Visual Eye Candy!

Here is a mish mosh of reviews for movies that got nominated for looking good, in one manner or another.

Production Design -

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - This was a charming return to the "world of Harry Potter". The Beasts were fun to learn about, the setting of the 1920s was very pleasing in both costume and production design and Eddie Redmayne was not too bothersome for me! Although, why is it that in England the muggles are just harmless fools and in the U.S. the non-mag are sinister and organized and talking about Salem? Don't they know we modern day witches still get nervous about being burned at the stake? Neverheless, my kids loved this and are looking forward to this entire franchise unfolding.

Hail, Caesar! - This movie felt like a loosely constructed story whose purpose was to visually explore Hollywood's golden era. The Esther Williams-esque swimming pool musical number was unbelievably gorgeous. And the technicolor saturation of the set for a dinner party where a hick actor tries to transition from Cowboy Action to High Society Drama is so beautiful that you believe that film will never be that beautiful again (even thought it is right now, while you are watching it.) Apart from the loveliness, it couldn't really hold my attention at all.

Passengers - Tone was a mess in this film! Sometimes creepy, sometimes funny, barely thoughtful, attempting epic action and somehow landing on meant-to-be love story, this film is about the Passengers who must live their entire lives on a space ship traveling to a far off planet to transplant a segment of humanity. Lots of times this film made no sense. The look of the spaceship was pretty cool but not enough to make this film cohesive in any way!

Make Up - 

Suicide Squad - Oh my dear! I can't understand how the Marvel movies are nailing it so consistently right now while the DC films are just a shambles. I couldn't care about this film in the early set up stages! I couldn't invest in any way and I could NOT stay awake. Rough screening. The make up was whatever. Why not have make up win for a movie of quality?

Star Trek Beyond - This is a great deal more enjoyable than Suicide Squad. The story is predictable but it holds together and it holds your interest, at least a little. These Star Trek films feel like play to me. A bunch of overgrown kids getting together for some tongue-in-cheek fun. They seem to genuinely enjoy what they are doing and that makes it easier to go along with a movie that feels a little light and silly at times. So what is the purpose of the Oscar? To go the one individual who took on the most arduous task of make up work, no matter what the film? Or can it be about using an art form to advance story telling and to make an already great film even more impactful? It doesn't have to be one way or the other, but I do know what my vote would be!