Nathaniel: Hey, kids. It's probably not sane to "tape-delay" blog the BAFTAs -- you probably already know who one, actually -- but this blog isn't exactly of sound mind during awards season (or, ahem, otherwise). I haven't heard about the winners yet. The second I opened a browser I sensed spoilers from all corners so I had to look away. Why doesn't the BBC-America broadcast it live? It's not like anyone who cares wouldn't watch it in the afternoon on a Sunday. But if you've already heard who won on the internet wouldn't that cut down your desire to tune in and thus lower the ratings? I don't get it. So that they could rerun broadcass of nature documentary Life of Mammals? I don't really care about the sharpness of a squirrel's front teeth or how kangaroo rats (omg. idon'tevenknow whatthoseare and I DON'T WANT TO KNOW) store their seeds. Especially not when movie stars are afoot. Someone get me a BBC executive on the phone!I've also invited txtcritic, who liveblogged the SAGs for me when I was at Sundance, to join me for this event.
"I was hoping for a bigger laugh"
txtcritic: this is already dreadful.
Nathaniel: Whenever they do these collages of best moments from the year, why are they always the films that aren't nominated that get all the time? If they're so great, nominate them!
txtcritic: because clearly the most memorable movie moments of the year were featured in "Nine," "The Men Who Stare at Goats," "The Boat That Rocked" and "Coco Before Chanel."
txtcritic: Yaaaaay! "Moon" finally wins something!
Colin Firth presents an early award to Duncan JonesNathaniel: And that'd be the Best Debut Something Or Other. That's actually the title of the category. It was very schizo. The internet film community has been rooting for David Bowie's little boy all grown up (writer/director Duncan Jones) all year so a million facebook statuses just changed simultaneously.
I'm guessing.
txtcritic: If they play this "I See You" song every time "Avatar" wins an award tonight, I might not make it through the evening. Christ almighty.
Nathaniel: Sixty percent of the people in my apartment watching this awards show right now have NOT seen this movie yet. Where am I? Who am I?
txtcritic: They're showing clips from behind-the-scenes of "Avatar," and watching Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana having to seriously act with emotions while wearing these contraptions and dots all over themselves makes me genuinely impressed that they can get a line of dialogue out without cracking up.
txtcritic: Okay, I'll say it: Christoph Waltz is super eloquent, but I have trouble staying awake through his sentences.Nathaniel: But they aren't run on sentences. Suck it up, man. I'm actually so impressed that he keeps coming up with new things to say. Remember when Jamie Foxx gave the same exact speech "My Grandma! RESPONSE AND CALL" 27 times in 2004/2005
Costume Design goes to Sandy Powell for The Young Victoria. I just interviewed her and I'll share more of that very soon.
Matthew So-Goode is on screen. Everyone just gasped. The Young Victoria took makeup.
txtcritic: well, judging by how the evening is going so far, "The Young Victoria" is clearly going to win Picture, Director, Actress, Editing, Adapted Screenplay and Visual Effects.
Nathaniel: Mo'Nique takes Supporting Actress. Weirdly Matt Dillon, who must not have been paying attention during this awards season, had to look at a card to introduce Lee Daniels, the director. He accepted for her. We're not sure why since he said virtually nothing other than making a joke about The Hurt Locker not having actresses in it.
Rupert Everett is announcing "Best British Film" . I don't care what anyone says -- including people in this room -- I love him. Even if you think he's an egotistical ass in interviews, at least he gives good quote. Down with celebrities who don't have anything quotable to say!
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Rupert looking good after some weird face moments last year.With both he and Colin Firth there it's like an Another Country reunion. Wow... the prize went to Fish Tank.
txtcritic: Ew, "Fish Tank." This should've been "In the Loop," by far. I honestly don't get what the appeal of "Fish Tank" is. It's just another familiar slice-of-horrible-life movie that doesn't say anything new or engaging. Please explain it to me.
