It’s weird to think that this category has only been around since 1981, when Rick Baker won for his iconic makeup effects for John Landis’s An American Werewolf in London. His competition at the time? The late Stan Winston for Heartbeeps, not the worst film nominated for an Oscar that year, but still. Proving once again that they can look past the crap to see the beauty, AMPAS’s makeup branch rewarded Baker this year with his 11th nomination for his special makeup effects for The Wolfman—work that I found rather crude when I saw the film last February, though I’m willing to concede that my initial negative reaction should have been directed entirely at the film’s visual effects team. The Wolfman may not have the “prestige”—high or low—of past Best Makeup winners (among them Amadeus, Bettlejuice, Driving Miss Daisy, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day), or even its fellow nominees (the furrowed foreheads of The Way Back and Barney’s Version, by some accounts a worse film), but let us remember that previous winners in this category also include Harry and the Hendersons, The Nutty Professor, Men in Black, and Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas—all work by Rick Baker.
Will Win: The Wolfman
Could Win: The Way Back
Should Win: The Wolfman
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