British weigh in with BAFTA nominations

It was time for the British to weigh in: the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) released their nominations yesterday. The BAFTAs are considered the British equivalent of the Oscars, and will be awarded in a starry ceremony on Sunday, February 12 at London's Royal Opera House, which is two weeks before the Oscars and nine days before the end of Oscar balloting.

This means that they could influence the Oscar winners, just as the Critics' Choice, Golden Globes and SAG Awards can and likely will. While the awards often tilt towards homegrown (British) talent, this year it is a French film - "The Artist" - that received the most nominations with 12. It is beginning to shape up as this year's "Slumdog Millionaire," but even a harder sell being a black-and-white silent movie. Awards do make a difference: since winning the Golden Globe on Sunday, the film's daily grosses doubled. It also is the kind of movie that will get great word-of-mouth. The combination of cleaning up this Award Season and being a very accessible film to audiences (once they're in the theater) could be the one-two punch that will make it this year's Cinderella story.

Who are the frontrunners? "The Artist," of course, with 12 nominations, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" with 11; "Hugo" with 9; "My Week With Marilyn" with 6; and "The Help" and "War Horse" with 5 each.

For Best Film in the BAFTAs, it is up against two likely Oscar nominations: the Golden Globe-winning "The Descendants" and "The Help," and two that have been tracking much further down the list: "Drive" and "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy." The British-made "Tinker Tailor" trailed the French-made "The Artist" by one nomination. It also acknowledged Gary Oldman's performance - he's been pretty much shut out in the other competitive awards.

Oldman's nomination as Best Actor is one for the British home team; as is Michael Fassbender ("Shame"). They are up against two Yanks: George Clooney ("The Descendants") and Brad Pitt ("Moneyball"); and Gallic heart throb Jean Dujardin. The award is shaping up to come between Clooney and Dujardin - but don't underestimate the home team advantage, which is good news for the neglected Oldman.

The big change in the Best Actress is that French actress B�r�nice Bejo is included in this category (not supporting as she's being promoted by the Weinstein Company). This pretty much pushed out Rooney Mara's chances for a nomination, which is too bad because "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" is the unsung film this award season and her performance is award-worthy. (It didn't get a nomination for Best Film either.) Also, as was pointed out on the award blog Award Daily, it meant that British actress Olivia Colman was passed over for her much-praised movie in the British indie "Tyrannosaur," yet to be seen in the U.S. But the biggest oversight has to be Glenn Close as an Irish butler in "Albert Nobbs." Of those nominated along with Bejo are Meryl Streep for her controversial (in England at least) turn as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady." Michelle Williams for her artful impersonation of Marilyn Monroe in the British-made "My Week With Marilyn" also was picked. In addition there's Viola Davis ("The Help") and Scottish actress (our favorite) Tilda Swinton for "We Need to Speak About Kevin" (also a British film).

There were a couple of surprises in the Supporting categories: Jim Broadbent in "The Iron Lady" and Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Ides of March." The inclusion of these two pushed multiple critics' awards winner Albert Brooks ("Drive") out of the picture. Frontrunner Christopher Plummer got an expected nom for "Beginners," along with Jonah Hill ("Moneyball") and Kenneth Branagh ("My Week with Marilyn").

On the actress side, the surprises are Carey Mulligan (for "Drive" and not "Shame") and Judi Dench ("My Week with Marilyn"). Those British actresses join three Yanks: Jessica Chastian ("The Help"), Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids") and Octavia Spencer ("The Help").

What was interesting about the Golden Globes is that neither of the Best Picture winners - "The Artist" and "The Descendants" - won in the directing and writing categories. Is this a trend? Martin Scorsese ("Hugo") won for director and Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris") won for best screenplay. This is seen to bolster both for the BAFTAs and the Oscars. In the directing category, Scorsese is up against "The Artist's" Michel Hazanavicius; but their competition is comprised of three surprises: Nicholas - Winding Refn ("Drive"), Tomas Alfredson ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy") and Lynne Ramsay ("We Need to Talk About Kevin").

On the writing side, in the original screenplay category the award-shy Allen (his 23rd BAFTA nomination) is up against Hazanavicius ("The Artist"), Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig ("Bridesmaids"), John Michael McDonagh (for the dark Irish comedy "The Guard") and Abi Morgan ("The Iron Lady"). The adapted category pits Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash ("The Descendants") against George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon ("The Ides of March"), Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"), Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin ("Moneyball") and Tate Taylor ("The Help").

