2012 Oscar Predictions: Updated Best Makeup Predictions as Academy Reveals the Shortlist

By Brad Brevet
ON

2012 Oscars Best Makeup predictions
Laetitia Casta as Brigitte Bardot and Eric Elmosnino as Serge Gainsbourg in Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
Photo: Music Box Films

This afternoon the Academy revealed the seven films that will be competing for Best Makeup at this year’s Oscars and I’m happy to say that not one of them is Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar, though I must also say I would have liked to see The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 in there as Kristen Stewart’s makeup at the end of that film was particularly effective and rather gruesome. In fact, it was the film’s lone standout, but oh well.

I actually had all but two of the films listed on my original batch of predictions. There were, however, several I had on my long list that didn’t make the cut along with J. Edgar such as Green Lantern, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, My Week with Marilyn, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, War Horse, Captain America: The First Avenger, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, X-Men: First Class, Warrior and A Dangerous Method.

Before I say anything more, here are the seven films that will be competing, one of which I have not seen.

  • Albert Nobbs
  • Anonymous
  • The Artist
  • Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
  • Hugo
  • The Iron Lady
Doug Jones in Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
Photo: Music Box Films

Of that bunch, Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life from Music Box Films is the only one I haven’t seen. The film tells the story of Jewish singer-songwriter, Serge Gainsbourg and writing for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan gives us some idea as to why this film is included here:

On the way home from that encounter, Lucien walks by an anti-Semitic poster and is horrified when, in the film’s boldest stroke, the bloated caricature on the wall comes to life and starts to follow him home.

That caricature morphs into La Gueule (the Face), an alter-ego who stays with Gainsbourg the rest of his life, giving bad advice and appealing to all his worst instincts.

As played by Doug Jones (the faun in Pan’s Labyrinth who endured five hours of daily makeup application), La Guele’s enormous nose, huge ears and terrifying, Nosferatu-inspired long fingers mark him as a truly fantastical creature who deftly epitomizes the doubts and insecurities that plagued Gainsbourg no matter how successful he became.

Over at the Columbia Daily Tribune, Scott May also gives credit to the makeup artists for Eric Elmosnino’s portrayal of the title character as the actor reportedly underwent five hours of makeup to approximate Gainsbourg’s nose. May writes, “[K]udos to the makeup artists who roughed up his appearance to resemble the real-life Gainsbourg, a man who considered himself about as attractive as a lump of roast beef.”

Sounds like we have a film I wrongly overlooked.

Elsewhere I personally thought the makeup in The Iron Lady was quite good and I wonder, can Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 be the first film in the Potter franchise to score a makeup nomination? It’s a tough call as I also thought the makeup on Ben Kingsley to turn him into George Melies in Hugo was very good.

Anonymous was the only other film I didn’t have on my original list and I’m not counting on it being one of the three films nominated.

All of that said, I have reset my predictions for this category and am going with the one I didn’t have previously as my number one contender as I’ve listed my top three directly below.

  1. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
  2. The Iron Lady
  3. Hugo

You can click here for my complete list of predictions and I would love to hear your thoughts on this category in the comments below.