Nathaniel: I can't because my screener was damaged. I need to buy a ticket. Also: I want to go back to something you said to me about Colin Firth. That A Single Man was to him what Rachel Getting Married was to Anne Hathaway: a movie that made you reconsider and totally love the actor in question who you didn't care about before. I'd love to hear which actors that the readers have had this experience with. TELL US.txtcritic: the Orange Rising Start award, voted by *shudder* the public. I find it disturbing that Nicholas Hoult was nominated for one of the worst performances of last year -- he was basically auditioning to be a Ken doll. This will likely be Carey Mulligan, but deserves to be Tahar Rahim, who is unbelivable in "A Prophet." Jesse Eisenberg is adorable, but he's been "rising" for years now. Ew, gross, Kristin Stewart. I mean, I totally love and support her rocker-chick-aloof-lesbianism thing (even if she won't officially come out), but come the fuck on. I just looked at her IMDb filmography and she hasn't given ONE performance I would describe as better than serviceable.
Nathaniel: I've never heard the lesbian rumor. For her sake, I hope she IS a lesbian. At least that would make one interesting thing about her. I know I bag on Kristen a lot but I will say that the first time I've (almost) enjoyed her in a movie was in The Runaways in which she was playing a lesbian. Weirdly, she managed not to run her fingers through her hair. In other words: she should always wear wigs for future performances. For her that'd be like when people wear nasty tasting nail polish to stop the biting.txtcritic: "Up in the Air" just won Best Adapted Screenplay, deservedly. Did the supposed Sheldon Turner / Jason Reitman feud flare up again? What in the hell is Reitman doing missing at these awards? What else is he doing?
Nathaniel: Maybe he's consoling Walter Kirn?
txtcritic: Walter Kirn is such a whiny bitch.
Nathaniel: "Experience the magic of Celtic Thunder." That might be the most amazing commercial I've ever seen. Hand me my phone and credit card.
Carey Mulligan, devoured by print fabricsNathaniel: A Prophet just won Best Foreign Film. Carey Mulligan, the presenter, seemed very happy about that win. txtcritic was also thrilled. Jacques Audiard had the BEST translator ever. She was hilarious. Translation with comic timing and attitude. What do we think is going to happen with Carey Mulligan? career-wise ... not Shia Labeouf wise.
Clive Owen, presenting Best Director, was just described as "smoother than a waxed otter". Um...I'm trying to remember what Clive Owen looks like naked to decide if Jonathan Ross knows of what he speaks but I'm drawing a blank. Something is very wrong with me. I used to watch Close My Eyes on loop in college. Where has my memory gone?
Now Best Director goes to Kathryn Bigelow. We have no idea what her acceptance speech was. Especially the end.
And I just would like to dedicate this to never abandoning the need to find a resolution for peace.Were those English sentences. No sense can be made of them.
UMA ALERT! --->You know you're too far into awards season when you get the church giggles about microphone placement. But in our defense, UMA's breasts are so memorable that one always notices them.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship Award goes to Vanessa Redgrave. She is A-MAZ-ING. But you know, she's even less comprehensible than Kathryn Bigelow. Bizarrely incoherent, and I believe it approximated about 60% of the show. It ends with some sort of Shakespeare parallels.
txtcritic: I don't remember Shakespeare's Rosalind thanking the BAFTAs...
Nathaniel: Colin Firth wins Best Actor. He really was marvelous in A Single Man as many readers seem to agree (see the Best Actor poll)
Nathaniel: Mr. Mickey Rourke to present Best Actress. "Do you want this bareback or with a raincoat" WTF
txtcritic: AMAZING. Mickey Rourke just threatened to cum inside whoever wins Best Actress....and it's the wildly overrated Carey Mulligan. Thankfully Ms. Bullock wasn't nominated. The adorable, young, pretty, pixieish waif will be the one taking the Rourke load.
Nathaniel: Vile. This is a PG rated blog. PG-13 when we let loose. How is Carey "wildly overrated" when Sandra Bullock exists?
txtcritic: Because, even though she's winning undeserved awards, nobody is shouting ejaculatory praise about Ms. Bullock. Meanwhile, people are raving about Mulligan's "transcendant," "maginificent," "star-is-born" performance as if it's more than her just being adorable, and male critics wanting to screw her.
Nathaniel: male critics and Mickey Rourke apparently.
Nathaniel: On to Best Picture with Dustin Hoffman presenting. Did we like him in Last Chance Harvey? Readers?
txtcritic: I liked him quite a bit in that charming-if-forgettable movie. "The Hurt Locker" wins, and Mark Boal just called his earlier speech "uncharacteristically inarticulate." Arrogant much? Either way, Boal and Bigelow make an extremely hot/sexy "we can't announce we're official until after awards season is over" couple.
