Cinematography, makeup awards due

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- When the American Society of Cinematographers and the Hollywood Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild present their top awards for 2001, the results may provide clues in at least two Oscar races this weekend.

Both groups will hold their awards ceremonies on Sunday in Los Angeles.

The ASC Awards have become a reliable barometer of Oscar nominations and awards for cinematography. Close to 90 percent of the ASC finalists have gone on to earn Oscar nominations. Four of the last six ASC winners went on to take the Oscar.

The 16th annual ASC Awards feature film category -- like the 74th Academy Awards themselves -- offer an international mix of nominees.

Roger Deakins is up for his distinctive black-and-white cinematography for the Coen brothers' "The Man Who Wasn't There." Bruno Delbonnel is nominated for his work on "Amélie," the French comedy nominated for the Oscar for best foreign-language film.

Andrew Lesnie is part of New Zealand director Peter Jackson's Oscar-nominated crew on "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." Don McAlpine is nominated for his work on Australian director Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge." And John Schwartzman is nominated for the World War II epic "Pearl Harbor."

All but McAlpine are nominated for the Oscar for cinematography. Instead of "Moulin Rouge," academy voters went with Slawomir Idziak for director Ridley Scott's military drama "Black Hawk Down."

This is the fifth ASC nomination for Deakins who won in 1994 for "The Shawshank Redemption." His other nominations were for "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," "Fargo" and "Kundun." It is the first ASC nomination for Lesnie, Delbonnel, McAlpine, and Schwartzman.

Director Stanley Donen ("Singin' in the Rain," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "Damn Yankees!") will receive the ASC Board of Governors Award, presented periodically "to an individual who has made extraordinary and enduring contributions to advancing the art of filmmaking." It's the only recognition the group gives to anyone other than a cinematographer.

Donen joins a list of Board of Governors Award winners that includes Robert Altman, Warren Beatty, Francis Ford Coppola, Sally Field, Jodie Foster, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

The ASC will also hand out prizes in three TV categories.

Nominated shows for the episodic TV prize are "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS); "Alias" (ABC); "The West Wing" (NBC); "Ally McBeal" (Fox) and "The X-Files" (Fox).

The nominees for movie-of-the-week/miniseries or pilot for cable or pay TV are "What Girls Learn" (Showtime); "Attila" (USA Network); "Just Ask My Children" (Lifetime); "Boss of Bosses" (TNT) and "Prancer Returns" (USA Network).

The nominees for movie-of-the-week/miniseries or pilot category for network television are "Citizen Baines" pilot (CBS); "Uprising" (NBC); "24" (Fox); "Don Giovanni Unmasked" (PBS) and "Smallville" pilot (WB).

Organizers said Beatty and Spielberg will be among the all-star lineup of celebrity presenters at the ASC Awards.

Of the three Oscar nominees for best makeup -- "A Beautiful Mind"; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" and "Moulin Rouge" -- only "Moulin Rouge" was nominated for a makeup award by the Hollywood Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild.

The guild's nominees for best contemporary makeup for a feature are "Mulholland Drive," "The Princess Diaries" and "Zoolander." The nominees for best period makeup for a feature are "Ali," "The Majestic" and "Moulin Rouge."

Nominees for best character makeup for a feature are "Life as a House," "Mulholland Drive" and "The Royal Tenenbaums." The nominees for best special makeup effects for a feature are "Ali," "Hannibal" and "Planet of the Apes."

The academy does not have a category for best hairstyling, but the guild has three.

Nominees for best contemporary hair styling for a feature are "Amélie," "Legally Blonde" and "Mulholland Drive." For best period hair styling, the nominees are "Ali," "Blow" and "Moulin Rouge." The nominees for best character hair styling for a feature are "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," "Bandits" and "Planet of the Apes."

The Hollywood Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild will also present several awards for TV, commercial and theater categories.

The guild will honor Dustin Hoffman -- the Oscar-winning star of "Rain Man" and "Tootsie" -- with the Barrymore Award for career achievement. The guild presents the award to "a Hollywood actor or actress whose body of work has had a profound impact on the artistry of hair and makeup in the entertainment industry."

The ASC will honor Laszlo Kovacs with its Lifetime Achievement Award. Kovacs was the cinematographer on dozens of Hollywood's biggest hit movies -- including "Easy Rider," "Five Easy Pieces," "What's Up, Doc?," "The King of Marvin Gardens," "Paper Moon," "Shampoo," "Frances," "Copycat" and "Mask."

He is the 15th cinematographer to receive the lifetime achievement award from the ASC. Previous winners include George Folsey, Conrad Hall, Victor J. Kemper, Sven Nykvist, Owen Roizman, Vittorio Storaro, Haskell Wexler, Gordon Willis and Vilmos Zsigmond.