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American Cinematographers Readers poll


Guest Stephen Murphy

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Guest Stephen Murphy

As you may or may not be aware AC are updating their list of the best shot films and AC subscribers have been asked to vote for their 10 favs. from 1998 - 2008.

 

I doubt they'll mind us sharing our choices here. For what its worth I voted:

 

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

The Thin Red Line (1998)

The Insider (1998)

Snow falling on Cedars (1999)

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Fight Club (1999)

Road to Perdition (2002)

Birth (2004)

Munich (2005)

The Dark Knight (2008)

 

The Assassination of Jesse James missed out by a hair:-)

 

I noted with interest that all of the movies chosen were made without a D.I. !!! I think 1998/1999 was truly a mini golden age for cinematography.

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My votes:

 

"Eyes Wide Shut", Larry Smith, BSC. 35mm 1.85:1, no DI.

 

"City of God", César Charlone, ABC. Super 16 & Super 35mm. DI.

 

"The Thin Red Line", John Toll, ASC. 35mm anamorphic, no DI.

 

"The Patriot", Caleb Deschanel, ASC. Super 35mm (and some 65mm for effects work), no DI.

 

"Children of Men", Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC. Super 1.85, DI.

 

"The New World", Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC. 35mm anamorphic (and maybe a few 65mm shots via DI).

 

"The Insider", Dante Spinotti, ASC, AIC. Super 35mm, no DI.

 

"Road to Perdition", Conrad L. Hall, ASC. Super 35mm, no DI.

 

"There Will Be Blood", Robert Elswit, ASC. 35mm anamorphic, no DI.

 

"Zodiac", Harris Savides, ASC. Digital (Thomson Viper Filmstream), DI.

 

---

 

"Private Ryan" (Kaminski), "In the Mood for Love" (Doyle), "Jesse James" or "No Country for Old Men" (Deakins), among others, were close.

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Here's my list:

 

The Thin Red Line (1998)

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Snow Falling On Cedars (1999)

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

In the Mood for Love (2000)

Amelie (2001)

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2000)

The Road to Perdition (2001)

The New World (2005)

The Assassination of Jesse James (2007)

 

Originally it was 15 long, then down to 11, I ultimately had to drop "2046", feeling it was sort of represented in a way by "In the Mood for Love". That leave 8 titles from 1998-2001, but only 2 after that.

 

On another day, I probably would have made room for "Dark Knight" (or "Batman Begins"), "2046", "No Country for Old Men", "Memoirs of a Geisha", "A Very Long Engagement", "The Aviator", a few others.

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I had a very rough time deciding. Regretfully "In the Mood for Love" had slipped my mind when I submitted it...and I can't say at this juncture which film it would replace

 

In no particular order:

 

The Thin Red Line

The Fountain

Snow Falling On Cedars

The Road to Perdition

The Assassination of Jesse James

Goya in Bordeaux

Brokeback Mountain

There Will Be Blood

Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Saving Private Ryan

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Here are the ones that come to my mind, in no particular order:

 

Eyes Wide Shut

In The Mood For Love

Memoirs Of A Geisha

Assassination Of Jesse James

Girl With A Pearl Earring

No Country For Old Men

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

Hero

Zhang Chi's The Shaft

Goodbye Dragon Inn

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And all of mine are period films, imagine that.

 

The Proposition

Thin Red Line

The Assassination of Jesse James (A golden year)

The Illusionist (How many saw thought?!)

The New World

No Country for Old Men (A golden year)

Oh, Brother where Art Though (I'm really partial to the almost color infrared look)

Girl with a Pearl Earring

There Will be Blood (A golden year)

Zodiac (A golden year)

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In my taste I had...

 

In the Mood for Love

The Assassination of Jesse James

There Will Be Blood

Children of Men

The New World

Memento

The Fall

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

American Beauty

Fight Club

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Saving Private Ryan (1998)

The Thin Red Line (1998)

The Insider (1998)

Snow falling on Cedars (1999)

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Fight Club (1999)

Almost Famous (2000)

Amelie (2001)

Road to Perdition (2002)

The Assassination of Jesse James (2007)

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  • 3 weeks later...

For the poll I voted for:

 

Road To Perdition

Snow Falling on Cedars

Eyes Wide Shut

Babel

Punch-Drunk Love

The New World

2046

Far From Heaven

The Dark Knight

The Insider

 

Had to ultimately and sadly exclude:

 

Children of Men, American Beauty, The Thin Red Line, In The Mood For Love, Pan's Labyrinth, The Aviator, Passion of the Christ, There Will Be Blood, A Very Long Engagement

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Well, it's a tough thing to chose for me since my list is endless :rolleyes:

anyway...

 

 

 

The Thin Red Line, John Toll

Road to Perdition, Conrad L. Hall

Collateral, Dion Beebe/Paul Cameron

In the Mood for Love, Christopher Doyle

The Assassination of Jesse James, Roger Deakins

Girl with a Pearl Earing, Eduardo Serra

Last Samurai, John Toll

The Cooler, Jim Whitaker

Master and Commander - The far Side of the World, Russell Boyd

Saving Private Ryan, Janusz Kaminski

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