Nathaniel: There's a reason we keep calling it The Sexy Locker.
That Oscar for Best Picture is looking more and more secure. At this point, it doesn't feel like a two horse race to me. But some other sports metaphor. What?
BAFTA is over anyway. What did y'all think of the show?
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Posts
78 comments:
Anonymous British man has already jumped the shark as host. And I'm already tired of montages... and the first one just started.
Just wait.. he gets much worse!
Dustin Hoffman one minute into the awards shooting a look of weary contempt at ABM (Anonymous British Man) makes me think that this is going to be a long night. But on the bright side, hey Moon won! And the director looked genuinely touched!
Look on the bright side, the Oscar have to be better than this. Even if Corky Sinclair is directing and choreographing them this year.
Pardon, that's Corky St. Clair.
Why don't the BAFTAs have musical numbers?
i heard meryl wins.along with jeff.
I think what Lee Daniels said was a little offensive. Doesn't that mean Anna Kendrick or Vera Farmiga were definite losers, but if there were a girl in The Hurt Locker she would be the only one who could beat Mo'Nique? Really?
Lol, Ilove it that for once I know something about awards that Nathaniel does not. This will be surreal!
I hope James Cameron take some of his millions and buys his wife a sandwich. The poor thing is soooo thin.
Maybe it's because I just saw Bad Lieutenant tonight, but for "a movie that made you reconsider and totally love the actor in question who you didn't care about before" I'm going to go with Brad Dourif. In the screening I saw, people would cheer when he popped up.
Believe it or not, they didn't broadcast it live here in the UK either. They usually do -- clearly the BBC just doesn't give a crap anymore. It's embarrassing.
I actually loved the place where the ceremony took place. I don't know if it's the same one every year but it was beautiful.
And Mulligan's dress was a huge improvement.
Oh god, I loved Audiard's translator. She was high as a kite.
I cannot believe the praise The Hurt Locker is garnering.
Jason Reitman was in Los Angeles accepting the WGA for Up In The Air while Turner decided to go to the BAFTAs...
Also Mark Boal was at the WGA last night as well but he must have gotten on a private jet or something because the La--Heathrow is not an easy flight, especially if you have somewhere to be in less than 24 hrs.
Although I liked The Hurt Locker, I don't think it deserves any screenplay win. The film's strenghts just weren't there.
And Carey Mulligan is not over rated, it seems like she's being forgotten by now. And to think that she was the frontrunner for a while last year... I'm glad she won :)
I used to not care for Scarlett Johansson. But then I hear her albums, both of which are amazing, I think. And I saw Match Point! Yay for Jo!
The beauty of Fish Tank is not what it has to say necessarily, but rather how it goes about saying it.
I'd say George Clooney in Michael Clayton... never liked him before... But he was awesome in it and I liked him in Up in the Air a lot too... I'd say the same for Penélope Cruz and Volver...
I'm glad for Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan. Out of what was nominated they are the deserving winners.
And Vanessa Redgrave.
penelope cruz in VOLVER fits into the list where I didn't care for her at all until that magical almodovar meeting. even though she worked with him previously ;)
LOL did Mickey say that?
OMG I love him, ugh I didn't catch that when I saw the show earlier today, all I got were mumbles and weird noises (evil streaming!) until he said "Carey Mulligan".
I'm thrilled she won, especially because she's a million times better than her competition, including Streep.
txtcritic, ignore Nathaniel. :p
I'm loving this style.
So, Stewart is a lesbian and Bigelow and Boal are together? Juicy!
Yes, Mulligan's performance is a bit overrated but she was very good.
Penélope Cruz and Volver are the actress and movie that made me reconsider and completly fall in love with her.
At one point I sugested that every single movie that Penélope Cruz spoke english should have a WARNING sign. That's how much I hated her.
But after Almodovar worked his magic with her all I have for her is love. All her previous crimes to the english language are forgiven (except Sahara, that is simply unforgivable!).
"Did we like him in Last Chance Harvey?"
