The BAFTA nominations came out today and at this point, we can really feel the Oscar race starting to pull together. In other years, I would say that the BAFTAs weren’t as much of an Oscar indicator, but looking through this year’s list, it does seem like many, many of these names will be called next Thursday for the Oscar nominations. I would say that list skews more to the Brits, but the Oscars probably will as well. Here are some of the big categories (you can see the complete list here at The Guardian):
Best film
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Carol
The Revenant
SpotlightBest director
Adam McKay, The Big Short
Steven Spielberg, Bridge of Spies
Todd Haynes, Carol
Ridley Scott, The Martian
Alejandro González Iñárritu, The RevenantBest actor
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Matt Damon, The Martian
Michael Fassbender, Steve JobsBest actress
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Brie Larson, Room
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Maggie Smith, The Lady in the Van
Saoirse Ronan, BrooklynBest supporting actor
Benicio del Toro, Sicario
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of SpiesBest supporting actress
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Julie Walters, Brooklyn
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Rooney Mara, CarolEE Rising Star
Bel Powley
Brie Larson
Dakota Johnson
John Boyega
Taron Egerton
Notable snubs: Jennifer Lawrence, Tom Hanks, Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Tom Hardy, anything and everything from Spectre (which sucked as a movie, but still, this is the BAFTAs), Johnny Depp, Danny Boyle, etc.
I can pick out my weak-link candidates in nearly every category, the candidates who/which I think are on the edge of not being recognized at the Oscars. Like, I think Bryan Cranston’s Trumbo nomination might be a little soft. The film hasn’t made a huge impact overall, but I am surprised that they went with Cranston and not Helen Mirren. And so much love for Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs… she was terrible in that film, the worst part. It’s good to see both Idris and Benicio in the supporting category, although I think the award will probably go to Mark Rylance – Rylance will probably sweep the awards, actually. Who do you think for Best Actress? Out of that group, I would say the BAFTA would go to Saoirse, actually. And the Rising Star Award? John Boyega!!!
Photos courtesy of WENN.
My predictions out of this lot are:
Best film – Bridge of Spies or Carol
Best director – Todd Haynes, Carol or Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant
Best actor – Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl or Matt Damon, The Martian
Best actress: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl or Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Best supporting actor – Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation or Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Best supporting actress – Julie Walters, Brooklyn
EE Rising Star – John Boyega
I pick Spotlight best film, but I haven’t seen Carol yet. Bridge of Spies is really, really good, but Spotlight is brilliant.
I have seen Carol and Bridge of Spies (not Spotlight) and I still pick Spotlight as best film. Carol was all gloss and no substance and Bridge of Spies was good, but old-fashioned.
I’m happy for John Boyega who I ADORE but I also feel like Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are constantly being snubbed at these events.
Jordan and Coogler don’t campaign.Warner doesn’t promote the movie for the awards.The movie will release next week in France and only Stalone seems to promote it
Warner has been so off their game this year.
Warner Bros has definitely been off their game. They didn’t push Mad Max for awards, it re-emerged because critics and guilds got behind it, much to the studio’s surprise.
It really looks like they thought Ron Howard’s whale movie was going to be their horse in the Oscars race. They moved it to December to position it and then, lo and behold, it flopped with both critics and audiences. Then they had to scramble late to promote Mad Max and Creed.
@Miss Grace Jones: I saw someone (Boyd Hilton, I think? He’s a film and TV critic in the UK) tweet that BAFTA members weren’t even sent copies of Creed, so none of them saw the film. Ergo no nominations. I assume that’s Warner Bros’ fault?
Has Creed even been released in Britain? They sometimes get US films much later than in the US and it can effect whether they qualify.
Creed was eligible for nominations. The fact it is not releasing to the public until January 15 in U.K. doesn’t matter. Spotlight and The Big Short are, in fact, releasing later in January than Creed and it didn’t seem to effect their nominations. Warner Bros dropped the ball by not sending out Creed screeners and Stallone (and Creed in general) did not get enough votes. Absolutely sucks.
I’m extremely disappointed Sly Stallone was not nominated. I’ve read that there was only one screening of Creed for BAFTA voters and Warner Bros did not send out screeners, either. They have completely dropped the ball on this one. Surely they could have upped the marketing budget and sent some screeners??? Instead, Creed gets zilch.
I finally saw Sicario….damn. So disturbing but amazing performances.
The rising star is interesting. Boyega is a good choice but watch out for Taron Edgerton. Or does 50 Shades have Twihards that will vote 60,000 times a piece for Johnson?
I liked Sicario a lot. But it’s a shame there is nothing For the – in my view- best film of 2015, Love and Mercy, in which Paul Dano, John Cusack, Paul Giamatti and Elizabeth Banks were all excellent.
