Oscar 2008 Predictions: Best Short Films

Best Makeup
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Ve Neill and Martin Samuel
Of the three nominees, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End boasts the showiest example of movie makeup. For the record, the other two nominees are La Vie en Rose, in which gorgeous Marion Cotillard was transformed into plain Edith Piaf, and Norbit.
 

Best Documentary Short
Sari’s Mother, James Longley
The short film winners are hard to predict because they belong to a "special category" — only the relatively few who prove they have watched all nominated films can vote for the winner. Compounding matters, the shorts, like most foreign-language feature film nominees, aren’t easily available for viewing in the United States.
Now, James Longley’s documentary feature Iraq in Fragments was [...]

Oscar 2008: Best Makeup Longlist

Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose (top); Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (middle); Imelda Staunton, Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (bottom)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that seven films still in the running for the 2008 Academy Award for best makeup. They are:

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
La Vie en Rose
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
300

On Saturday, January 19, [...]

BAFTA 2008 Longlists: Production Design, Visual Effects

Jayne Wisener in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (top); Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (middle); Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (bottom)

BAFTA 2008 Longlists
BAFTA 2008 Longlists: Screenplay, Animated Film
PRODUCTION DESIGN
3:10 to Yuma
American Gangster
Atonement
The Bourne Ultimatum
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
The Golden Compass
Hairspray
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Kite Runner
The Lives of Others
Lust, Caution
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
There Will Be Blood
La Vie en Rose
COSTUME DESIGN
3:10 to Yuma
American Gangster
The Assassination of Jesse [...]

Oscar 2008: Visual Effects Shortlist

Transformers (top); Evan Almighty (middle); Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (bottom)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that seven films have been shortlisted for the 2008 Visual Effects Oscar. They are:

The Bourne Ultimatum
Evan Almighty
The Golden Compass
I Am Legend
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
300
Transformers

On January 16, members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch will watch 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven films. Following the screenings, they will vote to nominate three of those films.
The 2008 Academy Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 22, 2008, at 5:30 a.m. Pacific [...]