Early this morning the nominations for the 66th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAS) were announced. Recently my thought had been turned towards the Oscars for Film Actually's Oscar Prediction Competition (my predictions here) and I'd almost forgotten about my own country's premier film awards. While there are a few more British films that you'd expect in the Oscar nominations the US still dominates. Lincoln leads all films with 11 nominations, followed by Life of Pi and Les Miserables with 9. Skyfall holds up the British end with 8 but fails to make the Best Film list. The nominations are listed below. I'll predict the winner (in bold) and below list my thoughts and who I'd like to or think deserves to win. You can click on the title for my full review.
Although Lincoln leads the nominations my predictions have Life of Pi as the big winner with 6 wins followed by Anna Karenina with 3 and Lincoln, Amour and Zero Dark Thirty with 2 apiece. The awards will be handed out on February 10th 2013.
No real surprises here although Skyfall misses out on Bond’s
best chance ever for a Best Film nomination. These five seem to be the ones
that are cropping up on every awards list around. Personally I’d like to see
Life of Pi win but my prediction is Lincoln.
Outstanding British Film
Anna Karenina
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Seven Psychopaths
Skyall
Not a terrible year for British film but not one of the
best. I think the likes of Berberian Sound Studio and even Sightseers may have
been snubbed here but the five nominees are all strong. Seven Psychopaths has
no chance. Could be Skyfall in this category though I have a lot of love for
Anna Karenina.
Outstanding Debut by
a British Writer, Director or Producer
James Bobin – TheMuppets
Dexter Fletcher – Wild Bill
Tina Ghavari – I am Nasrine
Bart Layton – The Imposter
Dave Morris – McCullin
This is a category that I like. Much like the rising star
below it recognises people who are showing promise and not just those at the
top of their profession. Personally I’d go for Bart Layton but think James
Bobin might get the nod.
Rising Star Award
Elizabeth Olsen
Andrea Riseborough
Suraj Sharma
Juno
Temple
Alicia Vikander
Again, a favourite of mine. A really strong list this year
and also the only award voted for by the public. With that in mind I think
Sharma or Olsen will win. I think Olsen deserves it and wouldn’t be surprised
if in 20 years time she turns out to have been the actress of her generation.
Best Actor
Ben Affleck, Argo
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
The big surprise here is Ben Affleck for Argo. I didn’t see
that one coming and although this film and his direction were fantastic, I didn’t
think his acting stood out. This is Daniel Day-Lewis’ to lose.
Best Actress
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
No huge surprises here although I thought Naomi Watts was in
with a shout. I also thought that Keira Knightly was an outside shot. For me
this award should go to Emmanuelle Riva. I’m yet to see Zero Dark Thirty but
have been hearing great things about Jessica Chastain so I’m predicting she
will win.
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin, Argo
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
I’m glad to see Alan Arkin nominated and he’d get my vote
but this is an extremely strong category. A small surprise is that Leonardo Di
Caprio was snubbed in favour of Christoph Waltz but I think this will be a two
horse race between the two double barrelled surnames.
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Master
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Sally Field, Lincoln
I expected to see Maggie Smith in this category but the
chosen five all make sense. Anne Hathaway seems to be the favourite. I have no
particular favourite of my own in this category.
Director
Michael Haneke, Amour
Ben Affleck, Argo
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
A tough one to predict. I’d probably go with Ang Lee just
ahead of Michael Haneke but the big shock here is that Stephen Spielberg misses
out. Any one of the five have a shot at this one.
Original Screenplay
Amour, Michael Haneke
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal
I’m predicting Haneke here simply because Amour was
brilliant but I don’t think it will win in the other categories that it’s been
nominated for. Personally I’d like to see Moonrise Kingdom
pick up this one and would be annoyed if The Master won.
Adapted Screenplay
Argo, Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi, David Magee
Lincoln, Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell
Life of Pi deserves to win and I think will but Argo is an
outside bet. Silver Linings Playbook can sod off.
I’m yet to see The Hunt but the other four are all
outstanding. Two will be on my best of the year list and a third is on the
bubble. For me Amour should win and probably will. The Intouchables went down
very well in the UK
so it could cause an upset. I’m glad to see Headhunters recognised too.
I didn’t rate any of these films too highly but think Tim
Burton might break the Pixar dominance and probably deserves to. Not a particularly
strong year for animation. I expected to see Ardman's Pirates! here though.
Best Original Score
Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
Alexandre Desplat, Argo
Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
John Williams, Lincoln
Thomas Newman, Skyfall
I’m yet to see Lincoln
but think that Berberian Sound Studio was wrongly snubbed. That would be my
pick of the year. I have no idea who will win this one but will guess Anna
Karenina despite the more illustrious composers in the list.
Life of Pi deserves this although Anna Karenina could cause
an upset due to its unique visual style. Skyfall may prove popular too.
I’m going to guess Zero Dark Thirty but The Dark Knight
Rises has been overlooked.
This could be one of the closest contests. Life of Pi is the
most beautiful film of the year, Anna Karenina has the unique style, Skyfall
was unashamedly glossy and sharp and Les Mis and Lincoln have the whole period
drama thing going for them. I’m going for Anna Karenina.
Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina
Great Expectations
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Snow White and the Huntsman
The costumes in Anna Karenina make this a no brainer but I’m
surprised by the absence of The Hobbit.
Berberian Sound Studio snubbed again. The Impossible was
also a film I though might get a look in here. I’m going for Life of Pi.
Life of Pi deserves this although the effects in all the
others (bar The Hobbit) were excellent. No surprises here.
The Hobbit has a chance here but Le Mis and Anna Karenina
will prove tough competition.
I’m glad to see the inclusion of Marley. So often the BAFTAS
get this category right while The Oscars mess up. McCullin is strong but this
will be between The Imposter and Searching for Sugar Man.
I agree with most of your omissions, and most of your predictions. It's a shame Skyfall didn't get a Best Picture nomination, especially seeing as Les Mis hasn't received the greatest reviews all round, whereas Skyfall was pretty much universally adored (and rightly so).
ReplyDeleteI think Haneke or Bigelow might beat out Ang Lee for the Best Director (though I'd love Tarantino to get it).
I wasn't as big a fan of Skyfall as most but wouldn't have begrudged it a nomination. It is the British Academy after all. The Caesar's nominate mostly French films.
DeleteTarantino probably deserves a win for his career but I think Ang Lee deserves it.
Fair enough, I haven't seen Life of Pi yet, so this is all based on reviews I've read/heard.
DeleteOne of the problems with the nominations coming out today is that Lincoln, Les Mis, Django and Zero Dark Thirty aren't even on general release yet.
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