Leo, Zuck and Steve are back to rank the somewhat surprising BAFTA nominations which came out last night. I must admit, I'm really happy that there have been some shakeups, because this awards season is getting veeeery tedious.
BEST PICTURE
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit
It's much of the same here, just without
The Fighter. It's nice to see
True Grit coming through and getting a nomination, because it has been widely ignored by many in this category, but will be getting an Oscar nomination. Of course, you'll know how I feel about this category. It has
Black Swan, Inception and
The Social Network as the usual suspects, and
The King's Speech leading proceedings with it's 14 nominations (you know, since it's British). I could definitely see this movie taking
The Social Network down here, since it probably has more fans than that one. Overall, they all have great chances, so it will be another exciting race to the finishline!
ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM OF THE YEAR
127 Hours
Another Year
Four Lions
The King's Speech
Made in Dagenham
Is
127 Hours really a British film? Well, if it's just because Danny Boyle is British then that is okay. The usual suspect
The King's Speech comes back, and looks like a sure thing to win this award, since it's the best. It's nice to see that the awards worthy films that won't get Oscars have come through.
Another Year represents
Mike Leigh's always love talents;
Four Lions gives us the funnies; and
Made in Dagenham, with it's fantastic cast, brings us the woman rights. What a great line up of British films, notably missing
Never Let Me Go, but oh well...
BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem for
Biutiful
Jeff Bridges for
True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg for
The Social Network
Colin Firth for
The King's Speech
James Franco for
127 Hours
This is the first we have seen of
Javier Bardem for his performance in
Biutiful, taking a place that perhaps may have ben filled by
Ryan Gosling or
Robert Duvall.
Jeff Bridges is regaining momentum after his snub at the Golden Globes to continue campaigning for his performance in
True Grit, which arguably could have been a supporting role. This is an ample opportunity for
Colin Firth to seek revenge on him since because of last years awards season.
Jesse Eisenberg is back, even though he probably won't win any awards, along with
James Franco. Overall, this is a good category, just with some head scratching on Bardem's behalf.
BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening for
The Kid's Are All Right
Julianne Moore for
The Kid's Are All Right
Natalie Portman for
Black Swan
Noomi Rapace for
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hailee Steinfeld for
True Grit
Here's surprise #1. This category could have had
Jennifer Lawrence,
Nicole Kidman and/or
Michelle Williams in it. But the BAFTA's shook it up.
The Kid's Are All Right gets a double bill, with both
Annette Bening and
Julianne Moore getting a nod, as opposed to just
Annette Bening. Of course,
Natalie Portman gets her nomination for
Black Swan, but I can see an upset here. There are two more real surprises though:
Noomi Rapace and most of all
Hailee Steinfeld. Rapace got nominated at the Critics Choice, and I think it's great that people are applauding her in this way, but does she stand a chance of getting an Oscar? Probably not.
Hailee Steinfeld's nomination is a surprise because you would have thought that the mean nominators would have put her in the supporting category, even though she is really the lead. It's strange to see such a young actress up against such actresses, but I applaud her for coming this far...and the nominators for shaking this category up.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale for
The Fighter
Andrew Garfield for
The Social Network
Pete Postlethwaite for
The Town
Mark Ruffalo for
The Kid's Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush for
The King's Speech
There will be cries through the film community that they are so glad that the late
Pete Postlethwaite got nominated for
The Town. No
Jeremy Renner, just Pete and his last great performace.
Mark Ruffalo also comes through in the-spot-that-can't-be-filled, which is nice to see.
Geoffrey Rush should get some favouritism because
The King's Speech is basically made for this awards ceremony. You know that
Christian Bale will win, since he has been all season, but I'm hoping at least one of these fine actors will upset his campaign...just for fun. Of course this category gets major happiness from me, since
ANDREW GARFIELD is nominated, but surely
they would have nominated him for
Never Let Me Go. This category is good, especially because of the surprise nomination of
Pete Postlethwaite.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams for
The Fighter
Helena Bohnam Carter for
The King's Speech
Barbara Hershey for
Black Swan
Lesley Manville for
Another Year
Miranda Richardson for
Made in Dagenham
Well
helloooooo. Looks like the person who has been sweeping this category,
Melissa Leo, isn't even nominated! Instead,
Amy Adams gets in for the same film, and I can see her winning, which will make for an epic fightout at the Oscars. Many people have commented on how
Mila Kunis is wrongfully nominated over
Barbara Hershey for
Black Swan, and it looks like the BAFTA people listened, and gave them what they wanted. I've heard that
Lesley Manville and
Miranda Richardson were good in their films, but I feel kinda uneasy about them getting in. Her royal highness miss
Helena 'Bitchy Eyeroll' Bohnam Carter gets another nomination, which maybe successful, if
Amy Adams doesn't get the award. As happy as I am that there's no
Melissa Leo and there's
Barbara Hershey, this category doesn't feel as elite as all the rest.
