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Tuesday
06Jan2009

Oscar Visual Effects Candidates Narrowed to Seven

DateTuesday, January 6, 2009 at 5:41PM
The first Oscar short list for the highly competitive visual effects award has been whittled from fifteen films to seven, and the three most likely winners, at least in my opinion, are still in the running.

This award is quickly becoming one of the biggest Oscars handed out every year. It's not in the Big Five - picture, actor, actress, director, screenply - but it has probably become the most coveted technical award every year. That prominence should only grow as visual effects become a more integral part of what we wouldn't traditionally think of as "effects" movies.

For example, I think Benjamin Button is the runaway choice this year. Last year, David Fincher's Zodiac was loaded with them, but you'd never notice. And because he's using effects to create more commonplace things, the challenge is much greater than making an army of skeletons.

Here are the seven potential nominees, and remember that this list will eventually be cut to three:

Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Iron Man
Journey to the Center of the Earth
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Voters of the Academy's Visual Effects branch will see 15 minutes of each film on Thursday, January 15th, after which, they'll nominate the three finalists. Those movies will be revealed the following Thursday when all the Academy Award nominations are announced.

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AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment4 Comments |

Reader Comments (4)

I think what makes the effects so beautiful in Benjamin Button, is that your mind never has to go, 'oh, that's a great effect...' Even if at first you do take a few beats and think wow, Brad Pitt is a tiny little old man! It just all feels so very real, and it just falls together seamlessly. You don't for once look at Benjamin and think that he isn't really there. It's all absolutely flawless and creates a beautiful story to get lost in. In that respect, I think Button has the edge over obvious effects-laden "otherworldly" movies such as Hellboy II. It's almost unfair that they have to be judged together.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterKim

Yep. Exactly. I don't know that it's unfair, though. But the challenge is always to make effects look realistic, or in some way believable within the framework of the story. That's where Button has the biggest advantage, because they used effects to not only create "effects" shots but backdrops, character aging, and other parts of the film you wouldn't even recognize as being made later.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009 | Registered CommenterColin Boyd

I hope Benjamin Button wins just because of the New Orleans setting.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 | Unregistered Commenterlara Petersen

I have a question. If there are so many worthy candidates this year, why will there be only three finalists? I realize that 3 is the minimum for any category, but why isn't 5 the maximum for all categories? In years past, there have been only 3 nominations in smaller categories like effects, makeup and animation, but I always thought that was because only 3 got enough preliminary votes. Is there a maximum of three nominations in some categories?

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterMRPigg

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