This morning The British Academy for Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nominations were announced and An Education, Avatar, and The Hurt Locker are leading the pack. You may be thinking, “Why do I care about the British awards?” Well, the BAFTAs have an uncanny way of foreshadowing what will happen at the Oscars. Last year, the nominations for the major categories were almost identical, as well as the winners — the only deviation was Best Actor which went to Mickey Rourke at the BAFTAs and Sean Penn at the Oscars. If the British Academy and the American Academy are riding the same brain wave again this year, it’s a safe bet that the award outcomes will be similar.
The most eyebrow-raising nominations are Saoirse Ronan from The Lovely Bones in the Leading Actress category and a Best Original Screenplay nod for The Hangover, which isn’t exactly a movie we imagine appealing to the British sense of humor.
The biggest snub seems to be Jane Campion’s Bright Star, which was only nominated for Costume Design despite Abbie Cornish’s critically-acclaimed performance. It’s also interesting that Alec Baldwin was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for It’s Complicated, while Meryl Streep was left out in the cold.
We were excited to see that Fish Tank — Andrea Arnold’s terrific second feature about a rebellious British teen — made the cut for Outstanding British Film. View the full list of nominees below.
Best Film Avatar An Education The Hurt Locker Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire Up In The Air
Outstanding British Film An Education Fish Tank In The Loop Moon Nowhere Boy
Director James Cameron, Avatar Neill Blomkamp, District 9 Lone Schefig, An Education Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Leading Actor Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart George Clooney, Up In The Air Colin Firth, A Single Man Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker Andy Serkis, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
Leading Actress Carey Mulligan, An Education Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Audrey Tautou, Coco Before Chanel
Supporting Actor Alec Baldwin, It’s Complicated Christian Mckay, Me And Orson Welles Alfred Molina, An Education Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Supporting Actress Anne-Marie Duff, Nowhere Boy Vera Farmiga, Up In The Air Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air Mo’nique, Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire Kristin Scott Thomas, Nowhere Boy
Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock, David Pearson Directors, Producers – Mugabe And The White African Eran Creevy Writer/Director – Shifty Stuart Hazeldine Writer/Director – Exam Duncan Jones Director – Moon Sam Taylor-Wood Director – Nowhere Boy
Original Screenplay The Hangover (Jon Lucas, Scott Moore) The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal) Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino) A Serious Man (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen) Up (Bob Peterson, Pete Docter)
Adapted Screenplay District 9 (Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell) An Education (Nick Hornby) In The Loop (Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche) Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire (Geoffrey Fletcher) Up In The Air (Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner)
How do you feel about the BAFTA nods? Is there a film or actor you wish had been nominated?