Who Will Win the Oscar for Best Cinematography?

This article ran as part of this year’s LAMB Devours the Oscars series.

In a rare change of pace for Oscar discussion, a technical award is one of the most talked about races this year. When the Oscar nominations were announced last month, people were ecstatic when cinematographer Rachel Morrison became the first woman ever nominated for Best Cinematography. Morrison has some very strong competition, as nearly every nominee has an honest chance of winning. Let’s dive into each nominee by discussing their chances this year, their past work, and how Oscar politics could play a part in who wins.

In Character: John Malkovich

John Malkovich is a name so synonymous with strange, or disturbed, or grotesque characters, that simply evoking the actor’s name is enough to help people understand what kind of performance you’re about to watch. John Malkovich. It’s a name that speaks for itself. An actor whose skills, and inadvertent amusement, are impossible to ignore.

Breaking Down Cinematographer Roger Deakins’ 14 Oscar Nominations

Roger Deakins is one of the finest cinematographers to ever work in film. He’s a master of isolating blues, unyielding yellows, dangerous silhouettes, and deep shadows. He also has an incredible knack for capturing sunrises and sunsets, consistently proving that in order to be a great director of photography, you have to bend with the elements.

For the purposes of this post, I’m highlighting a painful reality about Deakins’ career: the man has been nominated for 14 Oscars, and never won. Now, of course, I’d love to tell you how absurd it is that Roger Deakins doesn’t have an Academy Award. But in analyzing all of his nominations, it became clear that, despite how great a Roger Deakins film looks (and they all look great), he shoots movies in insanely competitive years.

This year, Deakins is nominated for shooting Blade Runner 2049, and, like every other year he’s been nominated, he has a damn good shot at winning. One can only hope. Because if there’s a year he deserves it, it is truly this one.