Sunday, February 21, 2010

This year's BAFTAs...

3:08 PM / Cinema / Comments2 Comments

Cinema

Tonight sees the 2010 instalment of the UK's answer to the Oscars, the BAFTAs. I've just taken a look at the nominees and am once again shamed by how few I've actually seen.

The full list of nominees, as per the BBC News web site, is below. Films that I've actually seen are asterisked. Ones that I INTEND to see at some point in the coming year are identified by a "¥" symbol.

Best Film
- Avatar ¥
- An Education ¥
- The Hurt Locker ¥
- Precious
- Up in the Air

Outstanding British Film
- An Education ¥
- Fish Tank
- In the Loop
- Moon *
- Nowhere Boy

Director
- Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker ¥
- Neill Blomkamp, District 9 ¥
- James Cameron, Avatar ¥
- Lone Scherfig, An Education ¥
- Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds *

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

Actress
- Carey Mulligan, An Education ¥
- Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones ¥
- Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
- 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
- Kristin Scott Thomas, Nowhere Boy

Original Screenplay
- The Hangover
- The Hurt Locker ¥
- Inglourious Basterds *
- A Serious Man
- Up *

Adapted Screenplay
- District 9 ¥
- An Education ¥
- In the Loop
- Precious
- Up in the Air

Film not in the English Language
- Broken Embraces ¥
- Coco Before Chanel
- Let the Right One In *
- A Prophet
- The White Ribbon

Animated Film
- Coraline *
- Fantastic Mr Fox ¥
- Up *

Cinematography
- Avatar ¥
- District 9 ¥
- The Hurt Locker ¥
- Inglourious Basterds *
- The Road

Costume Design
- Bright Star
- Coco Before Chanel
- An Education ¥
- A Single Man
- The Young Victoria

Editing
- Avatar ¥
- District 9 ¥
- The Hurt Locker ¥
- Inglourious Basterds *
- Up in the Air

Make-Up & Hair
- Coco Before Chanel
- An Education ¥
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus ¥
- Nine
- The Young Victoria

Music
- Avatar ¥
- Crazy Heart
- Fantastic Mr Fox ¥
- Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
- Up *

Production Design
- Avatar ¥
- District 9 ¥
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus ¥
- Inglourious Basterds *

Sound
- Avatar ¥
- District 9 ¥
- The Hurt Locker ¥
- Star Trek *
- Up *

Visual Effects
- Avatar ¥
- District 9 ¥
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- The Hurt Locker ¥
- Star Trek *

Short Animation
- The Gruffalo
- The Happy Duckling
- Mother of Many

Short Film
- 14
- I Do Air
- Jade
- Mixtape
- Off Season

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)

Orange Rising Star Award
- Jesse Eisenberg
- Nicholas Hoult
- Carey Mulligan
- Tahar Rahim
- Kristen Stewart

A few thoughts:

It's really nice to see UP included in multiple categories instead of being relegated to the ubiquitous "Animated Film" grouping.

The absence of PONYO seems like a major oversight... until you remember that it was only released in the UK a week ago and was presumably therefore ineligible. Then again, THE LOVELY BONES was only release over here TWO DAYS AGO, and that didn't stop Saoirse Ronan getting a nomination for it. (Which doesn't strike me as fair at all. Can the voters actually be reasonably expected to have seen a film which only opened just over forty-eight hours before the results are announced?)

I'm surprised to see INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS in so many categories - not because I object to its inclusion but because I didn't expect what is effectively a "cult" film (albeit one marketed towards as wide an audience as possible) being so well represented at such a mainstream event. (Though Mélanie Laurent's absence from the list is a crying shame.) On that note, it's nice to see LET THE RIGHT ONE IN being recognised too. I'll be rooting for it if for no reason other than to see a vampire movie winning a BAFTA and proving that there's more to the genre than TWILIGHT. Speaking of which, I hope the Orange Rising Star nomination for Kristen Stewart represents her body of work as a whole rather than her appearance in that risible series of films, because that would be like rewarding someone for kicking a puppy.

That's about it, really. I've seen so few of the contenders that there's really not much point in my expressing an opinion on them... except to say that I would derive a considerable amount of schadenfreude if AVATAR were to perform dismally. I've not even seen the film yet and I'm already sick of hearing about it.

 
2 Comments

1. BobaFett said:

Well, in comparison I have seen even less of the nominated films than you - I went through the list of nominees and ended up with only 4 films:
"Let the Right One In", "Inglourious Basterds", "The White Ribbon" and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".

I understand your feelings towards "Avatar" quite well. I haven't seen it either so far, but would generally have a look at it from a technical point of view. I just don't feel like going to the cinema, because all that hype really puts me off.

Regarding "Let the Right One In", yes, it would be a very nice touch should it win the award. On the one hand because it's a film about vampires, but on the other hand also because it's a character-driven story that managed to get something new out of a very worn out genre, which otherwise often produces a lot of dull, cliché-riddled movies.

Haneke's "The White Ribbon" is a fine film as well, has some strong acting performances, but also has a very constructed feeling to it in order to get its message through, so that I would rather give the award to "Let the Right One In" (without being able to judge the other 3 films). I admit that my rating could be a bit biased though, as I liked both films, but subjectivley enjoyed "Let the Right One In" a bit more. I also just started reading the novel it is based on. ;)

I'd recommend adding "The White Ribbon" to your list of films you intend to see though - at least one can say that Haneke's films and the ideas behind them are usually interesting.

(Posted on Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 8:02 PM)

2. Author Profile Page Michael said:

I must admit I have a feeling THE WHITE RIBBON is not going to be my "type" of film. However, I'll make a point of checking it out based on your recommendation.

As for AVATAR... well, I'll no doubt see it eventually, but it's far from a priority. I'm far more interested in watching THE HURT LOCKER and AN EDUCATION. Actually, scratch that - I'm more interested in watching just about ALL of the BAFTA winners.

(Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 at 1:45 PM)

 
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