Just in the nick of time! Here are my predictions for tonight’s British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards, hosted in London by Joanna Lumley.
Films I haven’t yet seen are marked in red below, so I can’t really comment on them.
Can I get it out of my system?
:traditional_annual_whinge
Why can we not see all of the BAFTA nominated films in the UK before the awards? It is so frustrating when “I Tonya” and “Lady Bird” are nominated, but haven’t been yet released. I say this every year, but I think films should ONLY be considered for a BAFTA award if they have been physically released in the UK by the award date. This might encourage the distributors to get their act together!
:end_traditional_annual_whinge
This unfortunately doesn’t excuse my missing of some of these on the list (thanks day job!), notably “Call Me By Your Name” and “The Florida Project”. Hopefully I’ll get to these before the Oscars.
I’ll be updating this post (post-event) with the wins.
Now updated with “Who won” – – my score was 14 out of 19, which I’m very happy with!
BEST FILM
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Emilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, Marco Morabito, Peter Spears
DARKEST HOUR Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski
DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh
Will Win: The Shape of Water
Should Win: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Did Win: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (That’s a surprise!)
I’d be pretty happy for both “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards” to win, both of which are 5 Fad films in my book. With the British angle of London-born director Mcdonaugh, it could be that Three Billboards brings it home anyway. I would be EXTREMELY disappointed if “Dunkirk” won!
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
DARKEST HOUR Joe Wright, Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski
THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Kevin Loader, Laurent Zeitoun, Yann Zenou, Ian Martin, David Schneider
GOD’S OWN COUNTRY Francis Lee, Manon Ardisson, Jack Tarling
LADY MACBETH William Oldroyd, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Alice Birch
PADDINGTON 2 Paul King, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin
Will Win: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Should Win: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Did Win: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
I would have thought “Three Billboards” will get this one, but if it gets Best Film then this award might go elsewhere. Perhaps in that case “Darkest Hour” will steal this.
DIRECTOR
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Denis Villeneuve
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Luca Guadagnino
DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh
Will Win: The Shape of Water
Should Win: The Shape of Water
Did Win: The Shape of Water
“The Shape of Water” is such a striking film that I think it likely that it will get Guillermo Del Toro his BAFTA. As with the Best Film though, the British angle might come into play. But please, not Nolan for this one!
LEADING ACTRESS
ANNETTE BENING Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
FRANCES McDORMAND Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
MARGOT ROBBIE I, Tonya
SALLY HAWKINS The Shape of Water
SAOIRSE RONAN Lady Bird
Will Win: Frances McDormand
Should Win: Frances McDormand
Did Win: Frances McDormand
I’m really short of visibility in this category. But once again, I’d suggest the two main contenders will be Hawkins and McDormand, and again we have a UK vs US angle, but for me Frances McDormand delivers the performance of the year.
LEADING ACTOR
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS Phantom Thread
DANIEL KALUUYA Get Out
GARY OLDMAN Darkest Hour
JAMIE BELL Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Call Me by Your Name
Will Win: Gary Oldman
Should Win: Daniel Day-Lewis
Did Win: Gary Oldman
Oldman, almost invisible behind his Churchill make-up, is surely a shoe-in for this. But I was very much struck by Day-Lewis’s ‘farewell’ (hm, we’ll see) performance in “Phantom Thread” (review to follow shortly): just magnificent.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
ALLISON JANNEY I, Tonya
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS Darkest Hour
LAURIE METCALF Lady Bird
LESLEY MANVILLE Phantom Thread
OCTAVIA SPENCER The Shape of Water
Will Win: Allison Janney
Should Win: Lesley Manville
Did Win: Allison Janney
I’m a bit stuck here, in seeing neither “I, Tonya” or “Lady Bird”, and Janney appears to be the favourite to win, with Metcalf also feted. Outside of these two, Lesley Manville as the controlling sister of Reynolds Woodcock would be my choice.
SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER All the Money in the World
HUGH GRANT Paddington 2
SAM ROCKWELL Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
WILLEM DAFOE The Florida Project
WOODY HARRELSON Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Will Win: Sam Rockwell
Should Win: Sam Rockwell
Did Win: Sam Rockwell (YESS!!!)
Sam Rockwell for this one for me, hands down.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
GET OUT Jordan Peele
I, TONYA Steven Rogers
LADY BIRD Greta Gerwig
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh
Will Win: The Shape of Water
Should Win: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Did Win: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
This one feels rather wide open. My money would be on Three Billboards, but I’d be tempted to give it to “The Shape of Water” just for the crying man with the birthday cake! .
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME James Ivory
THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, David Schneider
FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL Matt Greenhalgh
MOLLY’S GAME Aaron Sorkin
PADDINGTON 2 Simon Farnaby, Paul King
Will Win: Call Me By Your Name
Should Win: Don’t Know!
Did Win: Call Me By Your Name (Ha! Good guess!)
I’m really at a loss on this one, falling very short on the watch list. Although I haven’t seen it, there seems to be a lot of love for James Ivory’s screenplay for “Call Me By Your Name”.
ORIGINAL MUSIC
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Benjamin Wallfisch, Hans Zimmer
DARKEST HOUR Dario Marianelli
DUNKIRK Hans Zimmer
PHANTOM THREAD Jonny Greenwood
THE SHAPE OF WATER Alexandre Desplat
Will Win: The Shape of Water
Should Win: The Shape of Water
Did Win: The Shape of Water
I loved Desplat’s score for the “The Shape of Water”, although there is no denying that Zimmer’s score, while not really listenable to standalone, adds greatly to the tension of “Dunkirk”. I was also very taken by the pervasive piano score to “Phantom Thread”.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Roger Deakins
DARKEST HOUR Bruno Delbonnel
DUNKIRK Hoyte van Hoytema
THE SHAPE OF WATER Dan Laustsen
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Ben Davis
Will Win: The Shape of Water
Should Win: The Shape of Water
Did Win: Blade Runner 2049
The use of light and shade in “The Shape of Water” was extraordinary.