I haven't seen the movie yet but it's kind of sad that you have to ask this question. It's a 2008 movie. He should have made another film by now. Hollywood is forgetting all about him :(
"Because, even though she's winning undeserved awards, nobody is shouting ejaculatory praise about Ms. Bullock. Meanwhile, people are raving about Mulligan's "transcendant," "maginificent," "star-is-born" performance as if it's more than her just being adorable, and male critics wanting to screw her"
I need to quote that somewhere. Thank you, TxtCritic.
I second the Penelope/Pedro combo. Now she's unstoppable. I also might add Natalie Portman in "Closer" and Ashley Judd in "Bug." Two actresses that bored me to tears before, now often the best thing in their respective films.
wait, so are Boal and Bigelow a couple?
Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan finally win some deserved hardware for their amazing performances! They'll be dismissed as home court advantage, but screw 'em, those wins were earned, and they'd make excellent Oscar winners too if that were possible in some alternate universe.
Don't know what the hell Vanessa Redgrave was rambling on about for 30 minutes, but it's about time she received the Fellowship, so kudos to her.
And Jonathan Ross bit the big one as host tonight. Damn! Get back Stephen Fry already. That was ridiculous. There's a reason why no one was laughing at your lame jokes, and begging for laughs is pathetic.
Next stop, the Spirits and the Oscars!
Mickey Rourke is ridiculous. I'm glad that Sean Penn beat him for the Oscar.
THE HURT LOCKER!!!! YAY! OSCARS NEXT!!!
I just saw The Hurt Locker on the big screen again tonight, while all this was happening. Quite a brilliant film; I think I respected it even more the second time. It's not a film I can L-O-V-E like some, and it's not exactly a fun sit, but damn it's good. And very academy, to boot.
I actually think it may well take the Pic/Dir/Screenplay/Editing quad, with Avatar taking both sounds and the three visual awards. Tarantino already has a screenplay oscar.
I just wanted to say to txtcritic that the oft-repeated "the only people who think Carrie Mulligan is good are straight men who want to screw her" mantra is super, super annoying to this gay man who thinks that hers was far and away the best of the shortlisted performances (obviously it doesn't compare to Tilda's, but what does?). I have no problem with people maligning my taste, but at least don't assign false motives. If I were the only non-hetero man who liked the performance it would be one thing, but that just doesn't seem to be the case. PLEASE put this lame argument to rest.
On your Actors/Actress you automatically loved after one performance, two spring to mind.
Michael Sheen in "The Queen" is the first. I had seen him in small supporting parts, but honestly never cared much for him. In that film he had such energy and insecurity, with a fantastic smile.
The other would be Mark Ruffalo in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," which I know is an odd one. However, when it was released I hadn't seen "You Can Count on Me" and there was something marvelously subtle and wounded about his supporting turn that really made me adore him.
Reconsidering an actor? Laura Linney, who I always found dull, became one of my favorite actresses in 2007, thanks primarily to -- if you can believe it -- The Nanny Diaries. That's when I realized she's not dull, just very, very realistic. This was further cemented when I eventually saw The Savages.
Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road...but we are yet to see if that pans out.
"Jason Reitman was in Los Angeles accepting the WGA for Up In The Air while Turner decided to go to the BAFTAs..."
This makes sense, until I realized (a) Boal was at the WGA awards as well and made it to the BAFTAs, and (b) the BAFTAs snubbed Reitman for director. Methinks he was just bitter.
"I just wanted to say to txtcritic that the oft-repeated "the only people who think Carrie Mulligan is good are straight men who want to screw her" mantra is super, super annoying to this gay man who thinks that hers was far and away the best of the shortlisted performances"
I didn't say they're the ONLY people. I totally could see why people find this good/charming performance great. But I think the "I want to fuck that young, pretty girl" factor is what's created this huge groundswell of support for her from the male critical community
Reitman just didn't want to be in the same room with Turner if he didn't have to be.
What precisely did Rourke say? It seems tawdry to ask, and I might quickly wish that I hadn't, but now I'm intrigued.
Dear txtcritic,
You are my favorite. Please keep on keepin on.
Yours truly,
Alex Barbatsis
aka bbats
Regarding Nat's question I was going to say "Penelope in Volver" but that's been well and truly covered. So I'll say Laura Linney in "You Can Count on Me". And, in all honesty, Nicole Kidman in MR & The Hours (and the Others, but I think I saw that after and because of The Hours.)