DAVID LEAN AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION
Darren Aronofsky for
Black Swan
Danny Boyle for
127 Hours
David Fincher for
The Social Network
Tom Hooper for
The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan for
Inception
Come on BAFTA's, be good to
Chris Nolan. After all, he is more British than American, and he might as well be your national asset. You know what I think?
David Fincher doesn't stand a chance in this category. The awards don't seem amazingly pro-
The Social Network, and I could see any of the other competitors taking Fincher down. I'm so glad that
Danny Boyle has finally been nominated. Like, I know that he's won an Oscar already, but his direction never fails to amaze me, and from what I've seen in the trailer of
127 Hours, it looks so great. The category is pretty much the same as every other one, but this time, I'm sure the winner is going to be different. This better be
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN's award.
BEST SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL)
Black Swan: Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John J. McLaughlin
The Fighter: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
Inception: Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right: Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
The King's Speech: David Seidler
Look, I know that
The King's Speech won the Critics Choice award, and these awards are a little pro-
The King's Speech, but I'm still not giving up hope on
Christopher Nolan's screenplay for
Inception. Someone needs to start recognizing the originality of this script. While the rest of the category is all very good, this category is getting very tired. As long as God wins, I'll be very happy. If he doesn't...well, the winner better be veeeeeeeery good. Otherwise someone's gonna get hurt. You have my attention, best original screenplay...only until
Inception wins.
BEST SCREENPLAY (ADAPTED)
127 Hours: Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel
The Social Network: Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3: Michael Arndt
True Grit: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Spoiler alert:
Aaron Sorkin will win this one. If he doesn't, then it would be a bloody miracle. With all those comparisons to
Citizen Kane and whatnot, it's a certainty that this screenplay will win whatever award it's nominated for. The surprise for this category comes from the nomination of
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. As I've said before, I feel kinda funny that this film is getting all these nominations, because it is so old. But I'm happy that the screenplay has been recognized, because it is pretty good, and I personally think it's better than the book.
127 Hours gets another look in, as does the 'adapted' screenplay of
Toy Story 3. The
Coen's get in again for their
True Grit script, rounding out quite a good category, which just isn't getting tired yet.
BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Biutiful
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I Am Love
Of Gods and Men
The Secret in Their Eyes
Gah. More
I Am Love. Yeah, I get that it's supposed to be a good film, but don't people find it to be a little too melodramatic? It's amazing that last years Oscar winner
The Secret in Their Eyes has got in, and it would be weird if it doesn't manage to win this. If you haven't seen it, see it now, for it is fantastic.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo gets some more love, and could possibly win this award. This category seems to bring together the peoples choice of foreign films, as opposed to what we saw at the Golden Globes. If
I Am Love wins, I am going to cry.
The Secret in Their Eyes deserves this, even if it has the advantage of the Oscar.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Despicable Me
How to Train Your Dragon
Toy Story 3
I like this category. It is short and sweet, containing just the best of last years animated features. Yeah,
Toy Story 3 will win, by a landslide, but it's so great to see all the love for
How to Train Your Dragon and
Despicable Me.
Tangled and
The Illusionist are notably missing, though most will be happy with these three representing the year of animated films. The fact that they aren''t all made by the same studios is also great, too.
ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
Gemma Arterton
Andrew Garfield
Tom Hardy
Aaron Johnson
Emma Stone
Soon I shall be doing a whole article based solely on this category. I mean, look at the talent. It is hard to pick just one, because you feel like you will then have to pick them all.
Gemma Arterton has her blockbusters--
Prince of Persia and
Clash of the Titans, and her good performances--
The Disappearance of Alice Creed.
Andrew Garfield has his great performances--
Never Let Me Go and
The Social Network, and his upcoming
Spiderman movie.
Tom Hardy has the standout performance in
Inception, plus his star turn in
Bronson, which is trickling through on DVD in some places.
Aaron Johnson has his John Lennon performance in
Nowhere Boy and his star-making role in
Kick-Ass.
Emma Stone has all the crap she's starred in ages ago plus her brilliant lead role in
Easy A. It's going to be a tough category...they could all win!
So what's that? 9 Leo's and 3 Zuck's. Looks like the BAFTA's can be this years best awards ceremony.
