BAFTA Nominations

The British are coming! So, you may or may not believe that there is a strong British contingent with the Academy. I think it's a bit of a myth really, but it really does pay off to pay attention to what the BAFTAs have to say. And here's what they said...

Best Film

• Avatar
• An Education
• The Hurt Locker
• Precious
• Up in the Air

Best British Film

• An Education
• Fish Tank
• In the Loop
• Moon
• Nowhere Boy

An Education expectedly doubles up showing up in both film categories. It also leads the field with eight nominations along with Avatar and The Hurt Locker. All three should easily make it in the Oscar Ten. Precious and Up in the Air are safe bets there too. Great to see In the Loop and Moon in the mix even though it was largely expected with this crowd.

Best Director

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

Really liked how different it is compared to their Best Film lineup. Bigelow and Cameron are the front-runners both here and for the Oscars, but it's nice to see other names especially Scherfig and Blomkamp. Can one of them break up the DGA-nominated directors come Oscar nomination morning? Still could happen.

Best 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

Best Actress

• Carey Mulligan, An Education
• Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones
• Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
• Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
• Audrey Tautou, Coco Before Chanel

Best 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

Best 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

The British contingent is strong especially with the nominations of Serkis, Ronan, McKay, Molina, Duff, and Scott Thomas. The front-runners are all still here though with Sandra Bullock the only one not making it in since her film was ineligible. Bridges, Streep, Mo'Nique, and Waltz will most likely win, but don't underestimate the British actors nominated alongside them.

Best Original Screenplay

• The Hangover
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• A Serious Man
• Up

Best Adapted Screenplay

• District 9
• An Education
• In the Loop
• Precious
• Up in the Air

Believe it or not there are no big surprises here. If you're thinking "But what about The Hangover?!" Well it was also nominated by the Writers Guild so watch out for it.

Best Foreign Language Film

• Broken Embraces
• Coco Before Chanel
• Let the Right One In
• A Prophet
• The White Ribbon

Best Animated Film

• Coraline
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Up

Best Cinematography

• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• The Road

Best Production Design

• Avatar
• District 9
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
• Inglourious Basterds

Best Costume Design

• Bright Star
• Coco Before Chanel
• An Education
• A Single Man
• The Young Victoria

Best Film Editing

• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Up in the Air

Best Makeup & Hair

• Coco Before Chanel
• An Education
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
• Nine
• The Young Victoria

Best Music

• Avatar
• Crazy Heart
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
• Up

Best Sound

• Avatar
• District 9
• The Hurt Locker
• Star Trek
• Up

Best Special Visual Effects

• Avatar
• District 9
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Hurt Locker
• Star Trek

I don't really have any real comments on the various tech nominees. Avatar will most likely clean up, but it's also a pretty good showing for District 9 matching every tech nomination that the billion-dollar grossing movie got. Hoping David gets at least one win against Goliath, you know?

Best Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

• Stuart Hazeldine (writer/director), Exam
• Duncan Jones (director), Moon
• Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock and David Pearson (directors and producers), Mugabe and the White African
• Sam Taylor-Wood (director), Nowhere Boy
• Eran Creevy (writer/director), Shifty

Rising Star Award

• Jesse Eisenberg
• Nicholas Hoult
• Carey Mulligan
• Tahar Rahim
• Kristen Stewart

This is put to a public vote. Beware of the public. Can being in Skins or in one episode of Doctor Who help beat out all those Twilight fans who are surely voting like their life depended on it?

Best Short Film

• 14″
• I Do Air
• Jade
• Mixtape
• Off Season

Best Animated Short

• The Gruffalo
• The Happy Duckling
• Mother of Many