What happened to any awards love for Gabby Sidibe, I ask? So, she's young but not white, thin and cute so she doesn't even get invited to these things as a presenter much less an awardee?
well Janice, she has been showing up.
but yeah, someone could ask her to present something.
Yes they could, couldn't they? She's got a sparkling personality, if her talk show appearances have been anything to judge by.
Is it just me, or was Kristen Stewart's acceptance speech just the most surly and ungracious moment in any recent awards show? Don't get me wrong, I'd probably feel self-conscious and weird about all the palaver too, but you'd think she could manage a little better than that why-am-I-here attitude - like paying the other (more deserving) nominees a bit more than lip-service.
What precisely did Rourke say? It seems tawdry to ask, and I might quickly wish that I hadn't, but now I'm intrigued.
He walked to the podium and started to read from the teleprompter, but he didn't have his glasses. He said, "Fuck, I can't read that." As he was reading the teleprompter, he said that it was going too fast for him to read it. Then I think before the clip ran or before he announced the winner, he said, "Do I do this bareback or with a raincoat?" So yeah, Mickey Rourke being his usual scuzzy self. That man's a walking STD if I've ever seen one.
The BAFTAs are mainly just an embarrassing hand-job for Hollywood money any way - nominating almost exactly the same people as all the American precursors with one or two extra British enties thrown in. You can't imagine any other countries prostituting their national film awards to American product quite so shamelessly. The French would riot! Literally the only worthwhile thing during the whole evening was Vanessa Redgrave's tearful, incoherent rambling speech, touching on her own roots as an actress and her first uncomprehending contact with cinema. Linearity be damned! Even Uma was holding back tears.
I was just reading the comments and about to pretty much type the same thing Laika...
Give a 77 year old legend a break - it was heartfelt and as with Kristin Scott Thomas, her face is pure goldust.
Yep, the Baftas have been licking the Oscars arse far too much lately and the great Stephen Fry should return as host but at least they treat their legends a little better...
they would get just as much flak for only rewarding their own too. there's really no pleasing some people.
I just read this tape-delayed blogging and I want txtcritic to shut up. Gotta love Carey Mulligan.
I expect a better co-host with better taste on acting when Oscar comes.
Anyway, if the American voters can't decide between Sandra and Meryl and the Bafta voters rally after Carey (Mirren is not game, sorry), we'll have an upset!
but why should the Baftas nominate and award only british films? if american films are better, then those should be rewarded. The same goes for British films.
And I think the Baftas support their own films enough (Carey Mulligan and Colin Firth winning, when they are not the front runners)
I fell completely in love with Anna Faris after seeing Smiley Face. That performance alone made everything she did before so so much better and more hilarious, Lost in Translation and Brokeback Mountain obviously, but also her Scary Movie performances.
And Kirsten Dunst in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and then Marie Antoinette!
Mmmh, she's one of the greatest actresses for me now.
Oh yeah!
Carey's dress was a huge "oh dear" moment.
There are too many Adams on here. Fo' realz, can't y'all get some more creative names ;)
I'm so glad txtcritic explained Mr. Rourke's comments to me. Definitely up there with "I have a dream."
And cut Vanessa Redgrave some slack, people! She made sense so long as you stuck with her. Just took her a little extra time-- not unlike most old folks with most things. At least she didn't express "the need to find a resolution for peace." Does K. Biggs worry that no more conflicts would give her nothing to make movies about? Or maybe that was her way of saying she actually wants to rip James Macaroon's lesbo hairs out and rub them in the skeletor face of his frizzy new wife every time she bests him at one of these events.
Overall, a dreadful telecast. This live-not-really-blogging was far more entertaining than anything on the show.
@Jacob Lives: Thanks for that! I knew I probably shouldn't have asked.
@Cal Roth, if I may be so bold: Given the remarkably free rein you so often give to your own vitriol in these comments, it's remarkable to me that you feel you're in a position to "expect" anything. You do know, don't you, that there are better ways of cajoling people to share your point of view or to broadcast your own wishes or preferences than to be so nasty?
@Txtcritic and @Nathaniel: Thanks for doing this!
I've been watching clips on youtube and I've got a pet peeve.
