Best Achievement in Messing With Josh Brolin's Face
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 3:10PM 
Brolin as himself. Brolin as Jonah Hex. Brolin as Tom Chaney.
The Academy's makeup artist and hairstylist branch has announced their finalist list. Three films from their list of seven will likely go on to become Oscar nominees.
The Finalists
- Alice in Wonderland
- Barney's Version
- The Fighter
- Jonah Hex
- True Grit
- The Way Back
- The Wolfman
The makeup branch is among the hardest to predict each year because there never seems to be any rhyme or reason to their selections despite all of these rules. For example: How the hell did Black Swan miss? Never mind, I don't want to know. The answer would undoubtedly be depressing like "but those removable body parts in Alice in Wonderland that they wore to make Helena Bonham-Carter not feel bad about her CGI enlarged head were hilarious!". This branch also rarely remembers the "wigs and hairpieces" part of the equation always failing to honor the oeuvre of Nicolas Cage. They always ignore achievements wherein an actress becomes a total glamour goddesses with extra help from wigs and makeup. I mean they didn't even nominate Cate Blanchett wig-orgy Elizabeth: Turn Off The Dark (2007) sorry Joe, I'm using that podcast joke forever.
Nor, do they nominate "deglam" movies for actresses which definitely require the services of makeup artists and hairstylists. I still think the makeup on Monster (2003) is one of the great Oscar snubs of all time; Charlize didn't blotch her own skin or have dental surgery.
The official criteria for the "makeup" award is...
...any change in the appearance of a performer’s face, hair, or body created by the application of cosmetics, three-dimensional materials, prosthetic appliances, or wigs and hairpieces, applied directly to the performer’s face or body.
In other words, everything that Black Swan did (minus maybe the wigs).
Reader Comments (21)
Elizabeth (1998) actually won the Makeup Oscar... But yes, The Golden Age (2007) wasn't even nominated.
Alice in Wonderland will probably win this *sigh*
I think that the worst snub had to be District 9....I mean that arm lol That was a great scene and its a shame they didn't nominated the makeup for that movie
Wait, "Elizabeth" did actually WIN Best Makeup in 1998, remember?
Nothing the makeup artists did to Josh Brolin's face was as egregious or damaging as what the costume designer did to him in "Wall Street 2."
First time commenting in your new place. Love it, btw.
I'm starting to feel tired of saying this, but can't the make-up branch be a little... inventive? It's this group and the Music branch. Terrible choices every year (glad they didn't mess up last year).
And I have to go there again:
does anyone else find sad that ALICE IN WONDERLAND will go down in history books as a Oscar MULTI-nominated picture? 'Cos I do.
And if it indeed gets Score (to add to its other "lock" 'ed nominations - Art Direction, Make-Up, maybe Costume Design? *snooze*) I'm going to get mad.
SO MANY FREAKIN' amazing scores this year and the least inventive piece of Danny Elfman's work in a long time will get a nomination? No fair.
I'm annoyed.
As for the rest of the field...
It's THE WOLFMAN + ALICE IN WONDERLAND + what else?
It should be THE FIGHTER or TRUE GRIT but I think it's going to be THE WAY BACK.
The BLACK SWAN dismissal hurts.
Oh, I loved Brolin's outfits in Wall Street 2. But I don't have the best fashion sense anyway.
Sorry, back to Makeup. Yeah, Black Swan should've been here, as well as 127 Hours. I won't be getting over Franco's chapped, dehydrated lips anytime soon. I'm down with noms for The Fighter and True Grit, and I should be for The Wolfman, but I hated that movie...so MUCH...it, it...flames. Flames...on the side of my face....
Whoever designed Brolin's fat suit in "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" deserves an Oscar.
Can I also just say that the makeup branch deserves some credit for looking further afield than the handful of ubiquitous Oscar frontrunners? Not many other branches are willing to consider quality craftsmanship in otherwise dismissed early releases like Jonah Hex or The Wolfman.
It's preferable to, say, the nominees announced recently by the Art Directors Guild or the American Society of Cinematographers, which just rehash the same old titles, whether they particularly excelled in that craft field or not. Let's be grateful The King's Speech isn't listed here, at least.
@Guy Lodge:
Also true.
Benji -- OOPSIE. my fact checking skills = suckage! It's fixed.
terence -- yeah, that was straight up weirdness.
guy -- or what JOsh Brolin did to HIMSELF in True Grit. what the hell with that performance? And he was so good in his other Coen outing.
walter -- ooh. see this is why discussion is so important. You're totally right about the chapped lips. Though THE WAY BACK has the advantage there of having a whole cast of characters suffering from dehydration and such.
kenneth -- sadly i don't think it was a fat suit.seriously BRolin had a rough year of ugly onscreen and he's normally so attractive. (!)
I see that other people mentioned Elizabeth already. The ONLY reason I was able to get over that winning over Saving Private Ryan was when I realized that wiggery was involved. I mean the makeup for Elizabeth was good, and actually had kind of a plot point at the end, but it was the wigs that really made it. Still, the makeup in that first SPR scene? People weren't really having their arms blown off.
I'm not happy about the Black Swan snub either, especially considering that The Fighter is on this list.
I mean, THE FIGHTER?!!! Really? I don't remember Mark Wahlberg sprouting black wings while doing ballet!
In ten years, no one will remember the makeup in half of these nominees, but Natalie's crazy-ass Black Swan eye makeup will always be iconic, I think. Too bad about that snub.
WHAT?????
THE SOCIAL NETWORK didn't make the shortlist????
Off with their heads!!!!
:P
though on a more serious note, after the Young Victoria mess last year, I am surprised they didn't consider Jesse Eisenberg's curly Zuckenberg hair exactly what this category needs :)
the makeup artists behind BLACK SWAN, PIRANHA 3D and BURLESQUE were robbed!
Dave -- they weren't? I guess not every actor is as committed as Christian Bale (ba-dum-dum. I'm here all week)
on another note. I think The Fighter is also getting points for Bale's teeth and his bald spots as well as all the boxing damage.
Alex -- funny.
Julian -- you must have run out for popcorn. He totes did.
I love the Brolin collage!
I'm just glad they nominated and awarded "La Vie en Rose."
I am still confused, however, how District 9 missed out.
I remember Mark Wahlberg was a ballet dancer in The Other Guys. Although, yeah he didn’t grow any crazy wings and had crazy red eyes.
I think the real question is why didn't "Burlesque" get listed? It has an entire scene dedicated to how to apply make-up. Sure, it's how to apply make-up poorly, but make-up nonetheless.
Kay -- yeah, that was kind of a miracle given that they usually credit those transformations to the actress (in that case they split the difference)
Mary -- thanks. I was giggling as i made it.
Glenn -- right!