by Nathaniel R
Sometimes all it takes is one killer lewk. You might not have thought of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri as a "costume" movie but the Costumer Designer Guild gave it one of their contemporary nominations all the same. Must've been that already famous janitor jumpsuit with bandana on Frances McDormand. It's so very "Mildred". Either that or, you know, the Guilds are just voting on their favorite movies (as they are also prone to do) without thinking too much on their own fields within those movies. Who knows what lurks in the hearts of awards voters? No one truly as they're non monolithic.
More on their nominations (and the Cinematography guild also) with commentary after the jump...
COSTUME DESIGN
Excellence in Contemporary Film
“Get Out” (Nadine Haders)
“I, Tonya” (Jennifer Johnson)
“Kingsman: The Golden Circle” (Arianne Phillips)
“Lady Bird” (April Napier)
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Melissa Toth)
The only "off-BP conversation" surprise in this one is the stylish action flick "Kingsman". I am a huge Arianne Philips nut so I don't mean to dismiss her but it seems crazy to me that the guild acknowledged an action flick this year for this category and it's title somehow wasn't "Atomic Blonde"! I scratch my imaginary platinum bob bewigged head in confusion!
My contemporary nominations if I divvied the categories up that way I think would have gone like so: Atomic Blonde (Cindy Evans), Baby Driver (Courtney Hoffman), Girls Trip (Danielle Hollowell), I Tonya, and Lady Bird
Excellence in Period Film
“Dunkirk” (Jeffrey Kurland)
“The Greatest Showman” (Ellen Mirojnick)
“Murder on the Orient Express” (Alexandra Byrne)
“Phantom Thread” (Mark Bridges)
“The Shape of Water” (Luis Sequeira)
No real surprises here in Period though I'm a bit sad to not-see The Beguiled. It is worth noting that Oscar voting may be tighter here than people think this year. For instance, I could see I Tonya making it to Oscar for that rare "contemporary" nominee (yes, the 90s are still officially considered temporary with guilds) and among period films I could see competing for the Oscar even without a guild precursor nod it's never wise to underestimate the pull of previous players as the Guilds can be highly "clubby". It's not impossible that Oscar might go instead with Sandy Powell (Wonderstruck) or Consolata Boyle (Victoria and Abdul) or Mary Zophres (Battle of the Sexes) or the BAFTA nominated Jacqueline Durran (Darkest Hour) for one or two of the slots.
But all of these five that the CDG recognized can now be seriously hopeful that they have an actual shot at an Oscar nomination... even though the Oscar lineup is never 5/5 with the period category at CDG.
Excellence in Sci-Fi / Fantasy Film
“Beauty and the Beast” (Jacqueline Durran)
“Blade Runner 2049” (Renée April)
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (Michael Kaplan)
“Thor: Ragnarok” (Mayes C. Rubeo)
“Wonder Woman” (Lindy Hemming)
Delighted to see the very colorful work of Thor represented. And Wonder Woman, too, of course!
Excellence in Contemporary Television
“American Horror Story: Cult” (Sarah Evelyn Bram)
“Big Little Lies” (Alix Friedberg)
“Grace and Frankie” (Allyson B. Fanger)
“The Handmaid’s Tale” (Ane Crabtree)
“The Young Pope” (Luca Canfora, Carlo Poggioli)
Somehow The Handmaid's Tale isn't considered sci-fi even though it takes place in the future and the clothing obviously is new dysptopia stylized.
If we started covering GLOW would you read/discuss. It's so hard to know what y'all will like with small screen coverage.
Excellence in Period Television
“The Crown” (Jane Petrie)
“Feud: Bette and Joan” (Lou Eyrich)
“GLOW” (Beth Morgan)
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Donna Zakowska)
“Stranger Things” (Kim Wilcox)
GLOW. What a nice curveball for a costume nod with their purposefully ugly and very 80s clothing and THEIR even more purposefully ugly and also 80s "costumes" within the show. I like Stranger Things just fine but a costume nod is surely indicative of how inescapable it is; everyone has seen it. I mean, how do you pass up "The Deuce" here? It boggles the mind.
