93rd Academy Awards: "Cinematography as ________ "

Please welcome new contributor Timothy Lyons...

The cinematographers’ branch (like all branches in the Academy) loves a familiar face - think your Lubezkis, your Richardsons and your Deakinses. One of the happy byproducts of an unusual cinematic year mostly void of big anticipated productions and usual suspects, is the higher-than-normal number of newbies recognised across the craft categories for this year’s Oscars. The five nominees for Best Cinematography are made up of: one returning nominee, one longtime veteran of the industry finally getting his due, one up-and-coming darling of the indie scene, one newcomer shortlisted for his feature film debut, and one individual who is (shockingly) on his first nomination despite shooting one of the most picturesque Best Picture winners (!) in recent memory.

Let's explore the five achievements the Academy has chosen to reward these artists for, presented in ascending order of personal preference…

Click to read more ...

93rd Academy Awards: on Best Sound and trips to other worlds

by Eurocheese

More than most years, I felt strongly about which films deserved to be in the conversation for Sound this year. This is the first year since the 1980 Oscars that only one team will receive a Sound prize, and even before 1980, Sound Effects would often receive a special separate prize (sometimes competitively, sometimes as the sole choice). Many Oscar fans learned to explain the difference between Oscar wins for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing, a separation we’ve had since 2003. The Academy has rewarded the Sound Department in every year since the third Oscar ceremony back in 1930, which means the honor has been around even longer than our supporting acting categories.

The nominees this year brought us a wide range of stories – a high seas chase, a Hollywood throwback, a western, an animated film and an immersive film focused on hearing loss. And did you know this year’s Sound category brought us two double nominees?

Click to read more ...

Almost There: Class of 2020

by Cláudio Alves

In this odd awards season, predicting the acting categories with accuracy was a difficult task. Many contenders seemed to vie for the limited spots and several actors garnered support from important precursors. The amount of legitimate "Almost There" cases is truly immense, especially when one considers such unexpected nods as that Supporting Actor citation for Lakeith Stanfield. In any case, with such a wealth of potential case studies, here goes an unusual entry in this series, one focused on multiple actors…

Click to read more ...

FYC: Soundscapes and Music

by Nathaniel R

The Film Bitch Awards continue with ballots for Best Score, Best Sound, Best Original Song, and in the non-Oscar parallel category Best Adapted, Combined, or Song Score (since so many films opt to have scores that lean into "soundtracks" as opposed to "scores" if you know what we mean)...

Click to read more ...

Let's talk about Oscar's screenplay races

by Nathaniel R

"Mank" is about the writing of a legendary screenplay. That should do the trick.

Are there locks in the Screenplay categories? At the moment both races feel almost settled (aside from hugely competitive fifth slots) though the WGA nominations arrive on February 16th which could theoretically disrupt the consensus punditry.

ORIGINAL
In the original race Mank, Minari, Promising Young Woman, and Trial of the Chicago 7 all feel like certainties but are they? That's too many locks prior to the WGA nominations and leaves only one spot open. That hypothetical fifth spot battle has a lot of strong fighters...

Click to read more ...