“American Cinematographer” Poll Names “Amélie”
Best-Shot Film of 1998-2008
ShareThisJune 29, 2010
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie, shot by Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC, has been named the best-shot film of 1998-2008 in a recent online poll conducted by American Cinematographer. “This is real honor for me, especially considering the other movies in this list,” said Delbonnel. “These are some of the finest cinematographers, and I’m not sure I deserve to be among them, but I am very happy to be. They are all explorers.” (More comments from some of the Top 10 cinematographers will appear in AC’s August issue.)
The poll is a follow-up to one published in AC in March ’99 in honor of the ASC’s 80th anniversary; that vote covered the best-shot movies of 1894-1997. For the new poll, AC asked subscribers to nominate 10 films released between 1998 and 2008 that they believed had the best cinematography. A final ballot listing the 50 most popular nominees was then posted on the ASC website, and the final vote was open to the public. More than 17,000 people around the world participated in the final vote. Here’s the Top 10, along with the dates of the issues where you can find AC’s coverage of the productions:
Amélie: Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC (AC Sept. ’01)
Children of Men: Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC (AC Dec. ’06)
Saving Private Ryan: Janusz Kaminski (AC Aug. ’98)
There Will Be Blood: Robert Elswit, ASC (AC Jan. ’08)
No Country for Old Men: Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC (AC Oct. ’07)
Fight Club: Jeff Cronenweth, ASC (AC Nov. ’99)
The Dark Knight: Wally Pfister, ASC (AC July ’08)
Road to Perdition: Conrad L. Hall, ASC (AC Aug. ’02)
Cidade de Deus (City of God): César Charlone, ABC (AC Feb. ’03)
American Beauty: Conrad L. Hall, ASC (AC March & June ’00)
The 40 other nominees placed as follows: 11) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Deakins); 12) Tie: In the Mood for Love (Christopher Doyle, HKSC, and Mark Li Ping-bin) and Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Navarro, ASC); 13) The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Andrew Lesnie, ASC, ACS); 14) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Ellen Kuras, ASC); 15) Gladiator (John Mathieson, BSC); 16) The Matrix (Bill Pope, ASC); 17) The Thin Red Line (John Toll, ASC); 18) The Diving Bell and The Butterfly (Kaminski); 19) Slumdog Millionaire (Anthony Dod Mantle, BSC, DFF); 20) Tie: Eyes Wide Shut (Larry Smith, BSC) and Requiem for a Dream (Matthew Libatique, ASC); 21) Kill Bill (Robert Richardson, ASC); 22) Moulin Rouge (Donald M. McAlpine, ASC, ACS); 23) The Pianist (Pawel Edelman, PSC); 24) Hero (Doyle); 25) Black Hawk Down (Slawomir Idziak, PSC); 26) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Deakins); 27) Babel (Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC); 28) Lost In Translation (Lance Acord, ASC); 29) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Peter Pau, HKSC); 30) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Claudio Miranda, ASC); 31) The Man Who Wasn’t There (Deakins); 32) The New World (Lubezki); 33) Sin City (Robert Rodriguez); 34) Atonement (Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC); 35) Munich (Kaminski); 36) The Prestige (Pfister); 37) Memoirs of a Geisha (Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS); 38) The Aviator (Richardson); 39) Zodiac (Harris Savides, ASC); 40) The Insider (Dante Spinotti, ASC, AIC); 41) Gangs of New York (Michael Ballhaus, ASC); 42) Tie: Brokeback Mountain (Prieto) and The Fountain (Libatique); 43) The Fall (Colin Watkinson); 44) The Passion of the Christ (Caleb Deschanel, ASC); 45) Snow Falling on Cedars (Richardson); 46) House of Flying Daggers (Xiaoding Zhao); and 47) Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Eric Adkins).
Best-Shot Film of 1998-2008
ShareThisJune 29, 2010
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie, shot by Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC, has been named the best-shot film of 1998-2008 in a recent online poll conducted by American Cinematographer. “This is real honor for me, especially considering the other movies in this list,” said Delbonnel. “These are some of the finest cinematographers, and I’m not sure I deserve to be among them, but I am very happy to be. They are all explorers.” (More comments from some of the Top 10 cinematographers will appear in AC’s August issue.)
The poll is a follow-up to one published in AC in March ’99 in honor of the ASC’s 80th anniversary; that vote covered the best-shot movies of 1894-1997. For the new poll, AC asked subscribers to nominate 10 films released between 1998 and 2008 that they believed had the best cinematography. A final ballot listing the 50 most popular nominees was then posted on the ASC website, and the final vote was open to the public. More than 17,000 people around the world participated in the final vote. Here’s the Top 10, along with the dates of the issues where you can find AC’s coverage of the productions:
Amélie: Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC (AC Sept. ’01)
Children of Men: Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC (AC Dec. ’06)
Saving Private Ryan: Janusz Kaminski (AC Aug. ’98)
There Will Be Blood: Robert Elswit, ASC (AC Jan. ’08)
No Country for Old Men: Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC (AC Oct. ’07)
Fight Club: Jeff Cronenweth, ASC (AC Nov. ’99)
The Dark Knight: Wally Pfister, ASC (AC July ’08)
Road to Perdition: Conrad L. Hall, ASC (AC Aug. ’02)
Cidade de Deus (City of God): César Charlone, ABC (AC Feb. ’03)
American Beauty: Conrad L. Hall, ASC (AC March & June ’00)
The 40 other nominees placed as follows: 11) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Deakins); 12) Tie: In the Mood for Love (Christopher Doyle, HKSC, and Mark Li Ping-bin) and Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Navarro, ASC); 13) The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Andrew Lesnie, ASC, ACS); 14) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Ellen Kuras, ASC); 15) Gladiator (John Mathieson, BSC); 16) The Matrix (Bill Pope, ASC); 17) The Thin Red Line (John Toll, ASC); 18) The Diving Bell and The Butterfly (Kaminski); 19) Slumdog Millionaire (Anthony Dod Mantle, BSC, DFF); 20) Tie: Eyes Wide Shut (Larry Smith, BSC) and Requiem for a Dream (Matthew Libatique, ASC); 21) Kill Bill (Robert Richardson, ASC); 22) Moulin Rouge (Donald M. McAlpine, ASC, ACS); 23) The Pianist (Pawel Edelman, PSC); 24) Hero (Doyle); 25) Black Hawk Down (Slawomir Idziak, PSC); 26) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Deakins); 27) Babel (Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC); 28) Lost In Translation (Lance Acord, ASC); 29) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Peter Pau, HKSC); 30) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Claudio Miranda, ASC); 31) The Man Who Wasn’t There (Deakins); 32) The New World (Lubezki); 33) Sin City (Robert Rodriguez); 34) Atonement (Seamus McGarvey, ASC, BSC); 35) Munich (Kaminski); 36) The Prestige (Pfister); 37) Memoirs of a Geisha (Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS); 38) The Aviator (Richardson); 39) Zodiac (Harris Savides, ASC); 40) The Insider (Dante Spinotti, ASC, AIC); 41) Gangs of New York (Michael Ballhaus, ASC); 42) Tie: Brokeback Mountain (Prieto) and The Fountain (Libatique); 43) The Fall (Colin Watkinson); 44) The Passion of the Christ (Caleb Deschanel, ASC); 45) Snow Falling on Cedars (Richardson); 46) House of Flying Daggers (Xiaoding Zhao); and 47) Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Eric Adkins).
