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The 2011 BAFTA Awards Nominees

The British Academy of Film & Television Arts thrives from cinema, literally. Started in 1947, the appointed Chairman was director David Lean, who donated royalties from “Bridge on the River Kwai” and “Doctor Zhivago.” Her Majesty the Queen also donated documentary royalties.

The BAFTA awards don’t always join the chorus culminating the Oscars, but some films are undeniable no matter what side of the pond you’re on. Winners will be announced Feb. 13, 2011.

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Rising Star
The Orange Wednesday Rising Star Award is publicly voted. The 2011 nominees include Emma Stone from “Easy A”, Aaron Johnson from “Kick-Ass” and Tom Hardy from “Inception.” Probably the biggest contender is Andrew Garfield, who appeared in “Never Let Me Go” and “The Social Network” in 2010. Though there is also Gemma Arterton, who turned heads in “Clash of the Titans”, “Prince of Persia” and “Tamara Drewe.”

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Special Effects
Alice in Wonderland”, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″ and “Toy Story 3” are all fairly obvious picks, but it would be a shame if “Inception” wasn’t awarded. Dan Schrecker is nominated for “Black Swan.”

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Sound
“127 Hours” is a whirlwind of sound editing, “Black Swan” conjures up an eerie soundscape, “Inception” punctuated the unfathomable with sound, “True Grit” is a delicate balance between classic westerns and classic Coen Brothers, but “The King’s Speech” rallies up a truly emotional job of sound. I’d be surprised if John Midgley, Lee Walpole and Paul Hamblin don’t walk away with a BAFTA for “The King’s Speech.”

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Costume Design
“Alice in Wonderland” would win for otherworldliness, “Black Swan” more for its makeup, “The King’s Speech” and “True Grit” for authenticity, but Louise Stjernsward’s nomination for “Made in Dagenham” is a powerful nod, especially being a film about the 1968 sewing machinists strike against sexual discrimination.

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Production Design
This one’s a challenge due to the overwhelming detail that went into each of the nominees including, “Alice in Wonderland”, “Black Swan”, “Inception”, “The King’s Speech” and “True Grit.”

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Editing
Jon Harris has been nominated for “127 Hours”, but should have been for “Kick-Ass.” Though, “Black Swan”, “Inception” and “The King’s Speech” are all masterful. In the end I think Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter will take it for “The Social Network”, because the editing accomplishes a jumble of strong techniques not seen in the others.

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2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Cinematography
While “127 Hours”, “Black Swan” and “True Grit” are all rightfully nominated, it will probably be a battle between “Inception” and “The King’s Speech”, in which the latter is a brilliant part of the storytelling.

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Original Music
Alexandre Desplat’s score is overshadowed by the use of Beethoven in “The King’s Speech.” “127 Hours” and “Alice in Wonderland” merit nominations, but don’t quite leave impressions like John Powell’s “How To Train Your Dragon” and Hans Zimmer’s “Inception.” My bet is on the latter. Too bad Daft Punk wasn’t nominated.

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Supporting Actress
Unsure of Lesley Manville in “Another Year” or Miranda Richardson in “Made in Dagenham”, it’s between Amy Adams in “The Fighter”, Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech” and Barbara Hershey in “Black Swan.” Adams and Carter both exemplify “supporting”, but Hershey’s tormented mother captures what Aronofsky brought out in Best supporting mom Ellen Burstyn (“Requiem for a Dream”) with multiple nominations. The Academy may sling it to Bonham Carter after passing her over in 1992 for “Howard’s End.”

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Supporting Actor
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right” is a big maybe, as is Andrew Garfield in “The Social Network”, even for how good he is. They’re up against the masterful Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech” and Christian Bale in “The Fighter.” Though, Rush won the category in 1998 for “Elizabeth” and the nomination for the late Pete Postlethwaite may be owed posthumously as he wasn’t even nominated back in 94 for “In the Name of the Father.” Postlethwaite is nominated for “The Town”, and he certainly is the support it stands upon.