I haven’t seen it yet but Dano has been getting some awards love from critics groups. He’s probably just outside the top 5 so not sure whether the Oscars will put him in but he’s close. That category is very competitive this year, much more than Best Actor which everyone has been calling weak.
+1 for Sicario. Benicio…wow. Definitely deserves recognition for Supporting Actor.
Woo, Bryan Cranston! And more of the lovely Saoirse Ronan.
Two noms for Alicia Vikander, kudos for the hustle.
I would’ve really liked to see Kristrn Stewart nominated, if only to see more of her campaign and the fallout from some of the crazy stand. Is missing out at the BAFTAs a reliable indicator for next week?
“kudos for the hustle.” Well that, and y’know, she was amazing in both films 😀
Was she, though? I have seen the Danish Girl and I wasn’t impressed at all. She was decent. Any actress with some talent could have pulled that off.
Oh, I’m not denying that at all, Armenthrowup!
I think I’m in the minority around here since I consider myself an Alicia fan, but I’m just really impressed by her consistent work load and ambition.
She’s managed to land one of those fortuitous years where all her projects come out at once and I applaud her for building on that momentum and not apologising for it 🙂
Bridge of Spies for the Best Film? In what universe?
I fell asleep at least three times while watching it. Spielberg has executed some stellar historical films over the years, but this was just boring. Bo-ring.
It is a very well-made movie and he is Spielberg
In your opinion. I found it very well executed, rather accurate in recreating the atmosphere of dread and paranoia, and the performances were stellar.
I really liked it too. And Mark Rylance was great in it.
I really liked it..the tone and look were great ,performances good and overall a very good ,a movie which you would be happy to watch again..I am not sure I could sit through the Revanant once,even for Tom Hardy.
Why don’t bears get nominated for best performance in action movie?
Because it is a fake bear.
I didn’t know you could get nominated in two categories?
For different movies/parts…
It’s happened several times at the AA – Sigourney Weaver, Emma Thompson, Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett, et al. Just have to be different categories as Ally8 said.
It happened to Julianne Moore last year for Still Alice and Maps to The Stars.
Out of the “Rising Star” category Bel Powley is the only one who gave a powerhouse performance, but she won’t win because of crazy Star Wars and 50 Shades stans.
Yeah, she was amazing! I also think Brie should get that if she doesn’t get the best actress award.
Eh I wasn’t really impressed with Brie at all. The kid in the movie was way better.
There is no way Brie is getting that. She is the best of the lot but she is not famous enough.
I thought Brie was amazing in Room but no one in the UK knows who she is.
If you thought Brie was the best you clearly didn’t see Diary of a Teenage Girl. Bel’s performance is heads and shoulders above the rest of them.
I saw both and I think they were both equally amazing.
This award usually goes to a British nominee, since it’s been voted for by the British public. My money is on John Boyega or Bel Powley.
I’m shocked that Carey Mulligan and Emily Blunt were snubbed. They both gave excellent performances. Tom Hardy deserved a nod as well.
I seriously don’t get the Carol hype. It wasn’t that extraordinary and neither was Bridge of Spies.
the Bafta voting is carried out by Bafta members not the public but they do tend to support UK productions /actors etc
The Rising Star Award was voted by public in the past, it’s the only one in the Bafta that was. I suppose it still is this year.
Hey! I loved Spectre! Christoph Waltz rocked it!
In my opinion, Christoph Waltz was the hammiest ham of all time in Spectre. Dreadful performance. And I hated the fact that, once again, James Bond ends up with a girl half his age at the end.
J-Law not getting any noms is not a shock.
The movie hot seriously mixed review´s- if not bad. not shocking at all.
She can only play a slight version of herself over and over before people start to realize she’s not the big of a deal (that’s just my opinion, though) so I’m not shocked and kinda glad she isn’t nominated for anything.
The film has no buzz – so no noms for J-Law, and besides she’s been awarded plenty. But I don’t get the idea that she only plays a ‘slight version of herself’ – how is Katniss Everdeen as a character anything like Lawrence herself in person? And her characters in Winter’s Bone and American Hustle couldn’t be more far apart if you tried.
@ Missmerry
Exactly. She plays a version of herself over and over. She’s good at the thing she does but she lacks range (Christopher Walken is another one – some people can build solid careers out of their trademark acting style). She’s got charisma, comes across very natural, and demonstrates a pretty decent emotional range. But she’s not doing accents, or wearing costumes and prosthetics. The range isn’t there. Maybe one day she’ll make that leap, but she doesn’t deserve award noms for the same performance over and over.
Sicaro is awesome, really happy for Del Toro.
I can’t wait to see this. He’s been one of my faves from way, way back.
Sicario was awesome but extremely disturbing and so difficult to watch.
