Oscars 2018: The Big Techies

Yesterday, we looked at some of the lower-profile below-the line fields in this year’s Oscars. This morning, we’re staying in the technical areas but progressing to some categories that carry a bit more weight. Of course, the Academy initially planned on announcing the winners for two of these fields during commercial breaks, but then they reversed course, no doubt because they remembered that the Manifesto prizes these categories.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES
Cold War—Lukasz Zal
The Favourite—Robbie Ryan
Never Look Away—Caleb Deschanel
Roma—Alfonso Cuarón
A Star Is Born—Matthew Libatique

WILL WIN
I’ve heard rumblings that voters might stay away from Roma because Cuarón shot the film himself, and they’d rather reward a laborer who’s dedicated his life to this type of work, thereby opening the door for either Cold War or The Favourite. I don’t see it. You can quarrel with Roma’s pacing, but as a piece of cinematic craft, its achievement is undeniable. Roma bags another Oscar (one of at least four, as many as eight).

SHOULD WIN
I’ve yet to see Never Look Away, which wasn’t even released in the U.S. until a few weeks ago, so I can’t comment on Deschanel’s work. (The most impressive title on his résumé is probably The Passion of the Christ, which makes his nomination here all the more surprising.) Regardless, I can’t imagine it topping either The Favourite or Cold War, much less Roma. I will say, though, that I’m in the critical minority regarding Libatique’s work in A Star Is Born, which I found messy and distracting.

THE MANIFESTO’S BALLOT
Adrift—Robert Richardson
Bad Times at the El Royale—Seamus McGarvey
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs—Bruno Delbonnel
The Favourite—Robbie Ryan
Roma—Alfonso Cuarón

It kills me to leave Cold War off my ballot, but the Oscars are a cruel beast. I encourage viewers to seek out both Adrift and Bad Times at the El Royale, two genre films featuring extraordinary craft that have sadly (if predictably) gone unrecognized during awards season.

The Manifesto’s winner: Roma—Alfonso Cuarón.

BEST FILM EDITING

NOMINEES
BlacKkKlansman—Barry Alexander Brown
Bohemian Rhapsody—John Ottman
The Favourite—Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Green Book—Patrick J. Don Vito
Vice—Hank Corwin

WILL WIN
Over the past decade or so, the Academy has skewed technical in this category, honoring muscular films like Hacksaw Ridge, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Bourne Ultimatum. But this year, no such nominee really exists. As a result, I suspect they’ll reward the movie with the most visible editing, resulting in a race between BlacKkKlansman and Vice. I’ll put my money on the latter.

SHOULD WIN
Certainly not Vice, whose editing gave me a headache. I didn’t despise Bohemian Rhapsody or Green Book the way so many critics did, but there was certainly nothing Oscar-worthy about the editing of either. I admired the bravura cross-cutting in BlacKkKlansman, but I’ll still take The Favourite, which didn’t waste a single shot.

THE MANIFESTO’S BALLOT
Cold War—Jaroslaw Kaminski
On Chesil Beach—Nick Fenton
Searching—Nick Johnson and Will Merrick
The Tale—Anne Fabini, Alex Hall, and Gary Levy
Widows—Joe Walker

Yeah, suffice it to say that the Academy and I had slightly different views on editing this year.

The Manifesto’s winner: Cold War—Jaroslaw Kaminski.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

NOMINEES
Black Panther—Ludwig Göransson
BlacKkKlansman—Terence Blanchard
If Beale Street Could Talk—Nicholas Britell
Isle of Dogs—Alexandre Desplat
Mary Poppins Returns—Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman

WILL WIN
Everything is in play here with the exception of Isle of Dogs (and even that has a chance, given Desplat’s currency within the Academy). It’s always dangerous to count out the musical, but I don’t think that the mediocre songs of Mary Poppins Returns have enough staying power to muscle in here. That leaves three, and while the smart money is probably on the melancholic, jazz-inflected music of If Beale Street Could Talk, I’ll go with the upset and take the booming brass of Black Panther.

SHOULD WIN
In a relatively uninspiring year for original scores, my favorite of the year was If Beale Street Could Talk, so let’s go with that.

THE MANIFESTO’S BALLOT
Annihilation—Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury
Black Panther—Ludwig Göransson
Colette—Thomas Adès
If Beale Street Could Talk—Nicholas Britell
Revenge—Robin Coudert

This seems like a good time to remind you that you should watch Colette.

The Manifesto’s winner: If Beale Street Could Talk—Nicholas Britell.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

NOMINEES
Black Panther
The Favourite
First Man
Mary Poppins Returns
Roma

WILL WIN
Biggest is typically best here, and while Roma basically constructed an entire neighborhood from scratch, I suspect the battle will come down to Black Panther versus The Favourite. The latter was shot in a real-life castle, which helps, but the former created the glittering fictional nation of Wakanda. Black Panther’s eye-catching invention should give it the edge.

SHOULD WIN
I’ve grumbled plenty about the music in Mary Poppins Returns, so I’ll concede that some of the sets were pretty cool. Also, the production design of First Man was so convincing, I’m pretty sure it was filmed on the actual moon. Still, who am I to deny the glory of Wakanda?

THE MANIFESTO’S BALLOT
Bad Times at the El Royale
Black Panther
First Man
Hereditary
Ready Player One

Look, I can understand the Academy freezing out the sneakily elegant Bad Times at the El Royale, but overlooking the massive design achievements of Ready Player One just makes no sense.

The Manifesto’s winner: Bad Times at the El Royale.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

NOMINEES
Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
First Man
Ready Player One
Solo: A Star Wars Story

WILL WIN
Once again, bigger is better, and no movie of 2018 was bigger than Avengers: Infinity War. (Plenty were better, but that’s another story.)

SHOULD WIN
Setting aside Christopher Robin, which I haven’t seen (even though it apparently made $100 million??), these are all qualified nominees, but the one that most impressively combines beauty with brawn is Ready Player One.

THE MANIFESTO’S BALLOT
Annihilation
Aquaman
Bumblebee
First Man
Ready Player One

Annihilation turned scary monsters into grotesque art, Aquaman turned the ocean into a gladiatorial arena, Bumblebee turned a hunk of metal into a person, First Man turned a spaceship into a death capsule, and Ready Player One turned computer code into a thrilling artificial world.

The Manifesto’s winner: Ready Player One.

Back later today with a look at the screenplays.