DGA Chooses Birdman. But Who Wins BAFTA?

It's tough to call this a "surprise" exactly, given that Birdman recently took hom both the PGA's top producing honor and SAG's Best Ensemble but now the celebrated intricate metashowbiztragicomedywhatsit has won the DGA. Alejandro González Iñárritu was previously nominated for Babel. But this isn't actually his first DGA win.

More on Birdman's DGA and BAFTA Predictions after the jump

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BAFTA Nominations: "Grand Budapest" is "...Everything"

Despite having an industry filled to the brim with talent, the British Academy of Film and Television Awards regularly prefers American films these days and this year would be no exception but for the two behemoth Brit biopics that have been doing spectacularly well all season on the other side of the Atlantic: The Imitation Game (suspiciously deemed "American" for AFI) and The Theory of Everything. Unsurprisingly they're nominated for both of BAFTA's top prizes, "Film" and "British Film," the latter of which amounts to the kiddie table I suppose even though it shouldn't -- this being the British Academy -- since those films rarely score as many nominations at home as their American counterparts do. It's actually amusing in a perverse way when you consider the theory that AMPAS here at home is obsessed with British actors and considers anything they do "prestige."

BAFTA was notably stingy to Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner in all but the below line categories (no actor nomination for Spall or British film citation), but found room for our beloved Pride in a few places as well as the thrilling '71. The latter, starring Jack O'Connell who is dropped directly into the center of The Troubles for one violent night (that is not a spoiler -- that's just the very minimalist plot), hasn't opened in the States yet but it's an armrest gripper so be prepared. 

In the final tallies the two nomination leaders were The Grand Budapest Hotel (11) and The Theory of Everything and Birdman tied for second (10). Titles that did pretty well considering how quiet their buzz is at home were Interstellar (4) and Big Eyes (2). Completely shut-out: Unbroken. What happened to:  A Most Violent Year and Selma? They also received zero nominations but unless they received qualifying releases -- some believe Selma did and they got screeners but that's hard for me to believe until I see official BAFTA.ORG proof since Selma didn't even send screener to American guilds -- they would not have been eligible as they haven't yet opened in the UK.  

A full list of nominations with comments is after the jump.  You can check out if, in the words of Unbroken's Jack O'Connell, you fancy it.

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It's Happening Again... Dates For The Next Awards Season

Just when you thought you were safe... it's happening again. No sooner has Oscar season ended than the powers that be are setting dates for next season. Dates which will determine the schedules of virtually everyone in Hollywood. Do we already have to start thinking about this? Yes. Yes, we do.

SAG Awards® Committee Chair JoBeth Williams agrees that it's terrifying...

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Podcast: Should Win / Will Win

It's the final podcast before the Oscars! Join Nathaniel R, Katey Rich, Nick Davis, and Joe Reid as we reveal both our predictions and our preferences, one category at a time. 

00:00 Directors, BAFTA, Bette & P¡nk
09:00 Should Win / Will Win Intro, Sound Categories, Doc, Animated, Foreign categories
23:00 Visual Categories
39:00 Screenplays & Acting
51:30 Director & Picture
55:30 Exit Question

You can listen to the podcast right here at the bottom of the post or download the conversation on iTunes. Continue the conversation in the comments... which of our ballots most closely resembles yours?Hunger, Shame, I Heart Huckabees, Taxi Driver, King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Children of Men, Y Tu Mama Tambíen, 

Should Win / Will Win

Interview: Lupita Nyong'o on 12 Years, Non-Stop and Her Future

On Lupita Nyong'o's Instagram account she captioned this one:

Yes, a chocolate BAFTA will do quite nicely, thank you!

A golden BAFTA woulda been better but what can you do?

Recently it came to me in a flash: Lupita Nyong'o is the new Jessica Chastain!  Think about it: classically trained movie actress in her early 30s goes from complete unknown to everyone's favorite in the blink of an eye in a critically acclaimed movie (movies plural in Chastain's case) and proves herself a complete and utter natural at celebrity, red carpets, fashion, and social media. 

Of course I didn't know all this when I first sat down with Lupita in the fall in the first rush of acclaim for Twelve Years a Slave, a meeting I shamefully neglected to tell you about until now. Looking over the transcript it occurs to me that the past few months have been so eventful that pieces of our conversation barely make sense. We're conversing as if she isn't a huge celebrity. But the right role at the right time can permanently change things for an actor. [More...]

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