Oscar's Visual Effects Race, Round One
Friday, December 2, 2016 at 3:00PM This just in... The Academy will narrow down the list of possibilities in Visual Effects on a couple of weeks to ten films but they've cobbled together the initial list of 20 semi-finalists. Along with all six superhero films of the year, the presumed frontrunner The Jungle Book is accounted for as is one animated picture - Kubo and the Two Strings. Kubo isn't the first animated picture to make the bakeoffs but only one has ever been nominated for the Oscar in this category (The Nightmare Before Christmas, 1993).
The complete lists of finalists, Oscar trivia, and the films that didn't make the cut are after the jump...
Marvel Studios has yet to win this Oscar category!
THE SEMI-FINALISTS
- Alice Through the Looking Glass
- Arrival
- The BFG
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
This franchise has received only 2 nominations in this category for Batman Returns (1992) and The Dark Knight (2008) - Captain America: Civil War
- Deadpool
- Deepwater Horizon
- Doctor Strange
No Marvel Studios film has ever won this category - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Of the 8 previous Harry Potter films, 3 were nominated in this category - Independence Day: Resurgence
- The Jungle Book
- Kubo and the Two Strings
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
- Passengers
- Rogue One
Revenge of the Sith is the only Star Wars film to not make the final nominee list - Star Trek Beyond
- Suicide Squad
- Sully
- Warcraft
- X-Men Apocalypse
This franchise's only Oscar nomination was for the effects in Days of Future Past (2014)
SORRY ABOUT IT.
Visual effects heavy films that DID NOT make the initial list include A Monster Calls (which was just nominated for the Critics Choice visual effects prize), Pete's Dragon, The Huntsman: Winter's War (its predecessor was actually Oscar nominated for effects), Assassin's Creed, Ghostbusters, The Conjuring 2, and The Legend of Tarzan. If someone would like to explain how cheesy sloppy-looking movies like Apocalypse and Suicide Squad made it instead of A Monster Calls and Pete's Dragon we're all ears!
Reader Comments (21)
The Nightmare Before Christmas was nominated.
"Kubo isn't the first animated picture to make the bakeoffs but none of them have ever been nominated for the Oscar in this category."
I hate to be that guy, but 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' was nominated for visual effects in its year.
Am I the only one that loved the effects in Ghostbusters? 3-D cheesy, but they worked. I'm predicting:
Arrival
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One
The Jack & Kirby -- oof. fixed. brain freeze.
Chris K -- agreed on the Ghostbusters effects. It's a comedy. It certainly looked better than say Suicide Squad!
I wonder if these omissions make sense to actual visual effects artists who actually know what they're talking about. All I know is that if I had worked on "A Monster Calls", I'd be pretty pissed that I didn't get in but "Sully" did.
Oh yay! Alice Through the Looking Glass was nominated!
jk jk
I assume this is Arrival's to lose? They've been going for the arthouse special effects lately, no?
Billy Lynn failed to make the bakeoff list... rough.
I wish Pete's Dragon were here.
"Arrival" is kind of wobbly. Doesn't the "hair" - you know what I mean - sort of disqualify it?
Huntsman certainly more worthy than many of these. Most of the time these shortlists just irritate me because of the likelihood that something awful is going to be an Oscar nominee.
And now, performing a song from the Oscar nominated Fifty Shades of Grey...
The Harry Potter franchise has never won an Oscar, I think there might be some sentiment to reward Fantastic Beasts.
RobUK: And now, nominated for Best Visual Effects, Batman v Supeman: Dawn of Justice.
It's striking to me that special effects so often translates to sic fi and fantasy, but not horror. 'Lights Out' had some of the best and most effectively and creatively deployed effects I saw this year, even if the film itself wasn't perfect. I thought the integration of 'big' effects and found footage in 'Blair Witch' was remarkably good. There was also some great stuff (and a few shonky bits) in 'The Conjuring 2'. Why no love for horror?
I also liked the Ghostbusters visual effects, as cheesy as they were. I think that may have been somewhat of the point and I think it definitely worked for the movie as a whole. Definitely don't think it would make a top 5 by any mean but it sure as hell was better than the TERRIBLE effects in Suicide Squad.
A Monster Calls had truly impressive effects and I think definitely could have made a top 5.
I think they nominees will be
The Jungle Book
Captain America: Civl War
Doctor Strange
The BFG
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The BFG being in the weakest standing. Passengers could come in here as well.
Remember when Ex Machina got a somewhat surprising (to most) nomination last year, then upset seemingly inevitable winner Mad Max? I say that happens again this year with Kubo.
I'm thinking it will be
The Jungle Book
Doctor Strange
Civil War
Rogue One
Fantastic Beasts.
Arrival could sneak in there since it's such a great film. Civil War probably has the least likely chance, which is unfortunate because the airport battle was amazing and just LOOK at Vision.
I think Kubo has a good chance. What they did with stop motion is incredible on its own, but the seamless integration of CGI should get them to the short list, if not the nomination. The entire world of the film is created in traditional animation, then expanded through CGI at the level of many of the previous winners in the category.
I look at this list and I see no movies that could possibly win and surprise the way Ex-Machina did last year. That was a great win. Because year after year the reward BIG and Ex-Machina was a movie that used special effects in a very elegant and subdued way. The only movie this year that maybe just maybe can fill that spot is Arrival.
Unsure about this, but "A Monster Calls" is a spanish production. That might explain why it didn't make the cut. Lobbying from a non-anglosaxon country is way more difficult. I would have to check out who did the VFX anyways... if it was a Spanish company, there's your explanation.
So surprised and disappointed A Monster Calls didn't make the cut. I'll understand no reasoning short of they just didn't see it (but that seems unlikely). I really admired the Ghostbusters effects as well. This list really feels like it's lacking true novelty.