Oscar Nominees: Best Cinematography

My predictions: 3/5
My ballot: Come back in February!
The nominees: Cold War, The Favourite, Never Look Away, Roma, A Star is Born

I was just going through my own contenders yesterday in preparation for my own AFT Awards and almost choose Never Look Away, which also scored a bid for Best Foreign Film, as a selection in this category, only to decide that it’s technically a 2019 film, though maybe its very limited release at the end of November was the extent of its showing in the United States. I’m actually all for its inclusion since the visual style in this more-than-three-hour film was mesmerizing. It’s also got to be a historical moment that three foreign films are honored in this category, though 2004 technically had that if you count “The Passion of the Christ.” Roma and Cold War, both of which did very well, were more expected here, joined by the very popular The Favourite, which didn’t miss any expected technical races, and A Star is Born, which definitely did. I thought “Black Panther” would make the cut here, and I’m sad that this was just the first of many “If Beale Street Could Talk” omissions.

My current bet to win: With these nominees, I still think Roma can win, but “The Favourite” may just overtake it.