Breaking Baz: Oscar winner Sir Roger Deakins says ‘Best cinematography wasn’t nominated this year’, sees Oscars as ‘snobbish’ about cinematographers on popular films

Roger Deakins, the legendary cinematographer and Knight of the British Empire, put it bluntly: He thinks some of the best examples of cinematography are missing from this year’s Oscars list.

“Best Picture is not nominated,” he told me at the British Consul General’s Oscar reception.

What movie I ask?

“Is The dough.I think it’s the best work,” he says, praising Greig Fraser’s “extraordinary” visual flair for the Warner Bros film, directed by Matt Reeves.

The photo should have been a contender in that category, Deakins points out.

“The reason for this is simple: snobbery. There is an unfair tendency to avoid the Marvel universe and the other popular universes,” he says.

Claudio Miranda, cameraman at Paramount Top Gun: Maverick“is another one that’s been evicted,” Deakins notes.

“It depends on the job. Good work is good work, regardless of genre,” he adds.

It’s worth noting that Fraser had the upper hand at last year’s Academy Awards Dune: part one while Miranda took home an Oscar life of pi in 2012.

This did not reassure Deakins. “The snobbery remains,” he says.

Deakins himself is on his 16th Oscar nomination for his outstanding work on Sam Mendes’ rich in light. Although he has won twice before – e.g Blade Runner 2049 And 1917 – He does not expect to take home the trophy on Sunday. He noted that James Friend won at BAFTA No news from the western front and that Mandy Walker won the American Society of Cinematographers’ ASC Award for her visual storytelling elvis.

Isn’t it about time a woman won the Oscar for Best Cinematography? “It’s about the work, not the sex,” was his response, although he didn’t deny that such an outcome would be welcome, “but it has to be driven by the work.”

British Consul General Emily Cloke praised Deakin’s remarkable, innovative achievements behind the camera.

The annual event, held at the Consul General’s private residence, celebrated all of Britain’s Oscar nominees.

We all felt very comfortable, not only because of the sausage rolls and scattered Union Jack flags, but also because of the weather. We were half in and half out. The rain made honorary Brits out of everyone present.

Puss in Boots: Last wish save me from the rain

As we know, we Brits are obsessed with the weather. Fittingly, it rained, straight from heaven, the night I saw Joel Crawford’s house Puss in Boots: The Last Wish some time ago in London. I could have stayed warm and dry at home, but I always have a sense of accomplishment when I get where I’m going on a rainy hell day. There was also a public transport strike that day, so the streets were crazy. But I made it from the East End to central London.

The movie started and within about five minutes I was hooked. I will tell you that animated films are not my first love though pussy inside Boots: the last wish seemed to be talking to me. In all cases, I hung out with Antonio Banderas’ Puss and Salam Hayek Pinault’s Kitty Softpaws, and I couldn’t get enough of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, voiced by Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winston and Samson Kano.

“What’s going on?” I ask Crawford. “I’m a supposedly grown guy and here I am in a public place sheltered from the rain with tears streaming down my cheeks.”

Crawford looks me in the eye and says the film “isn’t just about age.”

He adds that he’s heard people “say this movie made me cry and why I cry while watching it Puss in Boots: The Last Wish?” Or they ask, “Why is the action pushed to the point where it looks like comic book movies? The thing is, all of us adults make these movies. We also make them for ourselves,” he explains.

Optimism is very important to him when it comes to films, he says. “I want people to feel that it comes from something I do. I think there’s a lot of negativity, a lot of cynicism in the world… They have an opportunity to bring something that goes beyond just entertainment, so hopefully people come out with a different vibe.”

He mentions that someone sent him a message that they were going in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish felt really down but came out elated. “It makes me cry because the art affects her life,” says Crawford.

Crawford says he and his collaborators incorporated comedy and emotion into the story in hopes that audiences would connect deeply.

Well, it worked with this big kid. I think it helped that I saw the DreamWorks Animation/Universal movie in the cinema as well. I had this shared, non-stop experience with strangers in the dark.

Crawford and his partner Mark Swift take on Guillermo del Toro, who beats everything Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro in the running for Best Animated Feature at Sunday’s Oscars.

I absolutely loved the photo of Mark Gustafson and del Toro. However alone Puss in Boots: Last Wish Made me shed a tear, or two, or three.

CLEAN THESE STARS!

Every year it is my custom to pay tribute to the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It has no consequences, it’s just something I enjoy doing. Recently, however, I felt a growing anger as I surveyed the condition of these stars on the sidewalk along the streets of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

The Olivia Newton John star had sticky gum so I got on my hands and knees and wiped it off with tissues. I did the same for Snow White, Jean Harlow and Mickey Mouse.

Tom Cruise’s star was good.

The entire Hollywood & Highland area where the Oscars are held needs a deep clean. Yes I know the academy brightens up the plays that are shown on TV and nice curtains are put up and there is a red carpet. Actually, this year it’s champagne. Don’t forget to wipe your feet before you step on them!

But the common areas that the viewers don’t see could use a little elbow grease. And please get rid of the cheap peddlers trying to whip up dodgy music discs and god knows what else.

Next year I’ll show up with polish and rags to clean the brass plates, plus an electric hose to move the gum around.

i don’t love you