“Benjamin Button” beats “Hellboy 2″ in the make-up department?!?
By Michael Knox, mknox@modernfilmzine.com
The Oscar committee screwed up big time as far as I’m concerned when it came to who won the best make-up design. There is no way in Hell that “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” should have beaten “Hellboy 2.”
I personally have not seen all of “Benjamin Button,” but I did see enough to realize that it only really had the aging making up for Brad Pitt. Which I must admit was done with an amazing style. But it’s just one make-up effect. I can’t even begin to tell you how many different make-up effects are in “Hellboy 2.”
Now, I know there was CGI in “Hellboy 2,” but a great portion of that was make-up. Which is why I like how director, Guillermo del Toro, because he likes to real effects over CGI.
So, it looks like, as far as the Oscars are concerned, making one person look old is more important than making dozens of other people looking like completely different species.
In other words, old people are more important than monsters, according to the Oscars.
Now that gripe being out of the way, I will say that the Oscars entertainment staff made this a great year to watch. From Hugh Jackman singing to the sequence with James Franco and Seth Rogen, it had some really entertaining moments.
I’ve gotta admit I was cackling with laughter during the sequence with James Franco and Seth Rogen when they are playing their “Pineapple Express” characters, getting high to movie clips. The series of sequences made me chuckle, but when James Franco, as stoner Saul Silver, watches a clip of himself on TV as Scott Smith in “Milk” I was in tears laughing.
The sequence had Franco’s Saul Silver character watching Franco’s Scott Smith character kissing Sean Penn’s Harvey Milk kiss. And the look on Franco’s Saul Silver character is priceless when he looks over at Seth Rogen who is stoned, but screwed up from seeing his friend kissing a dude. Funny as Hell.
And now we’ve got Hugh Jackman and Beyonce singing a medley of songs from various musicals, each song merging together well. with the next I’m really shocked at Jackman’s ability to sing. He’s proved himself as an actor to me more and more. I liked him as “Wolverine” and in “Australia” and now he pushes himself in the talent pool even more with his singing at the Oscars.
And our boy Jackman tops it off by screaming, “The musical is back!”
The news that Baz Luhrmann created the sequence made me happy since I’ve been a fan of his ever since watching the music heavy “Moulin Rouge,” which I fell in love with the first time I saw it. I’m a music nerd and enjoyed the remixes of the music in that movie. And the Oscars music medley was a nice addition to Luhrmann’s remix collection.
The best supporting actor award section also had me laughing with Cuba Gooding Jr. hosting that section with a smile. Cuba Gooding Jr.’s joking rant on Robert Downey Jr.’s turn in “Tropic Thunder,” was also a good jab, with Gooding telling Downey good luck on when he does principal photography on his next film, “Shaft.” And Gooding is right. Down did a Hell of a job playing an Australian who plays a black man.
I do have to disagree with the win though. Heath Ledger did a Hell of a performance as the Joker. Don’t get me wrong. I think he created an amazing personality. But it felt like one note. Where as Robert Downey Jr.’s role was so layered, in some ways playing three characters in one movie. Although I can honestly say that I feel both actors lost themselves in their roles.
That being said, I can at least honor the Oscar committees decision to award Ledger.
I can also respect their decision to honor the documentary winner, “Man on Wire.” This is a movie I absolutely loved with director James Marsh exploring the adventure of Philippe Petit.
“Man on Wire” is a look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit’s daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City’s World Trade Center’s twin towers in 1974, what some consider, “the artistic crime of the century.” The movie worked so well because of Petit’s outgoing personality.
That outgoing personality was ever present on stage with Petit bouncing across the stage, at one point making a coin disappear while thanking the academy for believing in magic and then taking the Oscar and balancing it on his chin. Petit is a true showman and it made “Man on Wire” work so well, with James Marsh pacing the movie like a heist film.
Outstanding visual effects though pissed me off again with “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” winning the award. Because it showed that CGI was used a lot in the aging process of the movie. So going back to my original rant… why the Hell did “Benjamin Button” beat “Hellboy 2″ in the best make-up section?!
As I said before, the Oscars screwed up big time when it comes to the make-up award, and it didn’t make me any happier with “Benjamin Button” winning yet another award for visual effects. Especially since I liked the visual effects in “Iron Man” even more.
But like my dad used to say, “opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one.” I just wish that the Oscars make-up opinion was actually a good one.
