Best cinematography of 2005

[Louis]

Not sure if its too early for this or not, but being that it's December 31st, which movies does everyone think had the best cinematography this year? My picks for the five best are:

 

Jarhead (Roger Deakins)- I just loved the handheld feel, that bleach bypass look, and the oil fields sequence's look.

 

Good Night and Good Luck (Robert Elswit)- The black and white really made the drama feel heavier and gave it a really authentic feel. Also loved the zooms.

 

Munich (Janucz Kaminski)- Another movie with a lot of zooms, and also another movie with a lot of handheld work, and it looked amazing. I loved the stylistic homage to those 1970s thrillers like the French Connection.

 

Hustle & Flow (Amelia Vincent)- Really added to the movies raw feel. I loved Vincent's technique of using sodium- and mercury-vapor lights (as well as colored flourescents) as her rim light to give us a sense of reality.

 

Cinderella Man (Salvatore Totino)- Despite a few shots that looked like mistakes, overall it had a really dreamy look that I just loved.

[Chance Shirley]

Jarhead and Good Night, and Good Luck: good choices.

 

I also really liked The Devil's Rejects. Great, gritty Super 16.

[Gordon Highland]

I actually haven't seen a lot that really looked exceptional to me this year, especially compared to last year, when there were many. (Not that I could do any better! And don't get me wrong, lots of great movies from an execution and story standpoint.) Batman Begins is the only one that actually comes to mind. Sin City looked great, but the cinematography had a lesser role in that.

 

I haven't seen Geisha yet, but it looks promising. I liked the coloring in Crash a lot. Goodnight was pretty good but I think it gets so much attention just for being B&W; it looked exactly like I expected it should look, which actually says a lot about their craft now that I think about it (anyone notice all the center-weighted framings on the TV monitors in the shots, instead of thirds? That was a nice touch for the period realism.)

[David Mullen ASC]

Favorite:

Good Night, and Good Luck (Super-35)

Memoirs of a Geisha (35mm anamorphic)

Munich (Super-35)

The New World (35mm anamorphic)

Sin City (HD)

2046 (35mm anamorphic)

 

Runner's up:

Batman Begins

Brokeback Mountain

Capote

The Chronicles of Narnia

Cinderella Man

Constantine

Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist

Hustle & Flow

The Interpreter

The Island

Jarhead

King Kong

Match Point

Mrs. Henderson Presents

The Promise (Master of the Crimson Armor)

The Skeleton Key

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

War of the Worlds

 

Some of the films I didn’t see (yet):

Ballad of Jack & Rose, Bee Season, Casanova, The Constant Gardener, Crash, Dark Water, Devil’s Rejects, Duma, Elizabethtown, Ice Harvest, In Her Shoes, Last Days, Lord of War, March of the Penquins, North Country, November, Oliver Twist, Serenity, Shopgirl, Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, The Weather Man, The White Countess

 

I'm a little surprised myself to see "Sin City" on the list, since it was shot by the director, Robert Rodriquez (not that I also didn't list "Solaris" on a previous year, also shot by the director), but when I look back to the VISUAL experiences I had in a theater this year, this was one that stood out as being bold, poetic, graphic, etc. Plus I'm a sucker for b&w photography, whether or not originated in color neg or HD.

Edited January 1, 2006 by David Mullen

[Arni Heimir]

David said: "I'm a little surprised myself to see "Sin City" on the list, since it was shot by the director"

 

Why this prejudice against films where the Director serves also as the cinematographer?

[David Mullen ASC]

David said: "I'm a little surprised myself to see "Sin City" on the list, since it was shot by the director"

 

Why this prejudice against films where the Director serves also as the cinematographer?

 

I'm not, which is why it's on my list, same as "Solaris" before. If I were prejudiced, I wouldn't have done it, would I have?

 

It's just that when you're talking about the absolute BEST of a year, you generally don't expect a director serving as his own DP to achieve the level of photographic quality that a full-time, top-notch DP would. And for the most part, I've felt that many features where the director has done his own photography would have benefitted from someone else tackling that role, including Robert Rodriguez's other projects. Anyone looking at the "Spy Kids" series can see how much better Guillermo Navarro did on the first one than Rodriguez did on the others. I liked the photography of "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" though.

 

I don't think it shows any prejudice to say that I'm surprised, in a year with DP's like Roger Deakins and John Toll are putting out movies, that I'd list something shot by Robert Rodriguez so high up, because he's definitely not in the same league as those DP's when it comes to cinematography.

 

Why, aren't YOU surprised that one of the best-looking movies of 2005 was shot by a director? You should be -- it doesn't happen very often, does it?

Edited January 1, 2006 by David Mullen

[Ram Shani]

hi

 

for me its

 

2046

 

sin city

 

ethernal sunshine of the spotles mind

 

king kong

 

the returen ( russen movie) the new tarkovscy

[Steven C. Boone]

I hope this qualifies. The Matador, which just opened in NY and LA for the weekend. The cinematography came together with the production and costume design to make this a, er, fiesta of phosphorescent blues, lime greens, all kinds of warm pastels and well-placed shadows. Lean, crisp compositions, graceful steadicam as well. This movie has the look and feel "Lord of War" seemed to strain for with a heavier hand.

 

I'm curious to see what the "A-listers" on this board think of it.

 

[Timay]

King kong was amazing, a three hour film should have had sum crappy shots in it but it captured every second and moment with its rich flourishing jungle shots or a dark damp new york night on the piers.

 

Most of the CG shots of the island wer the best, especially the scene where kong takes her to his cave and they look out over the island with the rich orange colours from the setting sun. Its amazing that its CG, without the giant gorilla it wud look like the real thing.

 

Another favourite bit is when they are runny from the stampede. It really puts u in there with them and u dnt reallythink about the fact it was made on a computer, your too busy thinking wether your going to get stamped on.

 

King Kong, though the sore arse from sitting still for too long, was the best for me

 

After that:

 

The New World

Star Wars

War of the Worlds

Sin City

Jarhead