BAFTAs "live"

David here, bringing you the least live 'live blog' in TFE's history. Nowhere on the planet are the British Academy Film (and Television) Awards broadcast live - not even in their home country. No, we Brits struggle along with the rest of you as the BBC stubbornly refuses to move with the times and shows the edited ceremony two hours after its begun.

But let's make the best of it. Over the next few hours I'll bring you a melange of results and commentary, mostly surmised until the ceremony comes in, which will hopefully have some individual flavour worth reporting. The celebrities have already walked up the foaming red carpet in London's famous torrential rain, so, to kick off, here are a few highlights from the BBC's brief coverage so far.

Chilled to the rust and boneMarion Cotillard couldn't even muster a brave face as she was persuaded to stop racing down the carpet and pose for a few photos. Has it ever NOT rained on BAFTA night?

Marion's here tonight as a Best Actress nominee for Rust & Bone - BAFTA also nominated Helen Mirren, leaving Quvenzhane Wallis and Naomi Watts on the sidelines for tonight - but it's Emmanuelle Riva, who wisely skipped the long route into the building, who I've got my fingers crossed for tonight. Can she add a little flavour to the Best Actress race by surprising J-Law here?

Helen Mirren. Pink hair. The interviewer here oddly didn't even attempt to ask what's going on with this. MORE...

Click to read more ...

Posterized: BAFTA Honoree Alan Parker

Director Alan Parker, who our youngest readers will probably beunfamiliar with, used to be a prestige director. He's been retired for ten years but his taste in material was quite awards-baity. He's receiving the BAFTA Fellowhip (aka career tribute) in February at the BAFTA ceremony. Because the BAFTAs aren't aired live and weirdly only ever broadcast parts of that show who knows if we'll see it.

So I thought we should look back at his career through Posterized. (We haven't done one of those in a while!)

How many have you seen?

Bugsy Malone (76), Midnight Express (78), Fame (80)

Three arguable classics right off the bat? And 11 more movies after the jump

Click to read more ...

BAFTA ♥ Lincoln (But Not Spielberg)

So much happening and I was seized by offsite emergencies. Apologies. In the wee hours of the morning here in the States... we'll call it "last night",  BAFTA announced their nominations and went wild for all six of the top presumed Best Picture Oscar nominees. The biggest surprise inclusion in the British Academy's list has to be the Best Actor nomination for Ben Affleck in Argo (in place of the usual suspect John Hawkes from The Sessions... though Denzel Washington was also absent since The Master was well represented in the acting categories). BAFTA's devotion to their fellow countrymen is a factor each year -- it's no surprise to see Skyfall with 8 nominations because BAFTA loves Bond (Casino Royale had 9 nominations in 2006!) . But this 'Brits first!' thing is also grossly exaggerated by the media since it's hardly an infallible formula. Supporting Actress hopeful Maggie Smith is noticeably absent - note the one nomination "British film" for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. And though Anna Karenina rebounded in awards season with several nominations here, Keira Knightley was not rescued from its train tracks in Best Actress where Helen Mirren held on to her default Best Actress bid --- will she do the same tomorrow with Oscar?.

The biggest oddity of the day? Steven Spielberg's Lincoln led the pack with 10 nominations but Steven Spielberg himself was not nominated for directing it. It's totally deja vu -- t'was nearly the exact Oscar nomination fate of The Color Purple (1985) with 11 nods but none for the man in the director's chair!

Full nomination list after the jump.

Click to read more ...

After Link

Letters of Note a telegram from Marlon Brando to Marilyn Monroe
Old Hollywood Rita Moreno West Side Story rehearsal photo. Love it.
In Contention "The top ten shots of 2011" Tapley's annual selection.
Cartoon Brew is interviewing the makers of the Oscar nominated animated short films each morning. This one is on The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore which I reviewed last week.
People White Collar star Matt Bomer who will soon be seen (and a lot of him, too, presumably) in Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike comes out. I've been so busy I almost missed this news. Congratulations Bomer!

The Incredible Suit rants about the whole embarrassing ordeal of a national awards show (BAFTA) that's not aired live and then only aired in a highlights package. It's true. That's one of the reasons why it's the only regular movie awards show that many movie fans seem to feel okay about skipping.
My New Plaid Pants Which is Hotter? Vertigo edition
Capital New York Sheila O'Malley on the Best Actress performances
Rope of Silicon more pics from the set of After Earth. RoS is right. Jaden Smith does look more and more like his daddy.
Oscar Metrics Mark Harris argues for eliminated the animated feature category.
La Daily Musto an amusing he doesn't swing that way story from Raquel Welch about her hots for Stephen Boyd on the set of Fantastic Voyage. When I was a little kid I loved Stephen Boyd. Of course I did.

Coming Soon Bryan Fuller the genius behind the very original series Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies is sadly only doing reinterpretations now. We hope it's due to Hollywood's risk aversion and not due to his creative well drying up. His next two projects are a Munsters redo (pushed back) and now a TV series about Hannibal Lecter which has a direct-to-series order. Difficult to imagine it in series form but Fuller does fine work.
24 Frames Emmanuel Lubezki wins the ASC cinematography award for The Tree of Life. Next stop Oscar... Or will it swing The Artist's way?
The Wrap Oscar nominated composer Dory Previn (Two for the Seesaw) dies.
Movie|Line "Oscar season distilled into 14 words." lol because it's true.
Just Jared First look at Brad Pitt (and Richard Jenkins) in Cogan's Trade

And just in cast you missed it, the teaser to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

The Film Experience is the only site that seems to know who Benjamin Walker is -- it cracks me up that people headline this as a Tim Burton project just because he is the only "name" among the executive team -- but that's because we're the best. And the most Streep/Stage obsessed of movie sites.

Jake Gyllenhaal Introduces The Meryl Streep Tribute At Berlinale

Awww, this is sweet. Jake Gyllenhaal met Meryl through her son Hank (aka Henry Wolfe) when he was all of 13 and Jake has been intimiated by her ever since. Jake Gyllenhaal is on the jury this year that will decide the big winners at Berlinale but he also had the honor of introducing her for the her lifetime achievement Golden Bear.

I promised to quit talking about the Best Actress race (well, until we have to talk about the actual ceremony) but wanted you to enjoy this. Her Bafta speech is after the jump if you haven't seen it yet.

Click to read more ...