Glad that Matt Damon got a nod. My husband dragged me to see “The Martian” (probably as payback for “Gone Girl”) and it was wonderful, I loved it. By the end of the film, I was crying, my husband was crying, and the guy next to me was crying into his third beer. It was a wonderful mixture of escapism, laughter, adventure, suspense, but in a way that wasn’t overdone or campy. It was a movie that was pure escapism, which is what I always assumed was one of the points of cinema.
Wish 45 years and Charlotte Rampling got some love – fantastic movie and power performance
ME TOO!!! So bummed that she didn’t get a nod.
THIS
45 years was nominated for Best British film so they clearly saw it which is even more shocking.
I’m not a fan of Winslet but I thought she was really terric in Steve Jobs. Her accent was “all over the place” because her character was from Poland but grew up surrounded by many different cultures, thus informing her very mixed accent.
I think the criticisms of Winslet’s accent work in Steve Jobs had to do with the fact that the accent was generally heavier in scenes depicting a later period in Hoffman’s life. I cannot understand how anyone could find her miscast in the film, though. I thought she was excellent.
Ugh, Matt Damon does not deserve an Oscar nod. I hope the Oscar and SAG nominees for best actor match.
I agree, i was actually surprised at the lack of scenes where his character is emotional being on Mars. I thought it would be a much more emotionally-charged role given the guys situation. (spoilers) He had a small freakout like once, then he was just being badass and surviving…but the acting doesn’t deserve an award IMO.
But that’s exactly how an astronaut would react, they are trained to do the job and go through tons of exercises in chaotic situations to ensure they keep their cool. I thought the movie was great and Damon’s portrayal was on point.
Damon did a great job. Sometimes the best performances are the most naturalistic ones. I believed that he was an astronaut with his particular background and that’s what made his performance work.
I was rooting for “Bridge of Spies” and “The Big Short”. Not many people talked about those but they are my kind of movies. “Spotlight” as well, but I think it was a shoe in.
Surprisingly the supporting actor field looks much stronger than the lead actor. I can’t even choose who I want to win in the supporting actor. I love them all
For the leading Leo is my guy and Alicia for the actress.
Totally agree about “The Big Short.” That is a must see film for everyone, and it’s shockingly entertaining given the topic. I also appreciated the tone of the film and how they handled explaining terms and concepts not familiar to most of the audience. Must see.
As for “Spotlight,” I want to see it but haven’t yet been able to bring myself to go see a film involving child abuse and “the church.” Just how deep and dark are we talking? I want to be informed about our world, but I have to be in a certain frame of mind before seeing movies on certain kinds of topics.
You can read reviews for “Spotlight” on imdb to get an idea, it does go into details. It is not for everyone. For this reason I doubt it would get Best Picture . It is too disturbing.
“The Big Short” Margot Robbie in a bubble bath, drinking champagne, while she explains sub-prime loans. Brilliant!
Spotlight is a disturbing film but no, it does not go into the details of any of the assaults. Instead, it focuses on the cover-up and the numbers and the sleazy people all around, including some of the so-called victims’s advocates. But mostly, it focuses on the reporters and what they go through, and the ethical decisions they have to make, to get a story. Ruffalo seems to be garnering most of the attention, but the whole cast is good, especially Keaton, even though the accents are laughable. I found it to be one of the better films I saw this year (top 5) and I’m from Boston and have met and had to deal with on a professional level several of the individuals portrayed.
The Big Short is one of the best films released this year. It deserves all the kudos it’s getting.
Glad to see Sicario got recognized as well.
+1
I didn’t watch many fav of awards ( because they yet are not released in France) but Sicario and The Big Short are my 2 movies of the 2015
And is Tom Hanks really a “snub” at this point? He didn’t get SAG, GG, BFCA nominations. It’s pretty obvious he’s not in the race.
Kaiser, i know you ‘re always surprised at each nomination Kate Winslet have for Steve Jobs. But really many people actually thought she was the MVP of the movie, the human anchor so there is nothing surprising there. On those awards prédictions sites, some people actually say she’ s actually the only locked for her catégorie, because Mara and Vikander- dor the Danish girl could actually be both nominated for Leading. I am diss appontes for Ramplîg though.
I have clear favorites in every category except BS Actor. I want a five way tie in that one. I love BDT, but MR was sublime in Bridge and all the others were wonderful in their roles. At the end though, I think Rylance will take it.
I’m rooting for Saoirse, personally.
But I did see Room and Larsen was just heartbreaking in it (and the boy who played the son also blew me away)
I have no idea how Vikander can be nominated as lead for the Danish Girl while Mara only gets a Best Supporting nod.
The absence of Rampling is a disgrace – best performance this year, by a country mile. And she’s a Brit as well!