When you enter the word BAFTA on youtube you get lots and lots of results for Kristen Stewart's speech. Nothing against her, I'm sure it was heartfelt and all that. But to all her fans, is it really necessary to upload exactly the same clip endelessly? Isn't it a way of "contaminating" the internet with what in the end works as spam? Will that cause some global internet warming soon? Do people ever de-upload their videos? Or could just one in five years from now find a clip with Viggo dying as lonely and as forgotten as his movie?
All right, I'm rambling and getting myself depressed.
On a more lighter note, I found the voice of the woman speaker annnouncing the nominees was so sexy, the way she pronounced Up ... disturbed me. Maybe Mickey Rourke found it too, and so his remark. Ok, now thinking I might share the same thoughts with Mickey Rourke is even more depressing.
I'll shut up now.
"but why should the Baftas nominate and award only british films? if american films are better, then those should be rewarded. The same goes for British films" - Clover
The simple answer would be - because it's the British Academy. There are already a mighty phalanx of American awards bodies that have rewarded The Hurt Locker et al, over and over again, in preparation for the Oscars to do exactly the same thing. I'd argue that 'Fish Tank' and 'In the Loop' are perfectly good enough to compete on their own terms, rather than getting shunted off into their own 'best local produce' cul-de-sac. I'd certainly argue that the British Academy giving them short shrift in favour of another nomination for bloody 'Up in the Air' - a nomination I doubt even Anna Kendrick's mum cares about - makes the BAFTAs seem irrelevant (they don't have their own opinions) and desperate (they want some American glamour and populist appeal). Ask yourself this, Clover - if the BAFTAs genuinely want to celebrate the best movies of the year, regardless of nationality, where were the French and Spanish and Swedish movies? Shunted into their little foreign-language cul-de-sac, of course. There is no reason that 'Let the Right One In', 'The White Ribbon', 'A Prophet' or 'Broken Embraces' shouldn't be competing in the main category if BAFTA doesn't limit itself to British films. But somehow, the best of the year just coincidentally featured four American films, and one British film that has had a lot of precursor success in the States. Funny, that.
Gosh - I ended up ranting a bit. Sorry, folks.
So happy about Colin Firth's win. I'm sad he has no shot at the Oscar, because he was a revelation in A Single Man, but nothing can stop Bad Blake.
And how refreshing to see someone other than Meryl Streep or Sandra Bullock win a Best Actress award! I love Meryl, but didn't go crazy over her work in Julie & Julia, and primarily support her for the Oscar win because the alternative is so much worse. In two weeks, Sandra Bullock will likely be an Oscar winner for nothing more than a competent performance, while Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Glenn Close and Julianne Moore will not be.
I never thought I'd see the day.
The BAFTAs have never proclaimed to be a beacon for recognizing world cinema beyond their foreign language category (same for the Oscars), so that point's a wash. And at the end of the day, it's their award to do with what they damn well please. If they want to be an offshoot of the Oscars, let em. They could actually think that those films were the best films of the year too. I guess they could have put up "A Single Man" and "Harry Potter" and "Moon" into best picture just to be doing something. "Look how BRITISHY we're being! Screw the Yankees! We're making a statement here!" But they wanted to be in the Oscars conversation instead, hence lavishing awards on "The Hurt Locker," "Avatar", "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious," "Up in the Air," etc. That's the way the game is played, and if they want to operate that way, that's their choice. You'll just have to grin and bear it or not follow their awards if you're that outraged about it.
after seeing The Squid and the Whale, I couldn't stop wondering why Jeff Daniels doesn't get more meaty roles, and why I hadn't thought about him in years.
"Nathaniel: I've never heard the lesbian rumor. For her sake, I hope she IS a lesbian."
I reckon K-Stew is bisexual, plus she has a secret crush on Dakota. ;-)
I think I was generally pleased with the wins, maybe because it was refreshing to see different winners (not to mention the fact that Bullock wasn't even nominated). Still, though a little disappointed that EVERY ASSOCIATION dismissed Bright Star which I'm dying to watch.
@Nick
I don't think that was a smart comment, to say other people are not smart enough to know what they are thinking - they were only wanting to screw her. Come on: that's like saying your reader is stupid.
That was not the first time some guy say Carey Mulligan is overrated, and you don't see me here everytime being rude because I don't agree with that notion.
So, I think you only see me here when I'm upset? And I post here a lot!
