The “Makeup” category is slim pickings this year. Last year, “Star Trek” was the obvious pick. This year, it appears that “The Wolfman” will take the win, just because the other two films nominated, “Barney’s Version” and “The Way Back”, are (from just the looks of them and having not seen them yet) not very makeup driven. “The Wolfman”, on the other hand, is prosthetic driven and the makeup fans will probably latch onto that.

In my opinion, “The Wolfman” does not deserve an Oscar. Most of the film is digital graphics and not makeup. With so much of the visuals digitally enhanced, it takes away from having to rely on the makeup to create a realistic looking wolfman. Last year, “Star Trek” obviously contained graphics, but the makeup on the actors was more or less prosthetics, creating a reality out of the unbelievable.

The only thing that really works for “The Wolfman” is that there is no line between graphics and makeup, forcing you to question what was placed on the actors by the makeup team and what was digitally enhanced. Hair and fur models are difficult to make and if their were a lot of them, the makeup team had their work cut out for them. For that, I suppose the makeup artists deserve some recognition.

“The Wolfman” will probably take the gold this year (unless one of the other two films blows me away) for the sole reason that the other films do not appear to have much award winning makeup. The Best Makeup category is pretty much the only category that has little competition. Until I view the rest of the films nominated, “The Wolfman” surfaces as the clear winner of the Oscar.

(23 OF 41 FILMS REMAINING)-(16 DAYS TO OSCARS)