Categories One-by-One: Cinematography

[dws1982]

I feel like this is an award that The Power of the Dog needs to win if it's going to win Best Picture. It can still win without it--last year I thought Nomadland would've pulled this in if it was going to pull in Best Picture, and the year before I would've expected Parasite to pull in Editing if it was going to be strong enough to win Best Picture--but it's hard to to imagine a twelve-time nominated film having the support to win Best Picture if it can't convert anything beyond Best Director into an actual win. I'm kind of leaning towards it here, but it really is a 50/50 call.

[Sabin]

I think I might personally vote for West Side Story, although I do wonder how much of that is due to the specific lensing and lighting of Janusz Kaminski vs. Steven Spielberg's directing. That's why I would honor both of them for Best Director and Cinematographer. Another sterling chapter in a historic collaboration.

Increasingly, I think that The Power of the Dog might take this one. It wouldn't be my choice. I just fear that if enough voters are watching Dune on the small screen, some of the subtleties might be lost on them. Also, there's a pretty big campaign going for Ari Wegner to be the first female Cinematography winner, and there are plenty of fantastically shot moments in The Power of the Dog to make it a worthy enough choice. Benedict Cumberbatch is always shot in a way that looks spectacularly terrifying. The tight reveal of him playing the banjo in his "duet" with Kirsten Dunst is excellent.

Glad that Belfast wasn't nominated.

[taki15]

In his defense, having read the book, it does describe the interiors as dark. It makes sense since this is set on a hot desert planet. The only way to keep things cool enough is to keep it dark with few to no windows. Now, if the parts set off-world were also darkly lit, that might be an issue, but the still I've seen from when Paul puts his hand into the box is to be believed, those environs are relatively well lit.

What's really curious is that there were some scenes which were well-lit in the trailer but dark as hell in the movie (most glaring example the one where Paul and his mother face the worm in the desert).

Serious question: did you watch this in a theatre or on TV? Because I saw it on a big screen, and I have no such recollection. In fact, I think of all the desert scenes as being perfectly brightly lit, and a primary reason why I think Fraser might win.

For the record, I'd probably vote for Power of the Dog here, but Dune (and Macbeth) seem equally worthy to me. The ASC prize seems to point toward Dune, but Dog could be stronger with AMPAS than anywhere else, and I think an upset isn't out of the question.

I saw it in a theater, we don't have HBO Max here. To be honest, after seeing the Batman I now feel apprehensive of watching another movie where Fraser is the cinematographer. I'm not a fan of his style and I think that this kind of pitch black cinematography is one of the scourges of modern cinema along with shaky cam and frantic editing.

[Mister Tee]

In his defense, having read the book, it does describe the interiors as dark. It makes sense since this is set on a hot desert planet. The only way to keep things cool enough is to keep it dark with few to no windows. Now, if the parts set off-world were also darkly lit, that might be an issue, but the still I've seen from when Paul puts his hand into the box is to be believed, those environs are relatively well lit.

What's really curious is that there were some scenes which were well-lit in the trailer but dark as hell in the movie (most glaring example the one where Paul and his mother face the worm in the desert).

Serious question: did you watch this in a theatre or on TV? Because I saw it on a big screen, and I have no such recollection. In fact, I think of all the desert scenes as being perfectly brightly lit, and a primary reason why I think Fraser might win.

For the record, I'd probably vote for Power of the Dog here, but Dune (and Macbeth) seem equally worthy to me. The ASC prize seems to point toward Dune, but Dog could be stronger with AMPAS than anywhere else, and I think an upset isn't out of the question.

[Reza]

I know I'm in the deep minority on this one but I think Dune's nomination is a travesty. I despise the fact that after the Dark Knight everyone tries to ape Nolan's style, mistakenly believing that darkness and drabness equal cinematic greatness.
In this case my eyes got tired after about an hour and I saw no reason why everything should be so dimly lit besides Villeneuve wanting to show that he is making ART.

The latest case in point is The Batman. Darkness everywhere. It was painful to watch.

[taki15]

In his defense, having read the book, it does describe the interiors as dark. It makes sense since this is set on a hot desert planet. The only way to keep things cool enough is to keep it dark with few to no windows. Now, if the parts set off-world were also darkly lit, that might be an issue, but the still I've seen from when Paul puts his hand into the box is to be believed, those environs are relatively well lit.

What's really curious is that there were some scenes which were well-lit in the trailer but dark as hell in the movie (most glaring example the one where Paul and his mother face the worm in the desert).

[OscarGuy]

In his defense, having read the book, it does describe the interiors as dark. It makes sense since this is set on a hot desert planet. The only way to keep things cool enough is to keep it dark with few to no windows. Now, if the parts set off-world were also darkly lit, that might be an issue, but the still I've seen from when Paul puts his hand into the box is to be believed, those environs are relatively well lit.

[taki15]

I know I'm in the deep minority on this one but I think Dune's nomination is a travesty. I despise the fact that after the Dark Knight everyone tries to ape Nolan's style, mistakenly believing that darkness and drabness equal cinematic greatness.
In this case my eyes got tired after about an hour and I saw no reason why everything should be so dimly lit besides Villeneuve wanting to show that he is making ART.

[anonymous1980]

The nominees:
Dune
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story

Let me get the last technical category out of the way now. ASC is, I believe, tomorrow night so we'll know if we have a race in our hands or if it will be the front-runner all along. That front-runner is Greig Fraser for Dune, who, btw, is also getting praise for his work on current box-office hit, The Batman so that could easily boost his chances. There is a very good chance of a Power of the Dog upset, making Ari Wegner the first woman to win this category. If there's a spoiler, watch out for Bruno Delbonnel for The Tragedy of Macbeth who could also easily win ASC and he is probably considered one of the most "due" cinematographers since this is his sixth nomination without a win.