ASC Preview and Prediction

The American Society of Cinematographers is having their annual awards dinner Saturday night. Weirdly, they have seven nominees to Oscar’s five. Captain Phillips and 12 Years a Slave are the two ASC nominees the Oscars left out. The way these awards usually work is the same way many of the other categories often do — Best Picture frontrunners lead the way. You have to go back to 2006 to find a year when the Oscar winner for cinematography was not a Best Picture nominee. This year, there are two candidates, Gravity and Nebraska. In truth, if we’re being honest, The Grandmaster’s cinematography probably blows all of the other contenders out of the water. But Gravity is the film, of the Best Picture contenders, that really stands out and it’s the film that will likely win both the ASC and Oscar. ASC voters tend to be a little more oriented towards what’s actually good cinematography versus what just looks pretty. The Oscar voters all vote for that category so they know about as much as any old person on the street, which is to say, Best Picture contender usually, and something pretty to look at.

In Contention’s Kris Tapley said on Twitter than he thought if anyone was going to upset at the ASC it would be Bruno Delbonnel. If that were to happen at the Oscars, it would be irony of ironies that a Coen brothers film would finally win Best Cinematography and it wouldn’t be Roger Deakins. It is beautiful cinematography but was so The Man Who Wasn’t There and No Country for Old Men, to name only two.

“Chivo” (the affectionate nickname given to the esteemed Mr. Emmanuel Lubezki) has already won two ASC awards, for Children of Men and Tree of Life. But each time he’s lost the Oscar, first to Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi last year and in ’07 to fellow Mexican, Guillermo Navarro for Pan’s Labyrinth.

Saturday Chivo will likely pick up his 3rd ASC win on his way to winning the Oscar for Gravity. I know nothing, clearly, about cinematography but I know a little something about photography and to me, The Grandmaster is the exceptional one. But that’s just me.

ASC | Oscar

The Grandmaster	The Grandmaster
Gravity	Gravity*
Inside Llewyn Davis	Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska	Nebraska*
Prisoners	Prisoners
12 Years a Slave*
Captain Phillips*

History/charts after the jump.

ASC Nominations for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography:

won ASC | Won
Oscar
*nominated for Best Pic
+Won Best Pic

2012

Anna Karenina	Anna Karenina
Life of Pi	Life of Pi*
Les Miserables*	Django Unchained*
Lincoln	Lincoln*
Skyfall	Skyfall

2011

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Tree of Life	The Tree of Life*
Hugo	Hugo*
The Artist	The Artist+
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	War Horse*

2010

Inception	Inception*
The King’s Speech	The King’s Speech+
The Social Network	The Social Network*
True Grit	True Grit*
Black Swan	Black Swan*

2009

Avatar	Avatar*
The White Ribbon	The White Ribbon
Nine	Harry Potter Half Blood Prince
Inglourious Basterds	Inglourious Basterds*
The Hurt Locker	The Hurt Locker+

2008

Roger Deakins, Revolutionary Road	Tom Stern, Changeling
Claudio Miranda, …Benjamin Button	Claudio Miranda, …Benjamin Button*
Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight	Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight
Roger Deakins, Chris Menges, The Reader	Roger Deakins, Chris Menges, The Reader*
Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire	Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire+

2007

Roger Deakins, Jesse James	Roger Deakins, Jesse James
Roger Deakins, No Country	Roger Deakins, No Country+
Robert Elswit, There Will Be Blood	Robert Elswit, There Will Be Blood*
Janusz Kaminski, Diving Bell	Janusz Kaminski, Diving Bell
Seamus McGarvey, Atonement	Seamus McGarvey, Atonement*

2006

Emmanuel Lubezki, Children of Men	Emmanuel Lubezki
Dick Pope, The Illusionist	Dick Pope, The Illusionist
Robert Richardson, The Good Shepherd	Guillermo Navarro, Pan’s Labyrinth
Deam Semler, Apocalypto	Wally Pfister, The Prestige
Vilmos Zsigmond, The Black Dahlia	Vilmos Zsigmond, The Black Dahlia

2005

Batman Begins, Wally Pfister	Batman Begins, Wally Pfister
Brokeback Mountain, Rodrigo Pietro	Brokeback Mountain, Rodrigo Pietro*
Good Night, and Good Luck, Robert Elswit	Good Night and Good Luck, Robert Elswit*
King Kong	New World, Emmanuel Lubezki
Memoirs of a Geisha	Memoirs of a Geisha, Dion Beebe

