Bakeoff advances seven Makeup finalists

The makeup branch is the only one in the Academy that still employs the old fashioned bakeoff system to narrow its field to seven contenders before eventually deciding upon the final three (the visual effects has upped their shortlist to ten before nominating five). This branch is notorious for going their own way. The big eyebrow-raiser for me is that all four of this summer's super hero blockbusters (X-Men, Thor, Green Lantern, and Captain America, all of which sport nomination-worthy makeup) were left off the list. Seriously; What. Is. Up. With. That?

Also missing is the extensive aging work on J. Edgar. Pure speculation on my part, but I'm guessing the less-than-stellar work done on Armie Hammer proved a key stumbling block.

Sliding in is Harry Potter, which I'm beginning to think stands a chance at not only being nominated in this category for the first time, but maybe even winning as a last-chance tip of the hat to the franchise. It would be a nice bit of recognition for Nick Dudman, who's done more than his fair share of excellent work for the series.

Makeup finalists
Albert Nobbs
Anonymous
The Artist
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
The Iron Lady

Reviews

As usually is the case for me this time of year, I need a space to catch up with capsule reviews I've neglected to post upon seeing the film in question. I'll update this post throughout the season as I see more films.

Prediction update - July 2011

I realize that I haven't so much as touched my sidebar predictions since they first went up a couple of months ago, most likely because the vast majority of the presumed contenders still have not been seen. This is a back-heavy year if I ever saw one. Anywho, some updates:

-With Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar now slated for a 2011 release, I have no problem with putting it down for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Original Screenplay, Art Direction, and Costume Design.
-One audience-charmer that found an audience in Cannes is Michael Hazanavicius' silent film The Artist, which could find support in Best Picture, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, and Score.
-Against my initial instincts, I'm guessing that both of Spielberg's projects this year might make it in, so I've added Tintin to Best Picture to go along with War Horse (whose recently released teaser makes it look as Oscary as you can get).
-Some minor adjustments in all the craft categories, hardly worth reiterating here.