“Black Panther” was shut out of the nominations for the Visual Effects Society Awards on Tuesday January 15. While this blockbuster won’t be in contention at the 17th annual edition of these kudos, it is the overwhelming frontrunner to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effect. While being snubbed by the VES is a setback, the society only previews about three-quarters of the eventual Oscar nominees.
The closest rival to “Black Panther” at the Academy Awards — “Avengers: Infinity War” — reaped a leading six nominations from the VES. Among these is a bid for Best Effects Simulations for the depiction of Wakanda, the home of Black Panther. “Ready Player One” reaped five bids as did “Incredibles 2” over on the animation side.
Among the other nominations for “Avengers: Infinity War” is the VES equivalent of the Best Picture race — visual effects in a feature motion picture — along with “Christopher Robin,”“Ready Player One,” “Solo: A Star Wars Story” and “Welcome to Marwen.” These other four films are also among the 10 still vying for the five Visual Effects slots at the Oscars.
The supporting visual effects nominees are: “12 Strong,” “Bird Box,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “First Man” and “Outlaw King.” Of these, only “First Man” is still in the running for the Oscars.
And the animated feature nominees are: “The Grinch,” ““Incredibles 2,” “Isle of Dogs,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”
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Nominees in 24 categories were selected by VES members via events hosted by 10 ten sections, including Australia, Bay Area, London, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York, Toronto and Vancouver. The VES Awards will be held on February 5 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The Visionary Award is to be presented to “Westworld” creator Jonathan Nolan while “Game of Thrones” multi-hyphenates David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are to be feted with the Award for Creative Excellence.
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