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Leading Actress
If this award was publicly voted on Noomi Rapace just might win with all “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” fans out there. Though it will probably come down to a toss up between Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”, even though Julianne Moore is also nominated, and Natalie Portman for “Black Swan.” Though, the nomination for Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit” may be the upset we all truly want.

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2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Leading Actor
This one’s tricky. Javier Bardem in “Biutiful” is deserved, but not likely as he took Best Supporting for “No Country for Old Men.” Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network” is a strong pick, but he’s up against the powerhouse. In 2009 Colin Firth took it for “A Single Man” over Oscar winning Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” and they are head to head again with “True Grit” and “The King’s Speech.” Will the Academy make amends with Bridges? Yet, it is the British and Firth is playing the King that united a nation. Perhaps the Academy can just avoid the whole debacle and give it to James Franco’s one man show in “127 Hours.”

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Animated Film
While “Despicable Me” and “How to Train Your Dragon” are viable hits, can they compare to the impact “Toy Story 3″ had on audiences in 2010?

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Best Film Not in English
Arm your Netflix Que; these are the best movies of 2010 you’ve never heard of. Biutiful”, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, “I am Love”, “Of Gods and Men” and “The Secret in their Eyes.”

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Adapted Screenplay
“127 Hours” and “The Social Network” are both based on elements of truth. Sorkin’s screenplay for “The Social Network” makes the actors shine, while it’s Franco who makes the screenplay for “127 Hours” shine. There is also the adaptation of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, and an unlikely nod to “Toy Story 3.” It just might go to the Coen Brothers for “True Grit”, who got snubbed in 2007 with “No Country for Old Men.

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Original Screenplay
“Black Swan” is a great pick, but ultimately tied in with the Swan’s mythology. “The Kids Are All Right” might do it with the Academy loving dramatic comedy, but they also love true stories. They have their pick with “The Fighter” or “The King’s Speech.” Yet, how original is something “Adapted” from a true story? This is why it should go to Christopher Nolan’s “Inception”, but we’ll see how much influence the Crown has.

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2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Director
Danny Boyle is up again for “127 Hours”, he is London’s Boy after all. Boyle won for “Slumdog Millionaire” in 2008 over Fincher for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, which will play out interestingly if Fincher plausibly wins for “The Social Network.” The other duel is Aronofsky for “Black Swan” and Nolan for “Inception”: both finely executed visions. Perhaps Tom Hooper’s big screen transition will go unchallenged in “The King’s Speech.”

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Outstanding Debut
Back to that Netflix Que with more great films you’ve never heard of. “The Arbor”, “Monsters” and “Skeletons”, but for me it’s between “Exit Through the Gift Shop” and “Four Lions.”

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Outstanding British Film
What makes a film determinably British? Is it Danny Boyle directing “127 Hours” is it Mike Leigh’s direction of Jim Broadbent in “Another Year”? Is it the outlandish breakthrough of British satire in “Four Lions”? Or is it stylized British history in “Made in Dagenham”? Or…God Save the King: “The King’s Speech”?

2011 BAFTA Film Awards Nominees for Best Film
In 2008 “Atonement” won, but no Oscar, 2007 “The Queen” won, but no Oscar, 2006 “Brokeback Mountain” won, but no Oscar, 2005 “The Aviator” won, but no Oscar, 2003 “The Pianist” won, but no Oscar and 2002 “Lord of the Rings” won, but no Oscar. “The Queen” won Best Film and Outstanding British Film; a wink at “The King’s Speech”? More relevant is “The Social Network” is an American Awards favorite, so the British Academy will want to award something that won’t in America. Nominations for “Inception” and “True Grit” are awesome, but unlikely and “Black Swan” is too Horror to suit Academy palates. That may spell it out clearly, but one never knows.

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