Cinematographers honor 'Man'

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- If recent history is any guide, this year's most nominated Oscar movies seem to be out of the running for at least one statuette -- now that the American Society of Cinematographers has awarded its top feature film prize to Roger Deakins for "The Man Who Wasn't There."

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

The other ASC nominees this year were "Amélie," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge" and "Pearl Harbor." Four of the five ASC nominees are also up for the Oscar. Instead of "Moulin Rouge," academy voters went with the military drama "Black Hawk Down."

This was Deakins' fifth ASC nomination. He was nominated for "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" "Fargo" and "Kundun," and he won in 1994 for "The Shawshank Redemption" -- the year that the Oscar went to John Toll for the Anthony Hopkins-Brad Pitt family saga "The Legends of the Fall."

The ASC is the second major award for Deakins' distinctive black-and-white photography on the Coen brothers' noir thriller "The Man Who Wasn't There," which stars Billy Bob Thornton as a barber who hatches a blackmail scheme that leads to murder. Deakins won for best cinematography at this year's American Film Institute Awards.

Deakins' is the only Oscar nomination for the movie. He was also the cinematographer on "A Beautiful Mind," which was nominated for eight Oscars -- but not for cinematography.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" has 13 Oscar nominations. "Moulin Rouge" has eight. "Amélie" has five.

At Sunday's ceremonies, the ASC honored director Stanley Donen ("Singin' in the Rain," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "Damn Yankees!") with its 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 honored 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.

The ASC also handed out prizes in three TV categories.

Denis Lenoir won the top prize for movie-of-the-week/miniseries or pilot for the NBC miniseries "Uprising." Thomas A. Del Ruth won his second straight ASC Award for episodic TV for his work on the NBC drama "The West Wing." Steven Fierberg won for best movie-of-the-week/miniseries or pilot for cable or pay TV for the USA Network miniseries "Attila."

"Moulin Rouge" was a double winner Sunday when the Hollywood Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild presented their top movie awards for 2001 -- taking the prizes for best period makeup and period hairstyling.

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 guild. The academy does not present an Oscar for hair styling.

"Mulholland Drive" won for best contemporary makeup for a feature. "The Royal Tenenbaums" took the prize for best character makeup, and "Planet of the Apes" won for best special makeup effects.

"Legally Blonde" won for best contemporary hair styling for a feature, and "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" won for best character hair styling.

"MAD-TV" (Fox) won three awards -- best character makeup, special makeup effects and character hair styling for a TV series. The HBO funeral home drama-comedy "Six Feet Under" won two awards -- best contemporary makeup and best period makeup for a TV series.

The NBC comedy "Will & Grace" was honored for best contemporary hair styling for a TV series, and "Angel" (WB) won for best period hair styling. The award for best innovative hair styling for a TV series went to the NBC drama "Passions.

The Showtime movie "Anne Rice's Feast of All Saints" picked up two awards -- best period makeup and period hair styling for a TV miniseries or movie of the week. The Cinemax movie "She Creature" won for best special makeup effects for a TV miniseries or movie of the week.

The guild presented a makeup award to A&E Commercials and a hair styling awards to "Martin Short, A&E Biography." In the theater categories, the guild presented a best makeup award to the Los Angeles production of "Aida" and a hair styling award to the San Diego Opera production of "The Magic Flute."

The guild honored 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 guild also presented its lifetime achievement award to the late John Chambers, best known as the makeup artist on the groundbreaking sci-fi TV series "Star Trek" and the 1968 sci-fi movie "Planet of the Apes."

Chambers broke into Hollywood in 1958 as a makeup artist on "Showdown at Boot Hill," starring Charles Bronson. In addition to the first "Planet of the Apes" movie, he also worked on the sequels -- "Beneath the Planet of the Apes," "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" and "Battle for the Planet of the Apes."

His credits also include "The Island of Dr. Moreau" (1977), "Halloween II" (1981) and "Blade Runner" (1982). He died in August 2001 of complications from diabetes.

Director John Landis ("Trading Places," "Animal House") accepted the award on Chambers' behalf. Chambers played a National Guard captain in Landis' first movie, "Schlock" (1971).

The guild presented a lifetime achievement for hair styling to Vivienne Walker, whose credits include "The Thing" (1982), "Mommie Dearest" (1981), "Annie Hall" (1977), "Chinatown" (1974), "Funny Girl" (1968) and "Cleopatra" (1963).