Finally, after thirteen previous nominations, Roger Deakins has won the Oscar for Best Cinematography. Not even Leonardo DiCaprio was snubbed this hard, having only been nominated three times before gaining his Best Actor award. Over the course of this awards season “Blade Runner 2049” has been nominated for seventeen Best Cinematography awards and has won most of them. On top of this “Blade Runner 2049” was also nominated for Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards. It won Best Visual Effects but lost Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.
What is it about?
“Blade Runner 2049” is the sequel to the classic 1982 dystopian sci-fi film “Blade Runner.” Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the sequel takes place thirty years after the original and follows protagonist Blade Runner K. K works to uncover a mystery that could lead to a civil war between the human population and their android servants known as replicants.
As a Blade Runner, it’s K’s job to hunt down replicants that have gone rogue, but things get complicated when the replicants reveal themselves to be more than emotionless servants. It’s a slow burn movie that meticulously takes its time to tell a complex story on what it means to be human and people’s desire to be special. It’s a film that has a little of everything, with breathtaking visuals, purposeful directing, masterful cinematography, gripping performances and a soundtrack that transports you into the world.
It’s also the only movie I’ve ever seen twice in theaters, so if that’s not enough to convince you to see it, I don’t know what is.
What it beat
Despite “Blade Runner 2049” being a masterpiece, that’s not to say its competition wasn’t fierce. “Darkest Hour,” told the tale of Winston Churchill during his time in office leading up to World War II.
While the cinematography is nice, what impressed most people about this movie was Gary Oldman’s performance as Winston Churchill. This led to his nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Next was “Dunkirk” another movie taking place during World War II, but this time telling the tale from the front lines during the Dunkirk evacuation.
It’s a very intense movie that plays around with time as it shows the audience events out of sequential order from several different characters’ eyes.
The World War II sensation continues with “Mudbound” a Netflix original movie that shows how two World War II veterans, one white and one black, deal with returning home after the war. “Mudbound” was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Song, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Lastly, we have “The Shape of Water” from Guillermo del Toro about a mute woman who falls in love with a fish man. It’s a weird idea, to say the least, but after “Blade Runner 2049” it was one of my personal favorites of the year. Since Denis Villeneuve was overlooked for a nomination for Best Director, Guillermo del Toro would have been my pick for Best Director.
“Blade Runner 2049” is out on DVD, Blu-ray and available to stream and download from Amazon Video and iTunes for anyone interested in seeing one of 2017’s best movies. Despite its quality, “Blade Runner 2049,” didn’t do great at the box office and could really use the continued support.
If you’ve already seen the movie and are craving more, check the tie-in short film “Blade Runner Black Out 2022” which we have a review of here.
