The American Society of Cinematographers announced its nominees for the 37th ASC Awards. They are: Roger Deakins (“Empire of Light”), Greig Fraser (“The Batman”), Darius Khondji (“Bardo”), Claudio Miranda (“Top Gun: Maverick”), and Mandy Walker (“Elvis”).
Not a bad one in the bunch and a big boost for “Elvis” which is quickly becoming a Top 5 Best Picture contender. Fraser, Khondji and Walker are big surprises. The ASC seem to have gone away from the current Oscar narrative and paved their own path as to what they believe are the year’s best. Kudos.
Most notable snub is Janusz Kaminski (“The Fabelmans”). Man, “The Fabelmans” has really been on a downward spiral these last few weeks. Russell Carpenter (“Avatar: The Way of Water”) and Hoyte Van Hoytema (Nope) also got the shaft. How about Florian Hoffmeister’s excellent work on “TÁR”? Not good enough for the ASC.
To sum it all up, today’s American Society of Cinematography nominees might or might not set up the Oscar race for Cinematography, but it’s clearly Claudio Miranda’s Oscar to lose.
The winners will be announced during a ceremony on March 5.