In Contention - Cinematography

So as promised, here are some early predictions for Cinematography - all about lighting, framing and color palettes. 

1. Emmanuel Lubezki - The Tree of Life
Captivating, breathless and beautiful. This is how you describe Lubezki's work in Malick's highly polarized The Tree of Life. If not anything, the film will win Oscar for cinematography and you know why.
2. Janusz Kaminski - War Horse
A Best Picture front runner and it is Kaminski + War = Sheer Pleasure to Eyes.
3. Guillaume Schiffman - The Artist
Recently, The Artist won NYFCC Award for Best Picture, and it was nominated for Palm d'Or and currently the sweet-heart for Best Picture Oscar. It is a silent, black and white film and has a classic timeless feel to it.

4. Eduardo Serra - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Beautiful isn't it? Indeed it is, Mr. Serra finishes off Potter franchise with some gorgeous wok.
5. Robert Richarsdson - Hugo

Hugo showcase one of the best work of this year. Those lovely shots of Paris in winter with stunning lighting and framing, Hugo is all set for a nomination lock.
6. Newton Thomas Sigel - Drive
 Drive pays homage to the neo-noir and classical thrillers - and its director of photography (Newton T. Sigel is famous for Usual Suspects) makes great use of yellow flares, shadows and contrasting colors.
7. Bruno Delbonnel - Faust
Yes, yes, it is indeed my wishful thinking - Delbonnel's work is always special and unique. He got his place in top 5 back in 2010 for Half-Blood Prince, so why not this time? Faust is well received Russian film directed by Alexander Sokurov.
8. Jeff Cronenweth  - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Still not released yet, but trailers are good enough to conclude that this film is indeed in race for cinematography.
9. Chris Menges - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Again, ELAIC is not yet released, but combo of Daldry and Menges has always charmed the Academy - his last big work was for Daldry's The Reader, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, so why not this time?
10. Phedon Papamichael - Ides of March
Certainly a new name in cinematography, but Ides of March has received fair amount of praise for its cinematography.    

 

Review - Zodiac (2007)

Zodiac is unfortunately a disappointing fair - at over 150 minutes, the film suffers from under-developed narrative arc... 

When it comes to thrillers and twists, David Fincher is the man - he bought us gems like Se7en and Fight Club. But as one says not everyday your attempts are successful, same goes to this veteran. Zodiac is a film with a such a loose narrative and mundane affairs that most of the viewers will feel lost and looped. With over 2 and a half hour long runtime, the film is just a mere documentation of what happened in late 1960's in San Fransisco area. Yes, we need reality in films but sometimes too much dose of the same sucks out all the entertainment factor from a film.

We follow three leads and their lives affected by a serial killer, who apparently call himself 'Zodiac', and who loves sending his plans and plots via letters to SFC newspaper and rather loves ciphers. His killing spree was limited to 5 people (but he says he killed 37, whatever) over a decade and yet all the major characters are rather obsessed for tracking him drown over some 20 years. Isn't that great?

The idea behind Zodiac is certainly something to be applauded -  to create film which documents all of this without a single pinch of dramatization. But certainly screenwriter James Vanderbilt took this idea rather too seriously. Characters of Paul Avery (Downey Jr.) and Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhaal) are out of this world - one becomes a drunk just for a threating letter and the other becomes obsessed for tracking the killer down for no apparent reason whatsoever.

However, with all its flaws, it should be admitted that Fincher and his cinematographer know how to create the atmosphere. Specially in the first half, the film's mood is cold and terrifying - one of the best point of the film. The film had some retro tracks which worked quite well with few scenes, but the film didn't had much music to speak of.


In the end, Zodiac is unfortunately a disappointing fair - at over 150 minutes, the film suffers from under-developed narrative arc with unbelievable characters. But if you want, you can give it a try.