It’s that time again! Yes folks, welcome back to another recurring series of mine. Which one is this? Well, the title of the piece is kind of self explanatory. However, I’ll reiterate what I’ve previously said before, in case you’re new to it: for this weekly series I’m going to be running down the top 25 Oscar winners in just about all of the categories. Aside from the shorts and possibly something like Best Sound Editing or Best Sound Mixing (though I might add those in this year), I’ll be hitting them all, including of course the big eight categories. For starters though, I figured I’d go with one of the most highly regarded of the technical categories…Best Cinematography. Depending on the category, I may discuss the individual winners I’m citing specifically or just sort of give a broad overview of the winners, but for now, I’ll keep it simple. Honestly though, you all mostly want to see the list anyway, so I have no problem obliging you there. Just be patient over the next few paragraphs… As always, some history: There are few categories more overtly artistic than this one, though the category has undergone some major changes over the decades. Up until 1967, the category was mostly split between black and white and color (though before 1936 there was only one award, since almost every movie was in black and white), so there were two Oscars given out before then, which gives you more winners than usual to sift through. Also of late, the trend has moved to rewarding 3D productions. In fact, almost exclusively 3D works had won for a period of time. That’s slowed down a bit, but it’s still a definite factor. Time will tell if that’s something that continues in the years going forward. Among the black and white winners, the best in my book include Boris Kaufman for On the Waterfront and Robert Krasker for The Third Man, to name just a few (plus a certain brand new winner, of course). As for the 3D winners, the best so far is probably our most recent winner Emmanuel Lubezki for Gravity, though that’s going to be an evolving group in the years to come, so we’ll see how that holds up in a decade or so. For now though, Lubezki is on top in that regard. My personal favorite bit of Oscar winning cinematography […]