This year’s British Academy Awards take place on Sunday. Here’s the lowdown on the nominations and a few predictions from yours truly on what I think/hope might occur awards-wise.
First of all, Terry Gilliam gets this year’s Academy Fellow, this is a given (and well deserved, I’d say). There’s a pretty cool article about him on the BAFTA website here.
Also, pinewood and Shepperton Studios get the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema award.
“They been home to some of the most successful, critically acclaimed and award winning feature films ever made such as The African Queen, David Lean’s Great Expectations, Dr Strangelove, Superman, Alien, The Shining, Ghandi, and most recently The Bourne Ultimatum and 20 of the 22 Bonds including Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.”
- From the BAFTA site.
Will The Dark Knight be in for a BAFTA or nine?
Now onto the nominations…
Most award nominations go to:
- Slumdog Millionaire 11
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 11
- The Dark Knight 9
- Changeling 8
- Frost/Nixon 6
- The Reader 5
Click here for a list of all of this years nominees.
My thoughts
- I’d like Slumdog to get outstanding British film. At the very least I want Danny Boyle to win best director.
- I’d love Rourke to win best actor for The Wrestler but he’s up against some stiff competition from the likes of Sean Penn in Milk and Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
- Kate Winslet deserves to do well!
- I reckon music-wise it should be A. R. Rahman for Slumdog or Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard for making the Joker’s Dark Knight theme so unsettling.
- Special Visual effects could go to pretty much anyone, although I think Benjamin Button might tip the balance for using cutting-edge technology (and possibly more impactful in the eyes of cinema-goers than The Dark Knight’s use of IMAX cams). I very much doubt Quatum of Solace would pick up this award when it is up against the likes of cgi-centric pictures like Iron Man.
- In reality I think Benjamin Button will dominate both the BAFTAs and the Oscars. I’m sure it’s a great film (still not freakin released til tomorrow here!) but it’ll be a shame if a film like Slumdog misses out.
The BAFTA’s will be hosted by Jonathan Ross on Sunday 8 February 2009 in London’s Royal Opera House.
Check out last year’s film award winners here.
So, what are your predictions and who would you like to see winning awards?
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