2011 Oscar Shortlist for Visual Effects Nominees Announced

Posted by on December 12th, 2010   Filed under: Awards, Industry News, Technology
Source: Deadline

It really is getting to be that time of year. We’re headed into awards season and there’s no turning back! The latest addition to the Oscar chatter is the announcement of the 15 films on the shortlist for Achievement in Visual Effects. Right off the bat, I’ll say that the list doesn’t seem to contain any real surprises or omissions. All the big contenders are accounted for and now we all get to play the guessing game as to which 5 films will move on to receive nominations. The announcement of the nominations will take place on January 25 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Check out the list of films after the break.

  • Alice in Wonderland
  • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  • Clash of the Titans
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
  • Hereafter
  • Inception
  • Iron Man 2
  • The Last Airbender
  • Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
  • Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
  • Scott Pilgrim vs the World
  • Shutter Island
  • The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
  • Tron: Legacy
  • Unstoppable

Which 5 are you betting on to be the final nominees? Which film do you think will take home the Oscar?



  • FoxMulder

    Inception should win it. Not only because the effects look great, but because they’re used wisely!

  • GfC

    No they are not. The effects on Inception are far from great. And used wisely? Come on! The CGI mirrors that the Juno kid broke was ridiculous. And when shot where they movie on to the street that has become the wall is also awful. And earlier, when she finds out she is dreaming and everything around her explodes is really fake. The CGI used other places is mediocre. I personally hate CGI, and especially in a Christopher Nolan movie, since the CGI in his movie seems to suck (even though there is less CGI in his movies, and should therefore be easier for the special effects guy to make something better).

    I haven’t seen all of these movies. But i think i would go for Prince of Persia in terms of best CGI. Followed by The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter Deathly Hallows.

  • GfC

    And when shot where they movie*:And the shot when they move

  • 1.°Tron
    2.°Inception
    3.°Scott Pilgrim

  • Gil

    I’m between Inception and Scott Pilgrim. What were the visual effects in Shutter Islan?(it’s been a while).

  • Big Hungry

    I’m between Inception and Inception.

  • 1) Inception 2) Tron 3) Shutter Island 4) HP7 5) Iron Man 2

    My personal feeling on CGi is that the film that looks the least like it actually had CGI in it (even though it did) the better.

  • swarez

    @Gil
    “What were the visual effects in Shutter Island?”

    Basically the whole Island is a visual effect, the surroundings and stuff like that. The area was made up of different locations.

    Inception has some fantastic visual effects and since it’s the most talked about film this year I’m pretty sure it will walk away with the award.
    Tron looks fantastic but I think it will come down to how well the Jeff Bridges clones are animated in the face, I’m pretty sure that the shots in the trailer were unfinished.
    Harry Potter always has superb CGI.

  • Tomoo

    I would have to go for Scott Pilgrim. I bet Jay is going to be disappointed that the digital breath in The Social Network didn’t get a special nomination.

  • swarez

    Well The Social Network had tonnes of CGI that wasn’t noticeable, aside from the digital breath. The face replacement on the Twins for one.

  • adama

    Inception, Alice In Wonderland and Tron Legacy have the most outstanding visual effects of the year.

  • Henrik

    I think Tron should win this, and it has a decent chance of winning it. Jeff Bridges looked 99% real, and all the Tron shit in the movie looked brilliant. Plus it’s a movie that’s so carried and reliant on the effects, they’re bound to seem more important.

    Inception didn’t seem to have very impressive visual effects… Maybe the idea of flipping buildings is more important than how hard it was to make to look good? Would be a shitty winner imo, give it to Tron. Tron was tight shit, visually.

  • Henrik

    Airbender had some wicked shit too though, would be shocked with delight to see that nominated!

  • Kasden

    Agreed that Inception was a cool movie but the visuals outside of a few key shots weren’t that fantastic. I’d go Tron Legacy or Alice in Wonderland. Those 2 Disney movies brought it this year vfx wise.

  • Mojo

    I don’t see how this is really a competition. The best visual effects out of any movie this year is SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD. All do respect to Inception and Alice in Wonderland but no film really compared to Scott Pilgrim. CGI or not the movie was visually stunning. Inception is going to win because the Academy will not give an award to Scott Pilgrim, but it does deserve it, hands down.

  • Nik007

    1)INCEPTION
    2)TRON LEGACY
    3)HP7:P1
    4)USTOPPABLE
    5)POP SANDS OF TIME

  • Nik007

    winner should be inception….it deserves the award!!!!!!!amazing moviie

  • Pikky

    Anyone who doesn’t believe it should be Inception, consider the award category – “Best Visual Effects.” The category isn’t titled “Best CGI” or “Coolest Effects.”

  • kadajawi

    A bit disappointing how it turned out.

    TRON Legacy was easily hands down the best movie in terms of visuals. It just looked real, apart from CLUs face. Which is quite impressive IMHO, considering what we see on screen.

    Inception was pretty good, but had a few lazy moments that just didn’t convince me. The broken mirror e.g.

    Scott Pilgrim should probably win the coolest effects category (together with TRON and perhaps Inception), but they were clearly unrealistic… and they should be.

    I didn’t even knew that Shutter Island had plenty of visual effects, so that is very impressive too.

    And what about Enter the Void? I haven’t got the chance to see it yet, but from what I have heard and seen in excerpts it seems to at least deserve a nomination. But hey, it’s the Academy, of course they overlooked it.