OVP: Best Makeup(1999)
The Nominees Were...
Michele Burke & Mike Smithson, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Greg Cannom, Bicentennial Man
Rick Baker, Life
Christine Blundell & Trefor Proud, Topsy-Turvy
My Thoughts: As a rule, the Makeup branch has long been the weirdest branch of the Academy (in terms of the types of films they make "Oscar-nominated"), and perhaps nothing quite illustrates that more than the 1999 Makeup lineup, a four-wide (how they ended up picking eligibility in this era is beyond me as the number seems to change every year) field that contains three movies getting their only nomination, and a fourth that sucked up most of the tech category heat at the 1999 Oscars that wasn't being taken by The Matrix.
That movie is Topsy-Turvy, which despite its love from the Academy wasn't a particularly big deal for audiences at the time until it started to get so much Oscar adoration. Mike Leigh's film is about the creation of The Mikado, one of the greatest English-language operas, and the formation of the partnership between Gilbert & Sullivan. Part of your leverage with this film is going to be a tolerance for historically-accurate yellowface, as several of the characters do wear it, but it's representing history rather than actually playing Asian characters, so I think this falls into the Tropic Thunder rule where it feels appropriately condemned within the film. Take that out of the occasion, this is very good. The teeth and aging work are both authentic & believable, and it's a rare film that makes the makeup artistry feel like a story within the movie, which is always a plus for me.
Bicentennial Man (I believe) is the first live-action film with Robin Williams that we've gotten to in the OVP (the only other movie I can think of is Happy Feet, where he's obviously not seen onscreen). Williams was a versatile actor (and is much beloved after his untimely passing), but Bicentennial Man is a good reminder that he made a lot of bad movies. This is a snore of a film, and in terms of the craft, kind of one-note. The makeup is more relegated to the film's first half, and honestly it's largely just robotic, which is not what you want with someone like Williams. By the time he's using his own face, it's not that special, and I feel like this got nominated more because it had makeup than anything else.
You'd assume that was the case with Life, and you'd be right. Life is a terrible movie (like Bicentennial Man) and despite the presence of Rick Baker (Oscar-beloved makeup artist), it's also not a great example of his work. The main effect here is watching Martin Lawrence & Eddie Murphy age, but even by the standards we must apply in 1999, the makeup itself is still, lifeless, and should've been better. It doesn't help that it's also relegated primarily to Lawrence & Murphy, so we don't get a better sense of aging from the other men as most of them are afterthoughts to the plot. This feels like a default nomination for Baker, to be honest.
Our final contender is Austin Power: The Spy Who Shagged Me, weirdly the only nomination for the entire franchise (despite it having some pretty well-regarded music). The makeup work here is a combination of the old (we had at this point already seen the looks used for Myers for Austin Powers & Dr. Evil) and the new, primarily the villain Fat Bastard. I have mixed feelings about fat suits as a rule, but I'll own that in 1999 this wasn't even a topic-of-conversation (that'd come a few years later with Shallow Hal), so I can't hold against those standards today, and it is a very good fat suit. The use of gross-out aspects feels realistically played, and both Austin & Dr. Evil are better with a larger budget.
Other Precursor Contenders: BAFTA gave its statue to Topsy-Turvy, with American Beauty, The End of the Affair and An Ideal Husband getting the remaining nominations (I will say right now, American Beauty up for makeup is maybe the weirdest precursor citation I can remember coming across in a while...what was this for, Bening's suburban mom hair?!?). The Saturn Awards gave their statue to The Mummy, this time against Galaxy Quest, The Matrix, Ravenous, Sleepy Hollow, and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (a reminder that at this point in the Saturn Awards' history, they were pretty much only nominating SciFi, Fantasy, & Horror). We actually know who was in fifth place. The Makeup category in 1999 was odd, in that they shortlisted five contenders, and nominated only films that were deemed to have scored highest (they've tried versions of this through the years, specifically with Best Original Song at one point), and the only movie that didn't make the cut was Blast from the Past...so there's your runner-up.
Films I Would Have Nominated: Nominated for Cinematography, Art Direction, & Costume Design, it's hard to complain too hard about Sleepy Hollow missing out on a tech category. But the ways that the makeup artists create a prototypically gothic look for actors like Johnny Depp & Miranda Richardson (one that Tim Burton would fall so madly in love with he'd use it for the next couple of decades in various films), they should've had room for another citation.
Oscar’s Choice: Against three films that Oscar wouldn't normally touch with a 10-foot pole, this was an easy win for Topsy-Turvy, the only film the larger Academy would be willing to hand a statue.
My Choice: Yeah, it's Topsy-Turvy. Throwing out that it's the only good movie of the bunch, it's also easily the most impressive of the makeup nominees, and really incredible given its budget compared to some of the other choices. Austin Powers, Life, and then Bicentennial Man follow, in that order.
And those are my thoughts-what are yours? Is everyone here in agreement that Topsy-Turvy is the only logical choice? Was this the point where even the Academy was like "we've honored Rick Baker enough?" And how bad do you feel for Blast from the Past knowing it was the only finalist that Oscar didn't deem worthy? Share your thoughts below!
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