Artistic Awards

Art Direction:
- Basically the design and creation of the set. This is a vital step in both achieving realism and in communicating the intended mood and aesthetic. A great art direction team is able to create the portal into the world of the film. And the nominees are...

Changeling- A great re-creation of 1920's Los Angeles. The buildings, cars and overall look and feel of a growing city on the brink of becoming one of the largest and most powerful cities in the U.S.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- Once again the unbelievable aesthetic appeal of looking at this movie carries it a long way. Able to progress through about 80 years of national development, it is incredibly interesting to watch the growth of the nation in contrast to the de-growth of the title character.
The Dark Knight- Gotham city has never looked so good, and when I say that I mean so dark, menacing and corrupt. The city reeks of Gothic style architecture that creates all the necessary darkness and shadows necessary for the staging ground of a wide scale criminal syndicate and the equally dark, caped crusader who defends it.
The Duchess- The token period/costume drama that always finds it way onto this list. Complete with rolling hills, serene landscapes and palatial British estates, The Duchess achieves a great balance between the tranquility of nature and the somber, formal indoor setting. A very pretty film to look at in terms of balance and symmetry.
Revolutionary Road- Captures the perceived essence of middle America suburbia with its perfect little houses complete with green yards and a white picket fence, and people living inside who can't stand each other. Package that with the beginnings of the modernized cubicle style mega-offices and this set is the perfect time machine into the 1950s.

Who I would have nominated:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road
Synecdoche, New York


Costume Design:
- Pretty self explanatory. The best usage of costumes and attire to create realism by fitting into the time period or to create satire or comedy by making a statement. Typically the category where the costume dramas and period pieces get their due. And the nominees are...

Australia- A nice mixture of aboriginal culture alongside the equivalent of the American cowboy with a distinct Australian flare in the desolate Outback. The prevailing style of the cityscape in downtown Sydney during WWII is complete with safari hats and women in everyday dresses. The high society ball also offers a great chances to showcase the Australian aristocratic take on dressing up in the 1940s.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- As a man travels the world, he is always guaranteed to come across some truly unique people and styles. Whether it be the tent revival scene or a lonely fishing trawler in the Atlantic Ocean, the costumes in this movie always appear spot on.
The Duchess- This category would not be complete without a British royalty film with girdles and dresses made out of about 10lbs of fabric. Movies like this bring back a whole different meaning to the idea of girls taking too long to get dressed. The unbelievable hair styles and massive undertaking of tailoring all the dresses and other formal attire always make these types of movies favorites to win this category.
Milk- Welcome to the 1960's gay neighborhood headquarters of San Francisco. A very unique style of dress indeed, topped by big glasses, tight fitting jeans and shirts and extremely ugly suits.
Revolutionary Road- The 1950's America complete package with apron clad housewives and top hat wearing/briefcase wielding salesmen. The scene of DiCaprio en route to work lost in a sea of identical suit wearing counterparts is awesome.

Who I would have nominated:
Australia
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Makeup:
-The most typical and usually recognized usage is too create the illusion of aging so that the same actor can play their character across a wide age spectrum. However, recently the craze of using makeup prosthetics to create creatures instead of using all CGI effects or to add some extra pounds to a character has been a popular choice. And the nominees are...

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- The mere thought of making Brad Pitt look like a wrinkly old man was probably appalling to his legion of female fans, but the effect on him as well as the other characters is a striking accomplishment both in adding age and creating the illusion of youth.
The Dark Knight- The makeup job on Heath Legder as the joker is the foundational aspect to the creation of one of history's greatest villains. Lost in the shuffle however was the great work on transforming Harvey Dent into two-face(although that one did have some additional help from the visual effects department).
Hellboy II: The Golden Army- Following the path of previous nominees such as Click and Norbit (although both of those were of the weight addition variety), this is the makeup prostetic nominee for the year. The creation of some great looking creatures and monsters always has a much greater effect when they don't look like cheesy computer animations, so points for that. It is a surprise that this got nominated however, due to the fact that the first one didn't.

Who I would have nominated:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Reader
Synecdoche, New York