Awards 2010: BAFTA Nominations

\Amongst the last major nominations before the Academy Award nominees are announced, the BAFTA didn't really pull any surprises with their announcements, and if they did, they were mild. Javier Bardem made it into the Best Actor race, while Hailee Steinfeld was actually nominated for Best Actress, instead of being lumped in the supporting race. So we've proved that Steinfeld does have enough weight to be legitimately nominated amongst Portman and Bening. Pete Postlethwaite was given a farewell nomination for his work on The Town. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 had minimum presence in the technical categories compared to other films in the franchise. Black Swan got an insane amount of nominations, and it's slowly becoming more and more possible for it to take the big prize if all the dominoes align for it.

Best Film
“Black Swan”
“Inception”
“The King’s Speech”
“The Social Network”
“True Grit”

Best British Film
“Another Year”
“Four Lions”
“The King’s Speech”
“Made In Dagenham”
“127 Hours”

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”)
Christopher Nolan (“Inception”)
Tom Hooper (“The King’s Speech”)
Danny Boyle (“127 Hours”)
David Fincher (“The Social Network”)

Awards 2010: American Cinema Editors (ACE) Nominees

More guild award nominations, and this time it's a little more interesting than usual. The ACE have announced their nominations, and I'm pretty impressed for the most part. The Social Network and Inception made it in, as should be pretty obvious, and the rest of the dramatic field was filled by The King's Speech, Black Swan, and The Fighter, who definitely deserves the nomination. One of my favorite things about the film was the aggressive way it was cut together, adding on to the brutality of it. As for the Comedy or Musical department, there is the obvious exception of Alice in Wonderland, but I was still really impressed. Easy A and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World made the cut, which is a nice victory to me. The Animated and Documentary editing categories are pretty straightforward, but no less deserving.

Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic)
“Black Swan"
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The King’s Speech"
“The Social Network”

Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical)
“Alice in Wonderland”
“Easy A”
“The Kids Are All Right”
“Made in Dagenham"
“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”

Best Edited Animated Film
“Despicable Me”
“How to Train Your Dragon"
“Toy Story 3″

Best Edited Documentary
“Exit Through the Gift Shop”
“Inside Job”
“Waiting for Superman”

British Independent Film Awards Nominations!

I was beginning to worry that the powers that be were becoming content with our predictions, and that this awards season would be very predictable. Fortunately that is not the case, but it's still more than a little disappointing. Among the surprises of the British Independent Film Awards nominations is Another Year being snubbed out of the top race. What's even more surprising is what made it into that frame. Monsters just opened to mixed reviews, Never Let Me Go came and went with silence and dread, and I didn't even know Kick-Ass was a British film. On top of that, it seems a little out of character to nominate a superhero film, especially one such as this.

The King's Speech quite obviously made it into the majority of the races, so it's automatically the favorite to win. The only race it isn't in is Best Actress, and that's a complete toss up seeing as Leslie Manville was pushed into the Supporting Actress race for Another Year. What is your opinion of these nominations? Are you surprised, or have you just come to expect as much?

Best British Independent Film
Four Lions
Kick-Ass
The King’s Speech
Monsters
Never Let Me Go

Best Director
Mike Leigh (Another Year)
Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass)
Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
Gareth Edwards (Monsters)
Mark Romanek (Never Let Me Go)

Best Screenplay
Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Simon Blackwell and Christopher Morris (Four Lions)
Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass)
David Seidler (The King’s Speech)
William Ivory (Made In Dagenham)
Alex Garland (Never Let Me Go)

Best Actress
Sally Hawkins (Made In Dagenham)
Carey Mulligan (Never Let Me Go)
Andrea Riseborough (Brighton Rock)
Ruth Sheen (Another Year)
Manjinder Virk (The Arbor)

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed (Four Lions)
Jim Broadbent (Another Year)
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
Aidan Gillen (Treacle Jr)
Scoot McNairy (Monsters)

Best Supporting Actress
Helena Bonham-Carter (The King’s Speech)
Tamsin Greig (Tamara Drewe)
Keira Knightley (Never Let Me Go)
Lesley Manville (Another Year)
Rosamund Pike (Made In Dagenham)

Best Supporting Actor
Andrew Garfield, (Never Let Me Go)
Bob Hoskins, (Made In Dagenham)
Kayvan Novak (Four Lions)
Guy Pearce (The King’s Speech)
Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech)

Best Technical Achievement
Tim Barker: sound (The Arbor)
John Mathieson: cinematography (Brighton Rock)
Sylvain Chomet: animation (The Illusionist)
Eve Stewart: production design (The King’s Speech)
Gareth Edwards: visual effects (Monsters)

Best Foreign Film
Dogtooth
I Am Love
A Prophet
The Secret In Their Eyes
Winter’s Bone

Theatrical Trailer: Made in Dagenham

I often find myself protesting against good films on the simple question of their Oscar potential, and it really makes me feel bad for these filmmakers. They do such a great job, and all they get from us is criticism that they weren't able to do better. Every film has its flaws, and we just need to learn to get past that a little more easily, and to perhaps embrace that. This new trailer for Made in Dagenham definitely pushes me towards seeing it, although the more inspirational tone towards the end seems to betray the tone we all expect the film to have. Take a look at the trailer and comment below on your own thoughts.

Toronto Days. Toronto Nights: Made in Dagenham

It's remarkable how spectacular this year has been for lead actresses. This year's Best Actress race is going to be one of the tightest ones in years, as we already have plenty nipping at the category's door. Now, Sally Hawkins is making another attempt at making the cut, after being horrendously shot down two years ago. Her new film, Made in Dagenham, follows the a bunch of female factory workers as they try to fight for equal pay. Critics are so far agreeable with the film, and they love Hawkins' performance.

Ray Bennett (Hollywood Reporter): "Period authenticity is nailed within the film's sunny design and sharply drawn characters, with the U.K.'s class structure and male-oriented industries depicted without fuss. It was a simple fact that women were required to do the same work as men but for far less pay. When the machinists at Ford's huge plant in Dagenham, near London, objected to being classified as nonskilled workers in order to keep their wages down, they not only objected but also took action with game-changing impact. Screenwriter William Ivory gives just enough backstory to provide heft for the characters, and Cole draws sprightly performances from the cast without making the women into caricatures. Hopkins plays in a minor key satisfyingly, and Hawkins is as upbeat as she was in Happy-Go-Lucky but with a wariness and steeliness that should win over those who were put off with the chatter of the teacher she played in that film."