Oscar Winner Predictions: Best Cinematography

The competition: Black Swan, Inception, The King’s Speech, The Social Network, True Grit

Previous winners: Avatar, Slumdog Millionaire, There Will Be Blood, Pan’s Labyrinth, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Aviator
Who should win: Inception
Who will win: Films aside, there are two veteran Oscar nominees in this category vying for the win. Roger Deakins has been nominated nine times now and has never won. “True Grit” may well be the frontrunner here, and his main competition is a four-time nominee, Wally Pfister, who beat Deakins in the ASC race, which included the same five films. Pfister’s nod, for “Inception,” marks his fourth nomination, as well as his fourth nomination for a collaboration with Christopher Nolan. The other three cinematographers nominated are all first-time nominees. “The King’s Speech” could take it, and “The Social Network” is an unlikely potential spoiler. Don’t count on “Black Swan,” despite whatever fans it might have. This category is somewhat up in the air, and I think I’ll optimistically go with “Inception” as my predicted winner.