ASC Nominees

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Sabin
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Post by Sabin »

I'm not even down with the cinematic gallop. It was painfully greenscreened. Interviews with Roger Deakins cite an almost grudging take on conditions with which he shot True Grit. There are some lovely shots in True Grit, and some lovely passages. It's not that True Grit isn't what we expect from a Western directed by the Coen Bros., but rather it's not what we expect from a Western shot by Deakins. I'm almost inclined to blame the budget and the vistas themselves. They look so painfully ordinary. This may be the single most ordinary-looking film of the Coens' oeuvre. Only the adherence to glorious dialogue and an off-beat sense of mischief distinguish it.

To talk about this being Deakins' time falls somewhere between Marty and Kevin O'Connell territory. Yes, Roger Deakins deserves to win an Oscar, but I don't think a lot of people even know what he did in this film, merely whether or not it was pretty enough. He has two different kinds of films to his oeuvre on the whole: 1) gorgeous looking films he does with anonymous directors (Shawshank, House of Sand and Fog, etc.); and 2) Coen Bros. movies and Kundun. He shouldn't win for making 2) look like 1).

If the ASC nominees line up, and I pray they don't because likely the odd one out will end up being Cronenweth, I think the rundown will go like this:

Cronenweth is out because there has not been a film of such interiors to win in my memory. Perhaps American Beauty, which had a theatricality to it and was shot by an Oscar darling. I think the nearest precedent for anything like The Social Network winning must be Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, though that doesn't jive either. Cronenweth's sensibilities are as antithetical to Oscar-winning cinematography as you can get.

Danny Cohen at least does something stylistic with his work that draws attention to itself. It's all wrong, but he does it. Movies of historic sweep that win usually favor larger scope. The King's Speech is a film of interiors, mostly; and it focuses on dwarfing George in relation to the rest of the world. I think if it wins Best Cinematography, it will be the ugliest film to win since I was born. I mean, I haven't seen Gandhi and several others since then, but it takes work to make bad choices like these. Which tells me it has a leg-up on The Social Network because A) it could win for Art Direction (pretty art direction = pretty cinematography), and B) Oscar voters like to be wrong.

Black Swan has won almost every award for cinematography out there. They shot on Super-16, the Canon 5 and 7D, utilized special effects quite beautifully within the grain, and created an atmosphere detached from watching cinematography (save for a few shots at the end). It is a wholly immersive experience, and also a divisive one. We have now honored digital cinematography twice in the past two years without a second thought, but this is grainy-ass Super 16. My parents thought it looked ugly. A lot of people won't understand or care why the choice was made. It wouldn't astonish me if it wasn't nominated at all.

I think Wally Pfister is going to win because Inception is crazy to look at. He's been nominated three times in the past five years for collaborating with the same filmmaker. It's full of gorgeous imagery that is intricately laced with invisible special effects, so that truthfully an award for cinematography is to honor the special effects. And while I don't think that Inception is great visual storytelling, we can't argue that it's incredibly difficult visual storytelling. Inception is a Vision in a way that no competitive film is within this category.
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Post by Mister Tee »

I actually think cinematography is one of the most competitive categories. Inception, True Grit and 127 Hours are all films that could win in a standard year.

And, though I'd happily have cheered a Deakins win for Man Who Wasn't There or Jesse James, I'm with Sabin in not viewing True Grit as his best work. There were high spots -- the climactic gallop, above all -- but I found some of the film fairly indiferrently lit.
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Post by Sabin »

I think Wally Pfister's going to win for Inception.
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Post by rolotomasi99 »

Hollywood Z wrote:Bear in mind, Deakins is also a champion of natural lighting and not having most of the light sources be cheated. Think of that the next time you watch the first train robbery scene in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

The train robbery scene is possibly one of the greatest sequences of amazing cinematography ever (the score is also hauntingly beautiful). Another great moment I like is when Robert is on stage re-enacting the assassination and someone from the audience yells out “coward.” The camera is behind Robert pointed toward the audience who are nothing but a black mass. As Robert moves to the edge of the stage and the camera follows, the audience comes into view. They effect is to have these invisible people materialize out of thin air. I actually gasped the first time I saw this scene. It was so beautiful, and really showed how important cinematography is to the storytelling. It can be so much more than just pretty pictures.

I agree about it being Deakins’ time. Nothing seems to be in his way, unless THE SOCIAL NETWORK pulls off some sort of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE sweep. I predict if he wins he will receive a standing ovation.




Edited By rolotomasi99 on 1294947290
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Post by Hollywood Z »

A lot of people are missing the real landmark here and that's Roger Deakins (The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo, Kundun, O Brother Where Art Thou, The Man Who Wasn't There, No Country for Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and The Reader) might finally win his first Oscar this year if this is how the line-up is looking.

Now, he has been grossly passed up for at least two of the aforementioned nominations (I point to Fargo and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), but now, the sprawling vistas and natural lighting of True Grit may be the one that earns him the award he's been so long overdue. While True Grit may not be my favorite of the year (let alone my choice, I prefered Matthew Libatique's gritty contrast between black and white in Black Swan), I would definitely not begrudge him a win this year for his stunning work in True Grit.

Bear in mind, Deakins is also a champion of natural lighting and not having most of the light sources be cheated. Think of that the next time you watch the first train robbery scene in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
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Post by rolotomasi99 »

criddic3 wrote:
rolotomasi99 wrote:123 HOURS.
Did we lose 4 hours somewhere?
You, sir, are adorable! :p
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Post by Big Magilla »

rolotomasi99 wrote:I would like to point out this shows THE KING'S SPEECH clearly has stronger support from people in the industry than film critics. Is everyone still certain there is absolutely no way it could win Best Picture?
I was, but now I'm wondering if there might not be enough old farts left in the Academy to make it happen, although it's also possible that the anti-Social Network contingent will go for True Grit instead.
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Post by criddic3 »

rolotomasi99 wrote:123 HOURS.
Did we lose 4 hours somewhere?
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Post by rolotomasi99 »

What the fucking fuck?

The only interesting shot in all of THE KING'S SPEECH was the scene where Queen Elizabeth first visits Logue. You see her car and a servant coming out of the fog slowly. That was it!

I am hoping the Academy replaces THE KING'S SPEECH with SHUTTER ISLAND or 127 HOURS.

I would like to point out this shows THE KING'S SPEECH clearly has stronger support from people in the industry than film critics. Is everyone still certain there is absolutely no way it could win Best Picture?




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Post by The Original BJ »

You've got to be kidding me w/r/t The King's Speech.

The other four, though, are pretty solid, I think.
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Post by Sabin »

So astonished at this King's Speech-being-a-well-shot-movie-business. Not since Apocalypto have they nominated something so weirdly shot.
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Post by Mister Tee »

Per Awards Daily.

Might have expected 127 Hours or Shutter Island. And, given the branch's propensity for digging up a foreign-language entry, I'd still list I Am Love as an Oscar hopeful.

But here's what ASC is saying:


The American Society of Cinematographers announce their 5 nominees

Matthew Libatique (Black Swan)
Wally Pfister (Inception)
Danny Cohen (The King’s Speech)
Jeff Cronenweth (The Social Network)
Roger Deakins, ASC (True Grit)
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