Back in November we asked if "Skyfall" would be the picture that finally nets Roger Deakins an Oscar for Best Cinematography. Nominated nine times ("The Shawshank Redemption," "Fargo," "Kundun," "O Brother Where Art Thou," "The Man Who Wasn't There," "No Country For Old Men," "The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford," "The Reader" and "True Grit") Deakins has never actually taken home a statue from the Academy, but that could change for his tenth nomination for "Skyfall." And earning an award from his fellow colleagues over the weekend could potentially boost his chances.
Deakins took home the American Society of Cinematographers award Sunday night for "Skyfall," making it his third win for the organization (previously receiving honors for "The Shawshank Redepmtion" and "The Man Who Wasn't There"). But a win here doesn't necessarily mean Oscar. In fact, in the society's twenty-six year history, only 11 ACS winners went on to get the golden little man, so the odds aren't great, but the win certainly doesn't hurt Deakins' chances either. However, competition is fierce, with Deakins squaring off against folks like Janusz Kaminski ("Lincoln"), Robert Richardson ("Django Unchained"), Seamus McGarvey ("Anna Karenina") and Claudio Miranda ("Life Of Pi"), all of whom did pretty stellar and distinctive work for their pictures.
Other ASC winners for the night: Kramer Morgenthau and Balazs Bolygo shared honors for one-hour series for "Game Of Thrones" and "Hunted" respectively; Bradford Lipson won for half-hour program for "Wilfred," while Florian Hoffmeister took home a prize for his work on the mini-series "Great Expectations."