The 14th annual Costume Designers Guild Awards were held this evening, and it was a good night for wizards, hackers and, uh, Madonna.
The Harry Potter franchise was honored for the first time since 2001 by the group as Jany Temime, who has been with the series since 2004’s “The Prisoner of Azkaban,” won the Excellence in Fantasy Film award for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” The last Potter costumer awarded by the guild was Judianna Makovsky, way back on the series’ first installment, “The Sorcerer’s Stone,” making for nice bookends for the franchise. The series’ only other nomination was for Temime again on “The Order of the Phoenix” in 2007.
Elsewhere, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” won in the contemporary category (beating out films like “Bridesmaids” and “Drive”), while “W.E.” costumer Arianne Phillips was the surprise winner of the evening, besting Oscar frontrunners “The Artist” and “Hugo.”
Best Costume Design has been one of the toughest categories for me to pick this season. I’ve buried myself way too deep in the history of that, the cinematography and costume design categories this week. There’s this: only the only film in the post-black-and-white split era to win cinematography and costume design but not art direction was 1968’s “Romeo and Juliet.”
I’m not sure what that means. Probably nothing. Probably that I’m a loser for even looking it up.
Sandy Powell deserves the Oscar for “Hugo” in my book, but I don’t think she’ll be taking the honor this year. I don’t think “Jane Eyre” will figure in (though, per Guy’s Oscar Guide on the Best Costume Design category, he’s betting on it), and the cynical part of me feels like if the title of “Anonymous” had “Shakespeare” in there somewhere, it might have won. People do just vote blindly in these categories.
The win for “W.E.” here gives me slight pause, though. The guild has matched up with the Oscar winner frequently enough as of late. But nevertheless, I’m going with “The Artist,” despite the film coming up short tonight. I sense few saw Madonna’s critically skewered period romance and most will lean toward one of the two Best Picture nominees.
As previously announced, Clint Eastwood and his costumer of choice Deborah Hopper received the Distinguished Collaborator Award. Presenting Sponsor LACOSTE recognized actress Kate Beckinsale with the Spotlight Award (given to “an actor whose talent and career personifies an enduring commitment to excellence, including a special awareness of the role and importance of costume design,” according to the literature), while veteran costumer Marlene Stewart (who, speaking of Madonna, designed the wardrobes of several classic music videos for the artist, including “Vogue,” “Like a Prayer” and “Material Girl”) received the Disaronno Career Achievement in Film Award. Lou Eyrich was given a similar honor for his television career.
Once again, check out the list of this year’s Costume Designers Guild Awards winners below.
Excellence in Period Film: “W.E.”
Excellence in Fantasy Film: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”
Excellence in Contemporary Film: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
As always, remember to keep track of the ups and downs of the 2011-2012 film awards season via The Circuit.
For year-round entertainment news and awards season commentary follow @kristapley on Twitter.
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