Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released its list of thetwenty films that will be competing for the visual effects Oscarcome February.
In a year that saw groundbreaking technology take center stage at the movies, the most buzz was generated by an ailurophobic internet when the firstCatstrailer was released. More shrieks followed when asecond trailerrolled in like a hairball of nightmarish proportions. It didn’t bother me any; it’s the internet we’re talking about here.
And yet,Catsis one of the films on the short list for the coveted gold statue. Less surprising are many of the other entries, likeStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,Avengers: Endgame,Spider-Man: Far fromHome, and the stunning1917.
We might have some controversy on the horizon shouldGemini ManorThe Irishmanwin—the two films that used new de-aging effects to cast older stars as their younger selves. Watching 75-year-old De Niro playing a 35-year-old De Niro is a distracting quality in an otherwise great movie. He looks like what you’d imagine him to have looked like then, if youdidn’tknowwhat he looked like then. The fact is, he didn’t look like that. And he moves and fights like an old man, which is somethingGemini Manavoided by using another actor to perform much of the more intense physicality. No matter the best way to do it, it looks to be a sign of things to come, whether we like it or not.
Here’s a list of the twenty movies in the running, listed alphabetically:
The Aeronauts
Alita: Battle Angel
Avengers: Endgame
Captain Marvel
Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
Ford v Ferrari
Gemini Man
The Irishman
Jumanji: The Next Level
The Lion King
Men in Black: International
Spider-Man: Far from Home
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Terminator: Dark Fate
Twenty will be narrowed to ten later in the month by the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee. Those films will then qualify for nominations voting. On January 13, the official nominees will be announced.
The 92nd annual Academy Awards will be held on February 9 at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater.
