The past 12 months have been full of fantastic films, most of which have had us all waiting eagerly for awards season. Bridge of Spies and Carol are really taking it home in the nominations department with both films receiving nine nominations, both films frequent in the ‘best film’, ‘best actor/actress’ and most of the other major award categories. You can expect them to be walking away with quite a few BAFTA’s in February. The other big film that has built up a reputation for itself is The Revenant, which has already received three Golden Globes for Best Drama, Best Director and Best Actor in a Drama; with stories circling around about Leonardo DiCaprio’s method acting and the fact it is based on true events is it any wonder that this film has received such a great number of BAFTA nominations (eight in total)?
Let’s discuss the major snub for a moment: ‘Outstanding British Film’ – I spy a lack of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and last time I checked Star Wars was as British as the Queen walking her Corgis on a rainy day outside of Buckingham Palace (even Wayne Rooney got in on the action). It’s not that the films that are nominated aren’t ‘outstanding’, it’s just Star Wars was better than a lot on the line up. The line up is:
45 Years
Amy
Brooklyn
The Danish Girl
Ex Machina
The Lobster
It’s great that Amy has got some recognition especially as it’s more of a documentary. There’s also the fact that it would not made the cut if it wasn’t for BAFTA’s new jury system. Good news for Star Wars fans, however, as they were nominated for almost everything to do with their post-production side (music, visual effects etc), while John Boyega, our lowly boy from Peckham, is up for the ‘Rising Star’ category (can one of the heroes of Star Wars still be counted as a ‘Rising Star’? BAFTA seem to think so).
Alicia Vikander is something of star in herself, yet many of you may not have heard of her before 2015. It was an incredible year for her, and she is up for both best actress for The Danish Girl, and Best Supporting Actress for Ex Machina. Whilst it’s not rare for someone to be up for multiple awards, it is rare for it to be such a brand new face and for it to be in two completely separate movies. This year was most certainly hers, and I hope she goes on to succeed in one of the respective categories. However taking the women in to account, this year’s competition is fierce with actresses that most of us probably adore and look up to. Maggie Smith is in the line-up for Best Actress, marking her thirteenth year of BAFTA award nominations; another British public favourite, Cate Blanchett is in the same category. Two actresses we’ve been watching for years, Julie Walters and Kate Winslet, are both in the ‘Supporting Actress’ category. It’s certainly been a good year for women in film.
The past twelve months have been controversial to say the least in terms of films with much (recent) debate over Eddie Redmayne being cast as a transgender character, or, if you cast your minds back to early last year, the #OscarsSoWhite scandal. The BAFTAs could be in contention to bring the issue of race up once again, with white men and women nominated for the top accolades. However, in the ‘Supporting Actor’ category we see Benicio Del Toro and Idris Elba; Debbie Tucker Green and Naji Abu Nowar for ‘Outstanding Debut’ and the aforementioned John Boyega. But what’s at fault for this? Is it the award ceremonies, or the lack of diverse casting? I for one would like to see Idris Elba as the next James Bond. Dreamy.
On a lighter note, our favourite Minions are up against Shaun The Sheep Movie (really? They didn’t think any other animation was better?) and the fantastic Inside Out for the ‘Animation’ category. Overall, the nominations may be questionable in some cases, but every single one of them is deserved. Watch it on February 14th 2016.
Rianna Julian
Image: Disney/Lucasfilm