I Love Carey Mulligana and Colin Firth so much, therefore i am so happy they won. Alo i am really happy The Hurt Locker won more than Avatar, haha, but it does deserve to anyway. I live in britain and find itso annoying that the host, Jonothan Ross, was so poor and not on his usual funny preseting. Fish Tank deserved Best Britsh Film; you really have to be british to truly understand the film. Un Prophete to win the Oscar, love everything about the film. Tragedy of the night was when Kristen Stewertwon the rising star, clearly the keast deserving out of all of them!
Ikey, that's a pretty poor argument - of course we can complain about the sameyness of the precursor season...yes, they can play the game - doesn't mean we have to like it and any debate on the subject can only be a good thing.
I'm sure they did like these films but did they really make much effort to watch some of the smaller gems?
Furthermore both foreign films and auteurs were much more recognised a couple of decades ago...
Those rising star awards are plain silly - never trust the public!
Can someone please lie to me and say that the Firth and Mulligan wins have an influence on the Oscars? I'm so tired of the complete lack of suspense. And why is poor Gabby not even being talked about for Best Actress?
Bryan, these wins will prove very influential for Oscar!!! [/lying]
IN BRUGES made me reconsider Colin Farrell and helped purge my brain of the sex-tape scenes...
No it isn't Burning Reels. That was straight up whining about the BAFTA's being too "American." So the hell what? It's their award to do with as they please. If you are tired of it for being the same ole same ole, instead of droning on about it, just don't watch it. The BAFTAs are an Oscars precursor whether people like it or not, and it has no real allegiance to foreign cinema or even British cinema for that matter if they see fit to honor American fare instead. That's how it goes.
Haha I don't drone on about it Ikey and identify the pros and cons...and as I stated before, any healthy debate about recognising a wider range of films is no bad thing
The point is, it didn't use to be so much a precursor (ceremony didn't even take place before the Oscars) and of course they can do as they wish - as I can watch or not watch - debate or not debate...surely this is all tacit, no?!
you all know where i stand on this: if you don't have your own identity, your awards are USELESS. The Oscars are the Oscars and super important because they are themselves for better or worse. Same with the Globes (i know people like to think they're all about Oscar but even in their very structure they have their own game to play). but so many of the awards just don't have any strength of character.
blah.
The BAFTAs are fine just the way that they are. Great winners this year.
@Cliff...agree with you completely...coming from another gay man, Mulligan's performance in 'An Education' is easily the best of the nominated performances...layered, subtle, effortless...so reminds me of Hathaway's perforance last year (Winslet was overdue...sigh!)
@txtcritic...'over-rated'??? couldn't disagree more.. sure she is pretty and straight men want to shag her (dykes too, I'm sure)...so? that doesn't in any way depreciate the quality of her performance does it?
@Nate..so totally agree with you on the 'How is Carey "wildly overrated" when Sandra Bullock exists?' bit... Bullock shouldn't even have been nominated for playing herself and for that oh-so-fake accent...Tilda Swinton was easily the best thing this year (in fact in the last couple of years) but hers is not the kind of performance the Academy tends to recognize!...Bullock will likely win (unless Meryl has those should-win-after-years sympathy votes going for her) given the box-office and her star status...and this will be one of the worst wins of recent years (possibly right down there with Elizabeth Taylor for Butterfield 8 and Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets)
But the BFCAs (which you're a member of Nathaniel, correct?) are absolutely nothing more than an Oscar precursor, and they proudly proclaim that every chance they get. Where is the "strength of character" in that awards group that you participate in? Either you accept that these groups are cogs in the wheel to the Kodak or you stop your support of them cold. Otherwise it's pretty hypocritical to spout on about hating Oscar precursors for being what they are (and have a right to be if they choose to) while then voting in one of the most blatant ones yourself.
Lance ... I never claimed that the BFCA organization had "strength of character" but i get why that seems hypocritical. But to me, struggling freelance writer/critic it's important to have affiliations. we all have to make compromises.
and i just vote my way and try to ignore the predictino way because i think (personally) that that's a useless way to vote. It adds nothing to the conversation to try and guess what the next sentence in the conversation might be, you know?
it would be so thrilling one year if all bodies had to vote at the exact same time and see if they were wildly different.
i'd love that experiment to take place.
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