I just Carol and I don’t see how Rooney can be classed as a supporting role, she was on the screen just as much as Blanchett.
I adore Charlotte Rampling, and totally missed anything about 45 years. Boo on her not getting a nom. I think Brie Larson is a very good actress. For those of you underwhelmed by Room, check her out in Short Term Twelve. That is a great film which is so painfully true to life that it comes close to being a documentary.
I hope Boyega and Saroise wins!
Very very hard day for a Mad Max stan. Looks like we are back to movies being considered that fit a mold.
So damn happy for Vikander though. Come through!!
Mad Max got 7 noms, which was high, but all craft/tech categories. BAFTA is in some ways more conservative than AMPAS now. They used to go their own way but they’ve become more concerned with trying to ape the Oscars in the last few years. And they’re very ‘genre’ averse. They didn’t nominate Mad Max or The Martian for BP, and Ridley Scott only made it in for sentimental/patriotic reasons. I expect both films to be nominated for BP at the Oscars because they go up to 10, not just 5.
Ignoring George Miller is the big beef for me, more so than the movie. Such a bold directorial achievement from him. I’m annoyed that they went with Spielberg when Bridge of Spies was so formulaic and nowhere near his best work. Crossing my fingers that Miller makes it in at the Oscars!
BRIE LARSON for Room. All the way, I wish her young co-star Jacob Trembley were nominated too.
ditto about Tremblay
For me, Tremblay was the movie. That little boy was everything.
These awards shows are meaningless, that’s why viewership is low. People know that money talks and not talent. Most of the people and pictures that have been nominated, although entertaining to watch are not award worthy at all. That’s why lll just watch the pre show, to see the pretty dresses because the rest is a farce.
LUX – yes I agree!
I hope Taron Egerton wins the rising star category. He was simply amazing in KINGSMAN: SECRET SERVICE.
And in terms of a showier role, his role *was* much better than John Boyega’s role.
John Boyega barely does anything in STAR WARS compared to Taron Egerton in KINGSMAN and LEGEND.
Best Actress Saoirse Ronan? no way…seen it and she was good but in no way the best.
From that list it will go to Vikander or Larson for sure.
Agree. One of those two will likely get it.
I’m shocked that Rampling didn’t get nominated and that Dakota Johnson got nominated for Rising Star. WTF??
They love Brooklyn.Saoirse is going to win. Vikander or Mara,if they want to reward Carol,will win for best supporting actress.
i just don’t get how on earth alicia vikander has been nominated twice (for different films i know, but still!) and charlotte rampling didn’t even get a nomination. smh, it just seems so sexist and ageist.
and this isn’t a knock on alicia btw,i like her and she deserves to be nominated, but not for both films.
Charlotte Rampling doesn’t get a nom and Alicia Vikander gets two? I guess hype and hustle are everything. I thought that at least BAFTA is above it.
Everyone has to hustle. They have to show they want the award and they care. The judges are people and they are susceptible to flattery, attention and public opinion just like everyone else.
45 years was nominated for best British film I think so they definitely saw her and made the outright decision not to nominate her. That was a snub, they had no reason not to nominate her.
Alicia has been nominated for 13 critic award for the Danish Girl this season and won 10 critic awards (including LAFCA) for Ex Machina and been nominated for 12 other critic awards for Ex Machina so it’s not purely hustle, critics actually think she’s good.
@Dani2 ^This. I think her double nods are also due to category confusion,but Ex Machina is a real surprise because,while A24 has put everything in the Room campaign,it has done incredibly well at the guilds and seems pretty locked in Original Screenplay.There’s a lot of support for Garland and Vikander from critics and industry. The Danish Girl has a strong studio like Focus and it has also scored five nods,so her lead nod is not suprising at all.
Two for Vikander and none for Rampling? Who’s pushing that girl? Seriously. I’ve seen everyhting she’s in and she’s overrated. Any decent actress would’ve pulled off her roles.
Can we please stop calling every omission/failure to get nominated a “snub”? There’s limited slots and obviously not everyone can, should, or will be recognized. That’s not a snub – which is tied to intent – it’s just basic math.
Amen. I hate that tabloid-ish term. People at this stage vote for something, not against it. No one was snubbed, they just missed out.
Boyega! Idris!
Hope Ex Machina gets best screenplay!
uh oh, second snub for Johnny Depp. Amanda Heard’s chance to go to the Oscars is slipping….
He still got SAG and Critics’ Choice nominations. SAG and Oscar voters overlap so hopefully he’ll be nominated.
Everybody is tired of Jennifer Lawrence (and may I add Bradley Cooper too). I mean, she’s great, but it gets tiresome to see her everywhere year after year, of course that now that the Hunger Games is over we’ll probably see her less.
I hope John Boyega wins the rising star and Alicia Vikander in at least one category.