One Category at a Time: Costume Design

I'm still smarting from last year's disappointing win for Alice in Wonderland, but it should serve as a valuable lesson that flashiness trumps the film's likability in this category every time. There are varying degrees of both factors in this year's race, but first, a moment of silence for the costumes of Captain America and The Help, unfortunate snubees at the hands of frillier period extravagance...

... okay, now on to the nominees.

My Awards nominations: Visual Effects

The effects sorcerers were hard at work this year, but aren't they always? Given that effects movies are the only ones studios feel any confidence in producing, there is naturally lots too choose from, but only five could crack my Visual Effects ballot:

Anonymous
(Marc Weigert, Volker Engel, Gerd Nefzer, Greg Strasz):

Here's something novel: A Roland Emmerich movie whose effects are subtle! The recreation of 15th century London is so seamless that in many shots you can't even tell it's an effect.


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
(Tim Burke, John Richardson, Ferran Domenech, Greg Powell):

As always, the wizarding universe is sensationally evoked by more of Tim Burke's marvelous effects, with extra shiny pyrotechnics for this final action-packed installment.


Rise of the Planet of the Apes
(Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Tony Lazarowich, Daniel Barrett):

The photorealistic motion capture magic of Weta Digital's cinematic sorcerers is completely convincing, giving more breadth to the performances and allowing us to fully sympathize with the CG apes.


Transformers: Dark of the Moon
(Scott Farrar, John Frazier, Scott Benza, Kenny Bates):

As can only be expected of the series, the story is imbecilic, the effects top notch. Bonus points for that uber cool wing-suit sequence. Stunts with minimal CG embellishment are totally the way to go!


The Tree of Life
(Dan Glass, Michael L. Fink, Brian Friedman, Tom Debenham):

The arresting non-CG depiction of the universe's cosmic origins are hypnotic and awe-inspiring. The subsequent evolution of life on earth is handled in beautifully naturalistic ways.


Just missed: Captain America, Hugo, MI4, Tintin