The battle for Best Cinematography remains a close race between Greig Fraser for Dune and Ari Wegner for The Power of the Dog. The two have picked up the same number of wins from the critics groups. Both scored nods from BAFTA and the American Society of Cinematographers, with Wegner becoming the very first female cinematography nominee in BAFTA history. Who wins the Oscar will likely be flagged by whoever takes away the prize from the ASC, which won’t occur until March 20 i.e. one week before the Oscars.
Also joining Fraser and Wegner in the ASC nominees were Haris Zambarloukos for Belfast and Bruno Delbonnel for The Tragedy of Macbeth. The latter also picked up a BAFTA nod, so let’s presume those are our locked four for the final five Oscar nominations. It was odd to see Belfast missing at BAFTA, but the love from ASC is far more important in this race.
While West Side Story nabbed key nominations like PGA, DGA, WGA, it’s suffered some shocking snubs with the technical guilds. Janusz Kaminski was considered a solid lock for a Best Cinematography nomination, but he was surprisingly snubbed by both BAFTA and the American Society of Cinematographers, meaning he limps into Tuesday’s Oscar nominations with just a nod from Critics Choice. We’re now looking at a situation where either West Side Story rallies and nabs numerous nominations or it underperforms and walks away with just three or four (or possibly even less). And, to be honest, I have no idea which is more likely.
Much like most categories this year, it’s that fifth spot that’s hard to predict. There’s every chance it goes to West Side Story, but the tealeaves are screaming it will be Dan Laustsen for Nightmare Alley, who also nabbed both BAFTA and ASC nominations. The Academy hasn’t 100% matched ASC since 2017 (they’ve gone 4/5 every year since), but I think they will this year.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY PREDICTIONS:
1. The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
Ari Wegner
2. Dune (Warner Bros.)
Greig Fraser
3. The Tragedy of Macbeth (A24/Apple TV+)
Bruno Delbonnel
4. Belfast (Focus Features)
Haris Zambarloukos
5. Nightmare Alley (Searchlight Pictures)
Dan Laustsen
IN CONTENTION
C’mon C’mon (A24)
Robbie Ryan
Cyrano (MGM)
Seamus McGarvey
Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
Linus Sandgren
The French Dispatch (Searchlight Pictures)
Robert Yeoman
House of Gucci (MGM)
Dariusz Wolski
Licorice Pizza (MGM)
Michael Bauman and Paul Thomas Anderson
No Time to Die (MGM)
Linus Sandgren
Spencer (Neon)
Claire Mathon
tick, tick… BOOM! (Netflix)
Alice Brooks
West Side Story (20th Century Studios)
Janusz Kaminski