Why ‘Napoleon’ and ‘Spider-Man’ Made the Oscar VFX Long List — and ‘Oppenheimer’ Did Not

Why ‘Napoleon’ and ‘Spider-Man’ Made the Oscar VFX Long List — and ‘Oppenheimer’ Did Not

The Academy’s Visual Effects long-list of 20 finalists were notified Thursday (first reported by Variety, and confirmed by IndieWire) and the results shook up the Oscar race: Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” — considered by many to be the frontrunner — did not make the cut despite a dazzling display of practical in-camera effects, digital compositing for the Trinity explosion, and particle simulations for the subatomic world shot in cloud tanks…