Oscar Winner Predictions: Best Makeup

The competition: Barney’s Version, The Way Back, The Wolfman

Previous winners: Star Trek, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, La Vie en Rose, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
My winner: Daybreakers
Who should win: The Way Back or Barney’s Version
Who will win: We have here a scenario that hasn’t happened in over twenty years: none of these films are nominated in any other category. That means there isn’t much of a frontrunner. The competition is aging vs. desert influence vs. fantasy special effects. I’m tempted to give the edge to the latter film since, with only two exceptions, a fantasy film has won this award every year for the past ten years. That puts “The Wolfman” in the lead, though I wouldn’t be surprised if the effects of heat and starvation in “The Way Back” were rewarded. Though it would be deserving, I wouldn’t count on “Barney’s Version” to be recognized, though the fact that “La Vie en Rose” won three years ago gives it a decent chance.