.
Predicted five:
A Dangerous Method
The Help
Hugo Cabret
Jane Eyre
Water for Elephants
Also consider: Albert Nobbs,
The Conspirator,
My Week with Marilyn,
Sherlock Holmes 2,
The Tree of Life,
Wuthering Heights.
