“Best Cinematography was not nominated” – Deadline

Roger Deakins, legendary cinematographer and Knight of the British Kingdom, cut to the chase: he says many of the finest examples of cinematography are missing from this year’s Oscar slate.

“Best Cinematography was not nominated,” he told me at the reception of the British Consul General’s Oscars.

What movie I ask?

“It is The Batman.It’s the best work in my opinion,” he says, praising the “extraordinary” visual talent of Greig Fraser in the Warner Bros. film directed by Matt Reeves.

The photo should have been a contender in that category, Deakins insists.

“The reason it didn’t is plain and simple: snobbery. There’s this unfair tendency to avoid the Marvel universe and other popular universes,” he says.

Claudio Miranda the director of photography of Paramount Top Gun: Maverick “is another one that got left out,” Deakins notes.

“It comes down to work. A good job is a good job regardless of gender,” he adds.

It’s worth pointing out that Fraser prevailed at last year’s Oscars for Dune: part one while Miranda won an Oscar for Pi’s life in 2012.

This did not calm Deakins. “The snobbery remains,” he says.

Deakins himself is on his sixteenth Oscar nomination for his exquisite work on Sam Mendes Empire of Light. Although he has already won twice – for Blade Runner 2049 And 1917 – he doesn’t expect to win the trophy on Sunday night. He observed that James Friend had won the BAFTAs for In the west, nothing is new and that Mandy Walker won the ASC Award from the American Society of Cinematographers for her visual storytelling on Elvis.

Isn’t it time for a woman to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography? “It’s a question of work, not gender,” he replied, although he did not deny that such an outcome would be welcome “but it must be supported by work”.

Emily Cloke, the UK Consul General, praised Deakins’ remarkable and innovative achievements behind the camera.

The annual event at the consul general’s private residence celebrated all of the British nominees.

We all felt very comfortable not just because of the sausage roll canapes and Union Jack flags strewn everywhere, but because of the weather. We were half inside and half outside. The rain made the Brits of honor of all the participants.

‘PUS IN BOOTS: THE LAST VAULT’ SAVED ME FROM THE RAIN.

As we know, we Brits are obsessed with the weather. Appropriately it was raining cats and dogs, I really threw it the night I saw Joel Crawford Puss in Boots: The Last Wish in London some time ago. I could have stayed warm and dry at home, but I still feel a sense of accomplishment if I get where I’m going on a hellish rainy day. There was a public transport strike that day too, so the roads were crazy. But I did it from the East End to Central London.

The movie started and in about five minutes I was hooked. I will tell you that animated films are not my first love but pussy inside Boots: The Last Wish seemed to speak to me. I was in all the business involving Antonio Banderas’ Puss and Salam Hayek Pinault’s Kitty Softpaws and I couldn’t get enough of Goldilocks and the Three Bears voiced by Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winston and Samson Kano .

“What is going on?” I ask Crawford. “I’m a supposedly grown-up guy and here I am sitting in a public place out of the rain, tears streaming down my face.”

Crawford looks me in the eye and says the movie “doesn’t just target one age.”

He adds that he has heard people “say that this movie made me cry, and why am I crying watching Puss in Boots: The Last Wishor they ask “how even is the action so deep that it rivals comic book movies? The thing is, we’re all adults making these movies. We’re also creating them for ourselves” , he explains.

Optimism is really important to him in movies, he says. “I want people to feel that through something that I create. I think there’s a lot of negativity, a lot of cynicism in the world…you have the opportunity to bring something that goes beyond the simple entertainment and hopefully people come out in a different mood.

He mentions that someone sent him a message saying that they had entered Puss in Boots: The Last Wish feeling really depressed but came out delighted. “It makes me want to cry because art affects their lives,” Crawford says.

Crawford says he and his collaborators layered comedy and emotion into the story in hopes that audiences would connect deeply.

Well, it worked with this overgrown kid. I also think I saw the DreamWorks Animation/Universal movie in a movie theater. I had this shared, uninterrupted experience with strangers in the dark.

Crawford and partner Mark Swift take on Guillermo del Toro winner Pinocchio in the race for Best Animated Feature at Sunday’s Oscars.

I totally admired the photo of Mark Gustafson and del Toro. However, only Puss in Boots: Last Wish made me shed a tear, or two or three.

CLEAN THESE STARS!

Every year, I usually pay tribute to the stars of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It doesn’t matter, it’s just something I like to do. The other day, however, I felt anger rising as I surveyed the condition of those stars embedded in the sidewalk along the blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

Olivia Newton John’s star had sticky chewing gum on it so I got on all fours and wiped it off with tissues. I did the same for Snow White, Jean Harlow and Mickey Mouse.

The Tom Cruise star was doing just fine.

This whole area around Hollywood and the Highlands where the Oscars are taking place needs a deep clean. Yes, I know that the Academy embellishes the pieces that will be seen on television, and beautiful curtains are put up and there is a red carpet. In fact, it’s champagne this year. Remember to wipe your feet before stepping on them!

But those public spaces that the public doesn’t see could use a little elbow grease. And please get rid of the street vendors trying to whip up dodgy music records and God knows what else.

Next year I will arrive with polish and rags to clean the brass plates, plus a supply hose to move the gum.

I am not joking.