The Oscar narrative continues to get more focused this week. Yesterday, the Producers Guild Awards, one of the best indicators of future Academy recognition, unveiled their nominees for the Best Picture of the year. And it seems one big auteur drive movie is being left out in the cold: Quentin Tarantino‘s "The Hateful Eight." And that continues today with ASC Award nominees for cinematography.
READ MORE: The Best Cinematography of 2015
"Bridge Of Spies," "Carol," "Mad Max: Fury Road," "Sicario," and "The Revenant" all made the grade for the look of each of those films, and personally, they are all deserving, though I think Steven Spielberg‘s picture is perhaps the least impressive of the bunch in that department (it looks….nice, though it’s hardly remarkable). However, Bob Richardson‘s 70mm work on "The Hateful Eight" failed to get a mention, and that’s a bit disappointing. There has been a common complaint that the huge format is a bit wasted on a movie that is largely interiors, but it still looks damn great, and Tarantino’s staging combined with Richardson’s framing is terrific stuff — but clearly not enough to earn a nod here.
Check out the nominees below — the awards will be handed out on February 14th.
“Bridge of Spies” (Janusz Kaminski)
“Carol” (Ed Lachman)
“Mad Max: Fury Road” (John Seale)
“The Revenant” (Emmanuel Lubezki)
“Sicario” (Roger Deakins)
Update 1/13 — The following filmmakers have been nominated for ASC’s 2016 Spotlight Awards:
"Macbeth: (Adam Arkapaw)
"Son Of Saul" (Mátyás Erdély)
"Beasts Of No Nation" (Cary Joji Fukunaga)