Nathaniel on the Breakthroughs and the Newbies of this Year

Hey Awards Daily readers. Nathaniel here from The Film Experience. I’m been talking to Sasha off blog a bit about the race between the newbie actresses Rooney Mara vs. Elizabeth Olsen vs. Felicity Jones… and I’ve been lol’ing with everyone I know about Joseph Gordon Levitt’s “Breakthrough” via the Hollywood Film Awards last week for 50/50. A breakthrough in his sixteenth year of fame…well, if you say so.

All of which got me to thinking about newbies and breakthroughs while I was rejiggering TFE’s beloved prediction charts which get weekly updates from now on (tis the season).

There are quite a few people in categories both above the line and below the line that have never been nominated before, though that’s the case each and every year. Will AMPAS open the membership rosters everywhere or close ranks?

Which first-timer are you rooting for? It’s way below the line but I’m pulling for Mark Bridges who did the costumes for The Artist to finally get some recognition. Think of all that he did for Mark Wahlberg and Julianne Moore’s characterizations in Boogie Nights, remember the oil stained, sweat soaked, and dusty period wear in There Will Be Blood or just Daniel Plainview’s moneyed suits. Bridges is terrific at contemporary costuming too, though that gets far less respect. He made Dustin Hoffman and Lily Tomlin’s existential detectives even funnier in I Heart Huckabees and notice how Amy Adams and Melissa Leo pop in such different but character specific ways in The Fighter. There’s someone like him in just about every category, people who do fine work year after year and just never quite luck out when it comes time for that early Tuesday morning announcement in January.