EDITING
BABY DRIVER Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Joe Walker
DUNKIRK Lee Smith
THE SHAPE OF WATER Sidney Wolinsky
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Jon Gregory
Will Win: Dunkirk
Should Win: Baby Driver
Did Win: Baby Driver (should have gone with my belief on this one!)
The Spacey effect has soured the view of “Baby Driver”, but it was a 5-Fad film of mine in the summer. And it was brilliantly edited.
PRODUCTION DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola
DARKEST HOUR Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
DUNKIRK Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
THE SHAPE OF WATER Paul Austerberry, Jeff Melvin, Shane Vieau
Will Win: The Shape of Water
Should Win: The Shape of Water
Did Win: The Shape of Water
As I commented in my review, there was just SO MUCH to look at in “The Shape of Water” that it deserves multiple re-watches. “Darkest Hour” is also in with a shot for this one I think.
COSTUME DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Jacqueline Durran
DARKEST HOUR Jacqueline Durran
I, TONYA Jennifer Johnson
PHANTOM THREAD Mark Bridges
THE SHAPE OF WATER Luis Sequeira
Will Win: Phantom Thread
Should Win: Phantom Thread
Did Win: Phantom Thread
A film set in the 50’s about a fashion designer? Surely!
MAKE UP & HAIR
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Donald Mowat, Kerry Warn
DARKEST HOUR David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji
I, TONYA Deborah La Mia Denaver, Adruitha Lee
VICTORIA & ABDUL Daniel Phillips, Lou Sheppard
WONDER Naomi Bakstad, Robert A. Pandini, Arjen Tuiten
Will Win: Darkest Hour
Should Win: Darkest Hour
Did Win: Darkest Hour
Being a make up and hair expert (!) – – I have no idea. But my guess would be that the person responsible for Oldman’s disappearance might get the vote here.
SOUND
BABY DRIVER Tim Cavagin, Mary H. Ellis, Dan Morgan, Jeremy Price, Julian Slater
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Ron Bartlett, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, Mark Mangini, Mac Ruth
DUNKIRK Alex Gibson, Richard King, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Mark Weingarten
THE SHAPE OF WATER Christian Cooke, Nelson Ferreira, Glen Gauthier, Nathan Robitaille, Brad Zoern
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood
Will Win: Dunkirk
Should Win: The Shape of Water
Did Win: Dunkirk
I’d have given it to “Phantom Thread” for breakfast sound mixing! But with a British spin on the voting perhaps Nolan’s team will be given a few scraps off the table.
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Richard R. Hoover, Paul Lambert, Gerd Nefzer, John Nelson
DUNKIRK Paul Corbould, Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley
THE SHAPE OF WATER Dennis Berardi, Trey Harrell, Mike Hill, Kevin Scott
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Stephen Alpin, Chris Corbould, Ben Morris, Neal Scanlan
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri, Joel Whist
Will Win: Blade Runner 2049
Should Win: War for the Planet of the Apes
Did Win: Blade Runner 2049
I’d love “Apes” to pick up something, as it was one of my films of the year. But there is no denying the spectacle and artistry of the Blade Runner sequel.
EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
DANIEL KALUUYA
FLORENCE PUGH
JOSH O’CONNOR
TESSA THOMPSON
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET
Will Win: Timothée Chalamet
Should Win: Daniel Kaluuya
Did Win: Daniel Kaluuya
With the public voting, this one is such a lottery!
ANIMATED FILM
COCO Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson
LOVING VINCENT Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Ivan Mactaggart
MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE Claude Barras, Max Karli
Will Win: Coco
Should Win: Coco
Did Win: Coco
Now, I know I have only seen one of these films, and I know there is a lot of love for “Courgette” from many quarters, but I just LOVE LOVE LOVE “Coco”, so I’d be delighted to see this win.
And now… the roll of shame: the categories where unfortunately I haven’t seen a single film.
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
THE GHOUL Gareth Tunley (Writer/Director/Producer), Jack Healy Guttmann & Tom Meeten (Producers)
I AM NOT A WITCH Rungano Nyoni (Writer/Director), Emily Morgan (Producer)
JAWBONE Johnny Harris (Writer/Producer), Thomas Napper (Director)
KINGDOM OF US Lucy Cohen (Director)
LADY MACBETH Alice Birch (Writer), William Oldroyd (Director), Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (Producer)
Did Win: I am not a witch.
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ELLE Paul Verhoeven, Saïd Ben Saïd
FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER Angelina Jolie, Rithy Panh
THE HANDMAIDEN Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim
LOVELESS Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky
THE SALESMAN Asghar Farhadi, Alexandre Mallet-Guy
Did Win: The Handmaiden.
DOCUMENTARY
CITY OF GHOSTS Matthew Heineman
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO Raoul Peck
ICARUS Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan
AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk
JANE Brett Morgen, Bryan Burk
Did Win: I am not your Negro.
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
HAVE HEART Will Anderson
MAMOON Ben Steer
POLES APART Paloma Baeza, Ser En Low
Did Win: Poles Apart.
BRITISH SHORT FILM
AAMIR Vika Evdokimenko, Emma Stone, Oliver Shuster
COWBOY DAVE Colin O’Toole, Jonas Mortense
A DROWNING MAN Mahdi Fleifel, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Patrick Campbell
WORK Aneil Karia, Scott O’Donnell
WREN BOYS Harry Lighton, Sorcha Bacon, John Fitzpatrick
Did Win: Cowboy Dave.
