The Academy has announced the 15 films that are up for the Oscar this year in the Category of Best Visual Effects. The 15 films are:
“Australia”
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”
“Cloverfield”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Day the Earth Stood Still”
“Hancock”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“The Incredible Hulk”
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
“Iron Man”
“Journey to the Center of the Earth”
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”
“Quantum of Solace”
“The Spiderwick Chronicles”
The process to get these films down to just 3 nominees for the Oscars is described on the Oscars website:
In early January, the members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, who voted the semifinalists, will narrow the list to seven. On Thursday, January 15, all members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.
I think at this point “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button” is a lock for the Oscar. Seriously, the work in this film is just fantastic. However, the other 2 nominee spots are a bit more of a toss up.
I think we can rule out: Austrailia, Prince Caspian, Cloverfield, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Hancock and The Mummy
The ones that could seriously get the other 2 nominee spots: Spiderwick, Quantum, Iron Man, Hulk, Journey and Hellboy 2.
If I had to go out on a limb right now, my picks for the other 2 nominee spots would probably go to The Siderwick Chronicles and The Incredible Hulk… but it really is too tight to call at this point. (via InContention)
the 1st place goes to iron man…couse of that metal shading, great comp and ilm rocks…..2nd place to hulk couse it gots the best animation of 2008….3rd place i think hell boy but i did’nt saw batman,but double negative rocks 2…..and i was just asking my self, were is speed racer????it should be on the list for [email protected]
Oh come on, how many of us could actually tell the difference between what was real and what was computer generated in Ironman? That was a superb-looking movie, and a shoe-in for the best visual effects award. Well, that or The Incredible Hulk, I guess. ILM did some great work this year; what was Indy’s problem, then?
i bet iron man will grab a nod because the physical effects were so excellent in that movie. it was impossible to tell when i was looking at effects, and thats the idea, so good work there.
ill have to take your word on button, been hearing great things, especially visually.
and i have to highly doubt the work on the incredible hulk, it looked like a good video game to me.
Sure Lock-In’s: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Iron Man
Others That Should Be In The Top Three: The Dark Knight, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and The Incredible Hulk.
Toss-Up’s : Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
Long Shots: Cloverfield, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
You’re right, I guess I’m angry at Brandon Fraser (this guy can fuck up a cup of coffee).
I think Hulk should win because the movie started in the country I’m in. One thing that pissed me off was that he forgot to kill all the evil drug dealers that live in the Rocinha slums that he was staying at. I’ve heard that Louis Leterrier didn’t get permission from the drug dealers to film there
so they did it in other slums but the helicopter view was Rocinha.
HULK 4 LIFE
The Prince Caspian visual effects were really AMAZING. The movie was boring as hell, but the visual effects I thought were top notch.
Hey Fool On The Hill,
Are you SERIOUS?!?!?! THe visual effects work in Journey and Mummy weren’t good enough to be mentioned in the top 15 of the year??? Are you nuts?? There was some excellent VFX works in both of those films. Did you even see them?!?!?!
Remember… it doesn’t matter how good or bad the movies are… the category is for effects.
Mummy and Journey aren’t good enough to be up there and Cloverfield were real events that actually happened, you could tell from the quality and the shaky camerawork so that doesn’t count.
I think the requirements for being a potential nominee simply involve sending in an application with a fee(?) and following certain guidelines. So even if the effects aren’t great or groundbreaking (i.e. Journey, Spiderwick, Cloverfield) they can still get on that list.
haha funny how people say button and have not seen it…wonder if thats just people thinking they know everything and have omnipotent powers of knowing whats good….ps the spiderwick cidual effects where crap….how the hell can that be even in the same mention as hellboy? what is the world coming too when 3rd world country special effects are up there.
Hellboy 2 should win, probably won’t. Everything just looks so damn good in it.
@shovels popcorn
i agree, i seriously doubt cloverfield will get nominated for anything
As much as i’m looking forward to Benjamin Button and I’m sure it’s absolutely amazing in the visual dept…I think if Hellboy 2 doesn’t win, there is seriously something fishy. Visually, that movie was just so incredible.
Matching CGI up with shaky-cam is easier than it looks. Since the blur covers the picture so often, the artists don’t have to worry about the imperfections and general idea comes across subliminally.
I agre with Leelee up there. Cloverfield had some impressive efects. I doubt it will get a nomination though.
cloverfield actually had some really interesting work in it.
shakey cam is one thing, but using shakey cam and matching it up to a cgi cityscape thats moving with the shakey cam is pretty awesome stuff.
at least to me it was the most impressive aspect of that flick.
-oh and the giant ticks/lice or wtf those things were.
Benjamin Button for sure. And I think Dark Knight and Hellboy 2 should be up there with it. I was both impressed and disturbed with the handling of Two-Face, and tons of the effects in HB2 were just plain beautiful. I actually heard “wows” from the audience when the giant flower blossomed, so that has to count for something.
THE MUMMY? HAHAHAHA
Why don’t they just make a list of the 15 most expensive films of the year? Seems like it’d be about the same list.
Off subject … How come we havent had a review of Australia yet?
Would love for either Iron Man or Hellboy 2 to win (haven’t seen Button) as these movies had the best blend of practical and CGI effects.
Cloverfield!? seriously? does shakey cam count as visual effects now?
I (like most people who are not privileged to review movies professionally) haven’t had a chance to see Benjamin Button yet, but the previews make it look like the front runner. I really hope Hellboy II makes it into the top three. The overall creature effects in that movie were fantastic.
Hancock does not deserve to be in the top 15 though. The over-the-top effects in that movie were poorly done and took away from the “plausibility” of the film if you ask me. It actually looked like a movie made in the early 90’s.
I haven’t seen Button yet but I want to and I will…but given the buzz that film is currently getting and from what I have seen thus far, it would not surprise me if it was there. It’s also a recent film, and it’s tough jogging memories of voters. So I’ll agree on this.
I would not lock it for Oscar at this point (again, I haven’t seen the film yet)- I think Hellboy II should be a serious contender. I would put this over any other film. So I actually put Hellboy at #1 right now, but I’ll settle for #2.
As for the third…now this is a tough call. My personal choice for #3 is The Incredible Hulk, but it won’t get it. Prepare for a shock. #3 will be The Dark Knight.
WHAT!?
Yes, The Dark Knight. Here’s why:
We cannot just simply say ‘ film x has bigger CGI FX than film y, thus it has to win.’ It has to factor in the FX which aren’t always so obvious, as well as non CG FX, and as a whole, how well those FX are handled. This why I don’t rule out Hellboy II, it accomplishes all that and more…but “Dark Knight” has this advantage: it is expected to get quite a number of nominations. If ‘Knight’ does not get any major categories other than supporting actor (guess who?) someone will want to reward Dark Knight for something–which leaves tech nominations, be it Sound/Sound FX edits, art direction (Hellboy should be a contender there too), makeup…and Visual FX. Quanity does not always mean quality in regards to other pictures. Didn’t we learn our lesson last year?
I say again-I think there are films with better FX that should get the cut. I’m rooting for Hellboy and Incredible Hulk. If I had to choose between the two it would be Hellboy. Given the usual herd mentality, the other two should be Button and Knight.