The BAFTAs did indeed come out with some suprises this year, but, going by your rating system, I would give Steve to the animated category. Why the fuck was The Illusionist not nominated? (To be honest, it should be up for best film and best director across the board, but in my wildest dreams that'd happen. I guess no one got it being the best film of 10' and all...)
ReplyDeleteMy mum randomly got Despicable Me on Pirate, so I managed to watch it - it was enjoyable enough, it was good escapism in terms of the hard-hitting stuff I'd been watching over the past few weeks, but the fact that that film edged it's way in over The Illusionist made me seriously go "THE FUCK?"
Awards tend to shun animated films, especially ones that aren't generally geared at 'Kids' which is a pain in the ass.
The only ones that get any recognition, are Pixar, Dreamworks and Studio Ghibli's stuff, and even though the Pixar and Ghibli crop are great, some of the best films come out of non-studio productions.
It's gonna take a while for animation to be seen by the general Hollywood award shows as a legitmate tool in filmmaking (one that it truly is.)
Managed to FINALLY watch Blue Valentine yesterday too, and I'm still emotionally reeling from the events of that film. Holy fuck, that film is too beautiful for words (hence why I wondered where The Gos and Williams got to in best acting categories, and screenplay, editing, direction and film while we're at it haha.)
Think I already told you about the weeping when I went to see King Kong, and since then, I haven't cried in the cinema, but oh lord, I couldn't stop in Blue Valentine, it was a neverending stream.
But hey, that's me complaining over award shows. Awards don't define the awesome of the film. Though they get it wrong on a lot of occassions, they can get it right sometimes, and the BAFTAs this year haven't done too badly in making you have "didn't expect that," reaction.
Other than my moaning, (I am truly sorry for that, I needed to vent somewhere - I'm gonna end up making a blog for my film zine I'm making if I get round to it, so I guess that'll be somewhere for me to vent - ) I really enjoyed your post. And your Leo/Zuck and Steve ratings are always good too see (really like the new design of your blog btw, on a random note.)
I was wondering where The Illusionist was. I mean, I thought the BAFTA people (I don't know what their official 'title' is) would nominate a French film. I must find out when I can get that movie here, I reeeeally want to see it (especially after you have said so many good things about it!)
ReplyDeleteIt pisses me off that Hollywood doesn't see animation that way. I don't really get the difference. There are still real people involved, and there are people still acting as a character...what's different? It's strange...
Omg I'm so jealous of you watching Blue Valentine! I have no idea when that comes out here. It looks like the kind of movie which I'd become a trainwreck in. That was noticably missing in these awards, but I'm not really sure whether there is still room for it at the Oscars. Oh well, just a week until we find out.
Awards can't define the awesomeness of a film or a person. Afterall, Christopher Nolan has never won anything; Pulp Fiction didn't win best picture; Let the Right One In never even got nominated. They're all still great, though.
Vent all you like, I'm glad I have been able to provide a place for you to vent, haha. Thanks for enjoying the post. And thanks for enjoying the new blog design. I'm liking it a lot, so it should be here to stay for a while.
Exactly! I thought it was a sure-fire in for a nom at least (even though, of course, it was never going to bag the gold with Toy Story 3 lurking in the pack,) because the BAFTAS seem to be a little more giving when it comes to non-American stuff, even in some cases, their own Brit films.
ReplyDeleteIf you can't catch The Illusionist somewhere, definitely try and buy Belleville Rendez-vous, it's by the same director (Sylvain Chomet) and it is so beautiful, a turn-back into the silent era or something. It's a great taster for The Illusionist too. So glad you wanna see the film, though! It'll be nice if someone else enjoys the film as much as I do, or as you have, taken interest in it!
Hollywood are pretty into their 'Dramas' though, so it's like nothing else can get a word in edgwise, including other genres (most notably, horror and comedy.)
If you're desperate to watch it, I think it popped up online a few days ago, so it's always there if you can't find anywhere to watch it, but yes, everything great said about it, times that by 10 million, and you've got the film (I'll probably calm down a little over the next few days and my opinion on the film will solidify, but that's how I feel now!) I'd be suprised if you didn't like it though, but yes, highly recommend - try and see it whenever it comes out in NZ.
The only way underrated directors, writers, actors, editors etc. will get noticed is if they die, which I have always found weird. I guess it's all about having that mainstream break - getting into the Hollywood doorway, and you'll usually be up for awards. After all, most of it is political - and in the case of the Globes - bribary based.
The new blog design does open up the blog feels a lot brighter, and those are the blog designs I feel work the best!