Cinematography, Makeup & Prod Design

Cinematography

Wonder if this category is becoming an anachronism? It was created to focus on camera angles, lens and lighting choices, etc. Suspect it will eventually be folded into Production Design (or maybe there'll be one for CGI/AI and one for people-driven creativity. Whatever the digital overlords decide is ok by me!)

Lol** Crawley, The Brutalist
- I heard in advance this was set in Doylestown, PA. I kept thinking "I don't recognize that hill...those streets..." It was filmed in Hungary. "I don't recognize that huge building..." It was created for the movie. "I know the name Lazlo Toth". It was from a book by Don Novello (comedian who played Father Guido Sarducci on SNL). Leave me alone. "Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptang Ni Whom!"
Greig Fraser, Dune: Part Two
- Couldn't take my eyes off of it the first time around, even when there were horrors. Did we need a part two?!? Thanks a lot, Biden.
- Also, the movie doesn't win here.
Paul Guilhaume, Emilia Perez
- Traditional sets and locations. Colorful, dank, exciting, dangerous. So yesterday. No hardare.
Ed Lachman, Maria
- No one saw this movie about one of the greatest singers of the 20th century. Thanks a lot, Angelina! What is the opposite of brava? As a Philadelphia sports fan, you'd think I'd know this.
Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu
- I was privileged to see the original in a church in Morristown, NJ accompanied by a live pipe organ performance. Watching such a profane film in a church made me think we'd get into a car accident on the way home. The punishment came years later when I had to sit through this remake. The Cinematography was stellar, however. Since Nosferatu can't take Makeup from The Substance, I'd be ok with a win here.

**-Credit, please, for resisting the obvious Laughing Out Loud joke. But all bets are off when his brother Rofl Mao is nominated.

Makeup & Hair

Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Jurado, A Different Man
- This movie could easily have been up for Best Picture and Best Actor (Sebastian Stan, who was nominated for his portrayal of The Donald). More interesting to me was the fact that Adam Pearson starred in the movie. A victim of neurofibromatosis type I, he has developed a successful career, despite his disfiguring disease. The makeup nod was for Stan's portrayal of a victim of the disease who takes an experimental cure. When successful, he loses his career to Pearson, who is deemed more authentic. Worth a watch, even if no award here.
Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini, Emilia Pérez
- Again, traditional. Up against the bizarre Nosferatu and Substance, another pérdida.
David White, Traci Loader and Suzanne Stokes-Munton, Nosferatu
- A great period-piece and truly troubling makeup for the vampire. But a likely second-place finish, just like the husband of the vampire's desired girlfriend.
Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli, The Substance
- One of the three pillars that made this a compelling movie. The crazy (and hilarious) shit that happens in Act III are made compelling by the makeup. This is the winner, however disgusting.
Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth, Wicked
- They took a winning stage show and made it better for the big screen. But it looked like Wicked on Broadway, only bigger.

Production Design

This was originally the Art Direction category. But the union changed the name of the job to Designer, so the category had to change, or the poor bastards would've stayed in their seats wondering aloud how weird it is that another guy with the same name worked on his movie and he never even met them!

Cedric Gibbons is the gold standard here. He received 39 nominations from 1929 to 1956, winning 11 times (Gaslight, The Merry Widow, Little Women, An American in Paris).

Roland Anderson was nominated 15 times in 30 years, never winning a single award. Hollywood's version of a Buffalo Bills Quarterback.

Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia, The Brutalist
- A lot of effort went into this epic, but these people couldn't even convince me that Budapest was Doylestown. Do better next time. Just because I'm all hopped-up on faux-oleo doesn't mean I'm not paying attention.
Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter & Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, Conclave
- Ok, so the pricks at the Vatican don't allow filming. You had quite the model to go by. Oh, and those guys made me wear long pants in August or I couldn't have gotten in. No sympathy from me.
Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau, Dune: Part Two
- My best friend once told me not to rubberneck on a highway. He saw a multi-car pile up and just had to take a long look. He saw a severed arm and hasn't been able to shake it. This is how I felt about the first time around. No sequel was asked for or needed. Thanks, hapless Democrats!**
Production Design: Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová, Nosferatu
- Really stunning. And, I didn't think the Czech Republic was Philadelphia!
Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales, Wicked
- Very much like my favorite last year, Poor Things, this was a world I got completely lost in. I was so riveted, I wound up wiping my mouth and unpopped kernels and eating several napkins. This is the winner.

**-How many "Trump is back" jokes am I going to make? As many as it takes to keep me from crying. That's how many.