‘Suicide Squad,’ ‘Deadpool,’ ‘Hail, Caesar!’ Included in Oscar Makeup Finalists
One of the more niche Oscar categories is Best Makeup and Hairstyling, which is one of those that gets awarded early on in the ceremony before any of the really big ones like Best Actress or Best Picture are announced at the very end. But sometimes it’s the technical categories that are the really interesting ones, and this year in particular saw a few very creative makeup design moves, especially when it came to superhero movies.
The official nominees haven’t been announced yet, but the Academy has narrowed down the list to seven films, listed in alphabetical order:
Deadpool
The Dressmaker
Florence Foster Jenkins
Hail, Caesar!
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad and Deadpool are pretty obvious choices, as both featured some creative usage of hair and makeup (see: Killer Croc, Joker, Harley Quinn’s entire look). Star Trek Beyond also prosthetically transformed Idris Elba into a purpley-blue scaled alien villain (sort of), and Hail, Caesar! in particular is admirable for Scarlett Johansson’s Marilyn Monroe curls and George Clooney’s Roman legionnaire hairdo. Of these, three will be picked by the organization as nominees in January.
In the age of CGI technology that gets more and more realistic-looking every year, it’s nice that the Academy still pushes these more traditional technical categories to show off designers’ skills. Designing a computer program to change the look of someone’s face is tough too, but it’s good to see organizations award those who work to fine-tune oder skills. And with films featuring weird-looking aliens not going away anytime soon, sci-fi might singlehandedly keep this category alive.
The full list of all Oscar nominees will be released January 24, 2017.