Excellence in Sci-Fi / Fantasy Television
“Black Mirror: USS Callister” (Maja Meschede)
“Game of Thrones” (Michele Clapton)
“Once Upon a Time” (Eduardo Castro, Dan Lester)
“Sleepy Hollow” (Mairi Chisholm)
“Star Trek: Discovery” (Gersha Phillips)
Excellence in Short Form Design
“Assassin’s Creed” – “I Am,” Commercial (Patrik Milani)
Elton John featuring Marilyn Manson: “Tiny Dancer,” Music Video (Sara Sensoy, Dawn Ritz)
Katy Perry – “Chained to the Rhythm,” Music Video (B. Ăkerlund)
“Miu Miu Women’s Tales #14: The End of History Illusion,” Short Film (Mindy Le Brock)
P!NK – “Beautiful Trauma,” Music Video (Kim Bowen)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
And the Cinematographer's Guild (ASC = American Society of Cinematographers) also released their pre-Oscar guild nominations.
Theatrical Release
Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC for Blade Runner 2049
Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC for Darkest Hour
Hoyte van Hoytema, ASC, FSF, NSC for Dunkirk
Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF for The Shape of Water
Rachel Morrison, ASC for Mudbound
Rachel Morrison is the first female cinematographer ever nominated by the guild. To date no female DP has ever been Oscar nominated either. Will she be the first? Color me surprised that the Cinematographers Guild (of all guilds) didn't object to the movie being non-theatrical. I thought that of all the guilds they would be most resistant to non big-screen viewing. Their lack of resistance to it might point to a history making Oscar nomination but we shall see. Generally the Oscars ditch at least one of the ASC nominees. FWIW the BAFTA list is identical but for Ben Davis's work on Three Billboards in the place of Rachel's work on Mudbound. The visuals are definitely not the strongest suit of Three Billboards so if these are our only six options we hope Oscar just copies the ASC list though we'll weep for well shot contenders that somehow didn't gain traction like, oh, The Florida Project, The Beguiled, Beach Rats, Wonderstruck, Battle of the Sexes, etcetera. There are always more than 5 worthy achievements in cinematography.
Hungary's Oscar finalist "On Body and Soul" is exquisitely shot
Spotlight
Máté Herbai, HSC for On Body and Soul
Mikhail Krichman, RGC for Loveless
Mart Taniel for November
Wow. Fantastic spotlight choices using the Foreign Film submission list. The Hungarian, Russian, and Estonian films were all real lookers.
Episode of a Series for Non-Commercial Television
Gonzalo Amat for The Man in the High Castle (“Land O’ Smiles) on Amazon
Adriano Goldman, ASC, ABC for The Crown (“Smoke and Mirrors”) on Netflix
Robert McLachlan, ASC, CSC for Game of Thrones (“The Spoils of War”) on HBO
Gregory Middleton, ASC, CSC for Game of Thrones (“Dragonstone”) on HBO
Alasdair Walker for Outlander (“The Battle Joined”) on Starz
Episode of a Series for Commercial Television
Dana Gonzales, ASC for Legion (“Chapter 1”) on FX
David Greene, ASC, CSC for 12 Monkeys (“Mother”) on Syfy
Kurt Jones for The Originals (“Bag of Cobras”) on The CW
Boris Mojsovski, CSC for 12 Monkeys (“Thief”) on Syfy
Crescenzo Notarile, ASC for Gotham (“The Executioner”) on Fox
Motion Picture, Miniseries, or Pilot Made for Television
Mindhunter
Pepe Avila del Pino for The Deuce pilot on HBO
Serge Desrosiers, CSC for Sometimes the Good Kill on Lifetime
Mathias Herndl, AAC for Genius (“Chapter 1”) on National Geographic
Shelly Johnson, ASC for Training Day pilot (“Apocalypse Now”) on CBS
Christopher Probst, ASC for the Mindhunter pilot on Netflix
FINALLY... some nominations for The Deuce and Mindhunter.
What do you make of these guild honors?