ASC awards Emmanuel Lubezki and 'The Tree of Life' best cinematography of 2011
Lenser beats out fellow Oscar nominees 'The Artist,' 'Dragon Tattoo' and 'Hugo'
A scene from "The Tree of Life"
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The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) held its annual awards ceremony this evening, honoring achievement in feature film photography. After dominating the precursor circuit with win after win for his beautiful work on Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," Emmanuel Lubezki walked away with the top prize from his peers.
Will he put a cherry on top of the season in two weeks with an Oscar win, though? I'm still not entirely convinced. And Lubezki is no stranger to having the carpet pulled out from underneath him when he looked like a no-brainer (losing in 2006 to "Pan's Labyrinth" when his work on "Children of Men" seemed like the one to beat).
Tuesday brings the first part of our fifth annual "Top 10 Shots of the Year" column, and in preparation for that, I've been talking to a lot of lensers lately. The vibe I got was that, surprisingly enough, Jeff Cronenweth's work on "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," not Robert Richardson's 3D photography on "Hugo" or Guillaume Schiffman's black-and-white lensing of Best Picture frontrunner "The Artist," was the one giving Lubezki a run for his money. Fascinating, that.
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And speaking of Richardson, who is a two-time Oscar winner, he's now 0/10 with the ASC. How does that happen?
The other nominee was Hoyte van Hoytema for his work on "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," which was replaced by Janusz Kaminski's lensing of "War Horse" by the Academy. Kaminski's ASC snub came as no surprise to him when we spoke briefly at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards last month. "I'm not a member," he said. Indeed, he resigned from the Society in 2006, but was nominated by them the very next year for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," so I'm not sure how much of an impact his no longer being in "the club" really had. And he might be formidable at the Oscars. "War Horse" sure was purty.
Nevertheless, I'm still counting on Richardson and "Hugo" to prevail in two weeks' time. For now. It's one of the more difficult categories to predict this season, I feel.
Previously announced honorary ASC winners were Harrison Ford, Francis Kenny and (a personal favorite) Dante Spinotti.
Don't forget to check back Tuesday for the first part of our top 10 shots column. And Thursday, we'll be closing up the weekly Tech Support Interview Series with a chat with, ironically enough, Emmanuel Lubezki.
As always, remember to keep track of the ups and downs of the film awards season via The Circuit.
For year-round entertainment news and awards season commentary follow @kristapley on Twitter.
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2012-2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup And Hairstyling
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
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Comments
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupMatthew Starr
February 13, 2012 at 2:11AM EST Reply to CommentI've said this here before but this category and Lubezki winning is the one award where I actually feel a rooting interest in the outcome.
Xavier Agreed that and a separation are the only ones I'm rooting for that actually stand a chance of winning their categories. I suppose I'll be happy when Hugo wins art direction too
February 13, 2012 at 2:45AM ESTMarc R
February 13, 2012 at 2:14AM EST Reply to CommentOk now he just needs the Oscar *fingers seriously crossed*. Honestly, it’s the only award I care about at the Oscars, which actually feels good to say. I came to terms w/ the across the board mediocrity of the nominees in every category a while ago, just as long as Lubezski wins.... Please let him win
red_wine
February 13, 2012 at 2:20AM EST Reply to CommentHaving seen War Horse on a huge screen now, I can say that it is a most handsome film and absolutely deserved its nomination. Yes there some instances of dogy choices but the overall movie looks magnificent, perfect for the big screen. I would not even mind if it won!
I find the look of recent Fincher films so repulsive. Benjamin, Social Network & now Tattoo also look so COLD. There is something inorganic about the look of these films, something metallic or soulless (which I guess in keeping with Fincher's directorial style), maybe even "too digital".
I am surprised it was no. 2, I would not consider it worth nominating even.
Marc R Can't say I would've nominated any of the other 4, not w/ films like "Drive," "Rampart," "Moneyball," and "Melancholia" so deserving of recognition.
February 13, 2012 at 2:29AM ESTRashad I fully agree, that they're too digitized and processed. However, I thought it worked better for Dragon Tattoo because he didn't eploy his usual sepia palette.
February 13, 2012 at 4:05PM ESTChris138
February 13, 2012 at 3:03AM EST Reply to CommentGod I hope Lubezki gets the Oscar. The Academy would look like such fools if they decided not to give it to him for this.
daveylo
February 13, 2012 at 3:05AM EST Reply to CommentThis is going to sound like blasphemy but I thought Lubezki should have won his Oscar for Children of Men. If he loses this year, I think there are several in his category that are equally deserving. I have no idea if the Academy as a whole will vote for Tree of Life. It depends on how many of them have watched the film.
Guy Lodge "This is going to sound like blasphemy but I thought Lubezki should have won his Oscar for Children of Men."
February 13, 2012 at 4:53AM ESTHow is that blasphemous? I think you'll find most people here agree he was shortchanged that year.
daveylo Guy, I didn't word my post properly. I was responding to posts that believe he is the only one who should get the Oscar this year but I don't agree. I do think his work was brilliant in Children of Men.
February 13, 2012 at 9:55AM ESTMatthew Starr There was no one as equally deserving in 2007 nor is there anyone this year.
February 13, 2012 at 11:13AM ESTAlice
February 13, 2012 at 5:42AM EST Reply to CommentReally looking forward to the top 10 shots feature and to the captions provided by the respective cinematographers. It'll be really interesting to hear them reflect on their own work.
Like some of the other commenters, Best cinematography this year is the only category I really care about and feel any suspense for. Fingers crossed Lubezki won't win out to the prettier alternative again this year.
Alice *lose out, not win out obviously.
February 13, 2012 at 5:44AM ESTDylanS
February 13, 2012 at 9:42AM EST Reply to CommentThis is very deserved, and I hope he pulls it out at the Oscar. It really is the obvious choice in the category (and unlike "Children of Men", it is pretty enough to appeal to the Academy). I still think it wins, but I won't be surprised if it loses.
Matt
February 13, 2012 at 10:56AM EST Reply to CommentI think the Artist will virtually sweep the visual craft categories, sans Art Direction.
Tom C
February 13, 2012 at 1:28PM EST Reply to CommentI remember when you started the Top 10 shots back in glorious 2007. I swear, that might be the best year for cinematography in my whole lifetime. Practically every single one of the Academy's nominees deserved a win in some form.
Hell, I wish it could have been a 3-way tie between "There Will Be Blood," "Assassination of Jesse James" and "Diving Bell."
2007 has honestly made every year since then seem boring and lacking in this field. We were spoiled.
It will be wonderful to see El Chivo take down his first Oscar this year.
Rashad
February 13, 2012 at 4:04PM EST Reply to CommentWill list the shots like you used to, and like how you did your top 10?
Kristopher Tapley Indeed. Same exact format.
February 13, 2012 at 7:04PM EST