2004

The Aviator*	The Aviator*
Collateral	House of Flying Daggers
The Passion of the Christ	The Passion of the Christ
Ray*	Phantom of the Opera
A Very Long Engagement	A Very Long Engagement

2003

Russell Boyd, Master and Commander	Master and Commander*
Andrew Lesnie, ROTK*	City of God
John Schwartzman, Seabiscuit	Seabiscuit*
John Seale, Cold Mountain	Cold Mountain
John Toll, The Last Samurai	Girl with the Pearl Earring

2002

Michael Ballhaus, Gangs of New York	Michael Ballhaus, Gangs of New York*
Pawel Edelman, The Pianist	Pawel Edelman, The Pianist*
Conrad Hall, Road to Perdition	Conrad Hall, Road to Perdition
Ed Lachman, Far From Heaven	Ed Lachman, Far From Heaven
Rodrigo Prieto, Frida	Dione Beebe, Chicago+

2001

Roger Deakins, Man Who Wasn’t There	Roger Deakins, Man Who Wasn’t There
Bruno Delbonnel, Am√©lie	Bruno Delbonnel, Am√©lie
Don McAlpine, Moulin Rouge*	Don McAlpine, Moulin Rouge*
Andrew Lesnie, LOTR	Andrew Lesnie, LOTR*
John Schwartzman, ASC (“Pearl Harbor”)	Slawomir Idziak – Black Hawk Down

2000

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*
Gladiator	Gladiator+
O Brother, Where Art Thou?	O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Patriot	The Patriot
The Perfect Storm	Mal√®na

1999

American Beauty+	American Beauty+
Snow Falling on Cedars	Snow Falling On Cedars
Sleepy Hollow	Sleepy Hollow
The Insider	The Insider
The Sixth Sense	The End Of the Affair

1998

The Thin Red Line	The Thin Red Line
Shakespeare In Love	Shakespeare In Love+
Saving Private Ryan	Saving Private Ryan*
Elizabeth	Elizabeth*
The Horse Whisperer	A Civil Action

1997

Titanic+	Titanic+
Amistad	Amistad
Kundun	Kundun
L. A. Confidential	L. A. Confidential*
The Boxer	The Wings Of the Dove

1996

The English Patient+	The English Patient+
Evita	Evita
Fargo*	Fargo*
Fly Away Home	Fly Away Home
Michael Collins	Michael Collins
The Ghost and The Darkness

1995

Braveheart+	Braveheart+
Apollo 13*	A Little Princess
The Bridges of Madison County	Sense and Sensibility*
Batman Forever	Batman Forever
Crimson Tide	Shanghai Triad
Se7en

1994

Shawshank Redemption	Shawshank Redemption*
Legends of the Fall	Legends of the Fall
Love Affair	Red
Forrest Gump	Forrest Gump+
Wyatt Earp	Wyatt Earp

1993

Searching for Bobby Fischer	Searching for Bobby Fischer
The Piano	The Piano*
Heaven & Earth	Farwell My Concubine
Schindler’s List	Schindler’s List +
The Fugitive	The Fugitive*

1992

Hoffa	Hoffa
A Few Good Men*	The Lover
Howards End*	Howards End
The Last of the Mohicans	Unforgiven+
A River Runs Through It	A River Runs Through It

1991

Bugsy	Bugsy*
JFK	JFK*
Prince of Tides	Prince of Tides*
Hook	Thelma and Louise
Terminator 2	Terminator 2

1990

Dances with Wolves	Dances with Wolves+
Dick Tracy	Dick Tracy
Avalon	Avalon
Godfather III	Godfather III*
Ghost*	Henry and June

1989

The Abyss	The Abyss
The Bear	The Fabulous Baker Boys
Blaze	Blaze
Born on the Fourth of July*	Born on the Fourth of July*
The War of the Roses	Glory

1988

Mississippi Burning	Mississippi Burning*
Tequila Sunrise	Tequila Sunrise
Rain Man	Rain Man+
Unbearable Lightness of Being	The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Dangerous Liaisons*	Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

1987

Empire of the Sun	Empire of the Sun
The Last Emperor	The Last Emperor+
Matewan	Matewan
Someone to Watch Over Me	Hope and Glory*
The Untouchables	Broadcast News*

1986

Peggy Sue Got Married	Peggy Sue Got Married
The Mission	The Mission*
A Room with a View	A Room with a View*
Star Trek IV	Star Trek IV
The Karate Kid Part II	Platoon+