Two awards that do not find their equivalency with the Oscars honor British films: Outstanding British Film and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. In the former, the documentary "Senna" competes against "My Week With Marilyn," "Shame," "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "We Need to Talk About Kevin." In the latter the nominees are "Attack the Block," "Black Pond," "Coriolanus," "Submarine" and "Tyrannosaur." Of these five films, only "Attack the Block" has been seen in the States.

In the other categories, it's great to see Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross get a nomination for Best Score for their visionary work in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." Their creepy soundscapes add immeasurably to the success of the film, already cited as the unsung title of the Award Season.

One BAFTA award we'd like to see the Oscars add is the Rising Star Award (which is voted on by the public). This year's nominations are: the actor and rapper Adam Deacon, who was recently called by Time Out Magazine "the face of youth cinema." According to the website East London Times, Deacon "wrote, directed, and starred in his own film, "Anuvahood." "Anuvahood" was a comic take on the urban films with which Deacon had become associated. The film caused him to fall out with colleague and Kidulathood star Noel Clarke in a very public Twitter feud. Anuvahood was hated by the critics, but loved by the public, making it to the number one spot in the box office."

Deacon is joined by "Thor" hunk Chris Hemsworth; Chris O'Dowd from "Bridesmaids," Eddie Redmayne from "My Week with Marilyn" and Tom Hiddleston from "Thor" and "War Horse."

The list of nominees:

Best Film
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Drive"
"The Help"
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

Leading actor
Brad Pitt - "Moneyball"
Gary Oldman - "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
George Clooney - "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin - "The Artist"
Michael Fassbender - "Shame"

Leading actress
Berenice Bejo - "The Artist"
Meryl Streep - "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams - "My Week With Marilyn"
Tilda Swinton - "We Need To Talk About Kevin"
Viola Davis - "The Help"

Supporting actor
Christopher Plummer - "Beginners"
Jim Broadbent - "The Iron Lady"
Jonah Hill - "Moneyball"
Kenneth Branagh - "My Week With Marilyn"
Philip Seymour Hoffman - "The Ides Of March"

Supporting actress
Carey Mulligan - "Drive"
Jessica Chastain -" The Help"
Judi Dench - "My Week With Marilyn"
Melissa McCarthy - "Bridesmaids"
Octavia Spencer - "The Help"

Outstanding British Film
"My Week With Marilyn"
"Senna"
"Shame"
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
"We Need To Talk About Kevin"

Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
"Attack The Block" - Joe Cornish (director/writer)
"Black Pond" - Will Sharpe (director/writer), Tom Kingsley (director), Sarah Brocklehurst (producer)
"Coriolanus" - Ralph Fiennes (director)
"Submarine" - Richard Ayoade (director/writer)
"Tyrannosaur" - Paddy Considine (director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (producer)

Foreign language film
"Incendies"
"Pina"
"Potiche"
"A Separation"
"The Skin I Live In"

Director
"The Artist" - Michel Hazanavicius
"Drive" - Nicolas Winding Refn
"Hugo" - Martin Scorsese
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" - Tomas Alfredson
"We Need To Talk About Kevin" - Lynne Ramsay

Documentary
"George Harrison: Living In The Material World"
"Project Nim"
"Senna"

Animated film
"The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn"
"Arthur Christmas"
"Rango"

Original screenplay
"The Artist" - Michel Hazanavicius
"Bridesmaids" - Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
"The Guard" - John Michael McDonagh
"The Iron Lady" - Abi Morgan
"Midnight In Paris" - Woody Allen

Adapted screenplay
"The Descendants" - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
"The Help" - Tate Taylor
"The Ides Of March" - George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
"Moneyball" - Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" - Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

Music
"The Artist"
"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
"War Horse"

Cinematography
"The Artist"
"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
"War Horse"

Editing
"The Artist"
"Drive"
"Hugo"
"Senna"
"Tinker Tailor Solider Spy"

Production design
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
"War Horse"

Costume design
"The Artist"
"Hugo"
"Jane Eyre"
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

Make up & hair
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Hugo"
"The Iron Lady"
"My Week With Marilyn"

Sound
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
"War Horse"

Special visual effects
"The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn"
"Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes"
"War Horse"

Short animation
"Abuelas"
"Bobby Yeah"
"A Morning Stroll"

Short film
"Chalk"
"Mwansa The Great"
"Only Sound Remains"
"Pitch Black Heist"
"Two And Two"

The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award (previously announced, and voted by the public)
Adam Deacon
Chris Hemsworth
Chris O'Dowd
Eddie Redmayne
Tom Hiddleston