Oscar Winner Predictions: Best Cinematography

The competition: The Artist, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo, The Tree of Life, War Horse

Previous winners: Inception, Avatar, Slumdog Millionaire, There Will Be Blood, Pan’s Labyrinth, Memoirs of a Geisha
My winner: “In a Better World”
Who should win: “The Artist”
Who will win: All the cinematographers in this category are loyal to their directors, with “The Artist” lenser Guillaume Schiffman the only newbie in the mix. Both Jeff Richardson and Janusz Kaminski have both won before for Scorsese and Spielberg productions, respectively, and it’s possible that they could repeat. The dark, moody photography of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” could triumph, but I think that the American Society of Cinematographers winner Emmanuel Lubezki will finally win on his fifth nomination, for The Tree of Life. The film’s Best Picture bid is a sign that it has its fans, and it’s hard to argue that the cinematography isn’t incredible.