It'd be a little odd (just a little) to see Babel with a costume design nomination (even a contemporary) and without a cinematography one...


Rodrigo Prieto, Babel
Emmanuel Lubezki, Children of Men
Tom Stern, Letters from Iwo Jima
Tobias A. Schliessler, Dreamgirls
Guillermo Navarro, Pan's Labyrinth

If Curse of the Golden Flower could show up in Costume, it may show up here as well.

I npredict:
Apocalypto
Children of men
The Departed
Dreamgirls
The Fountain

CHILDREN OF MEN, ILLUSIONIST, GOOD SHEPHERD, APOCALYPTO and BLACK DAHLIA Earn Outstanding Feature Noms From Cinematography Society

By PR Newswire

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC, (CHILDREN OF MEN), Dick Pope, BSC (THE ILLUSIONIST), Robert Richardson, ASC (THE GOOD SHEPHERD), Dean Semler, ASC, ACS (APOCALYPTO), and Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC (THE BLACK DAHLIA) are vying for top honors in the feature film category at the 21st Annual American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards competition. The winner will be announced during the awards gala on February 18 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel.

"There is no textbook formula for artful cinematography," says Russ Alsobrook, ASC who chairs the organization's Awards Committee. "It takes talent and skill to master a complex craft, as well as a collaborative spirit. These five, amazingly talented individuals were selected by their peers who believe they have set the standard for artful visual story-telling in a sharply competitive field from 2006."

This is the eighth ASC nomination for Richardson, the third for Zsigmond, the second for Lubezki and Semler, and the first for Pope. They were nominated for movies that occur in different places and eras, with themes varying from pure fantasy to stark reality.

Okada also points out that all five nominees trace their origins to different countries. Semler was born and launched his career in Australia, Zsigmond in Hungary, Lubezki in Mexico, Richardson in the United States, and Pope in England where he still resides.

The ASC was founded in 1919. There are some 290 members from many nations today, and approximately 140 associate members from allied sectors of the industry.

For more information about the 21st Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards, visit http://www.theasc.com or call 323-969-4333.

SOURCE American Society of Cinematographers

Copyright 2006 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved


Different!

Out of these, I think only Children of Men, Apocalypto and MAYBE The Illusionist will make it. These are waaaaay out of left field, and shake the race up bigtime.

And Children of Men should win easily. Now if only it could pull it off on the big night. . .

Well I got Apocalypto and Children of Men right.

Um... what a weird bunch.

The Illusionist??? (again... over The Prestige??!!!??)

The next question: which 3 or 4 will get the Oscar nomination?

Lubezki is so due for an Oscar.

Wow.

I don't think ANYONE picked Black Dahlia, so...yeah.

And do ANY of these look like eventual Cinematography winners come Oscar night? Cause that would be good for CoM, the closest film to that.

Weiiiiiiiiird.

I'm kinda glad though they didn't just insert the usual biggies into the categories, like Dreamgirls and Babel (which showed up in contemporary costume???)

Peace,
Mike.

The Good Shepherd?

Uh...

Certainly an interesting set, and it's nice to see something different.

Children of Men so would've been a much bigger player if promoted better.

Yeah... can we see a Cinematography Oscar lineup with no BP nominee?

The most recent one I remember which came close was in 04, when The Aviator was the only BP nominee (and eventual Cinematography winner).

ASC usually goes 3/5 or 4/5 with the Oscars, so at least something here will not translate to an Oscar nomination (which could allow an opening for one of the Best Picture nominees).

Or... maybe the Oscars will just nominate Children of Men for Best Picture. That's easier, don't ch'ya think?

Peace,
Mike.

Right now I say they take out Good Shepherd and Black Dahlia and put in Babel and Dreamgirls at the Oscars.

Both The Phantom of the Opera and Chicago were ignored by ASC but nominated at Oscar, so Dreamgirls should still be in.

Absolutely zero guilds so far for both it and United 93. Boy are the critics and guilds at a divide this year.

Oh, and why hasn't Levy popped in to bitch about Dreamgirls? Oh right, because it's DOING WELL, MWAHAHAHAHA!

The cinematographers are usually a moot point when it coems to the BP race. Last year they (The Academy) gave Batman Begins and The New World their only nominations, and the terribly reviewed Memoirs of a Geisha won over Brokeback and GNAGL.

Um, very weird line-up.

I don't see anything other than CoM or Apocalypto to appear at the Oscars in this category. The other three spots should be taken by The Departed, Dreamgirls and one Eastwood flick.

I seriously don't think any of these voters saw Letters from Iwo Jima in time. No cinematography, no costumes, it has to be more than just physically snubbing it...

These are very good nominees actually. I'm not sure where the surprise is coming from, since if you saw The Illusionist and The Black Dahlia you would know they are very deserving in this category. Cinematography is not a category, like editing for example, that closely ties in with best picture. Babel was an ugly movie and doesn't deserve to be here. Dreamgirls I haven't seen, so I can't comment on that one. The Departed is more contemporary and less hyper-stylized than Scorsese usually shoots, so I can see why that missed. The Fountain and Miami Vice (as disappointing as the movie was, the look was magnificent) are the real snubs.

The branch doesn't normally go with a film like The Departed. Collateral made with ASC and still missed Oscar. Scorsese's films have a great tracking record in the category, and Michael Ballhaus has been nominated three times at Oscar comparing to just once from ASC, so The Departed could certainly make it, but it's not a sure thing given it's only the branch who does the voting. If nominated however, it's a serious threat to win when everybody votes.

Great set of nominees. The Black Dahlia had splendid cinematography and I'm glad it's not forgotten. And the cinematography was one of the good aspects of The Illusionist. And of course, this makes it very easy for Children of Men to get its deserved win, plus it could now have a chance at a Best Picture nomination depending on whether enough people saw the movie before they voted.