I know this isn’t the biggest breaking news in the world, but I’m always interested in seeing how the BAFTA nominations shake out. The BAFTAs are just the British Oscars, and the BAFTAs obviously put more emphasis on British performers and British filmmakers and British-made films, although they do recognize actors and filmmakers from other countries too, obviously. The BAFTAs are way more international than the French Cesar Awards, let’s say that. One thing the BAFTAs have in common with almost every awards show: they don’t care for female directors, or female-led stories or female-led productions. Lady Bird and Greta Gerwig were snubbed for Best Picture and Best Director nominations at the BAFTAs. The BAFTAs haven’t nominated a female director since Kathryn Bigelow in 2013. Here are the big noms (you can see the full list here)
BEST FILM
Call Me By Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, MissouriBEST DIRECTOR
Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve
Call Me By Your Name, Luca Guadagnino
Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan
The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonaghBEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Saoirse Ronan, Lady BirdBEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Jamie Bell, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Timothee Chalamet, Call Me by Your NameBEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Kristen Scott Thomas, Darkest Hour
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of WaterBEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Hugh Grant, Paddington 2
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Willem Dafoe The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
The BAFTAs also nominated Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig for Best Screenplay… but neither of them for director. No director nods for Dee Rees or Patty Jenkins. I’m so tired of this. I’m tired of the arguments of “well, maybe no female directors made a big enough movie” or “how hard is it to make Lady Bird?” Please – if a man had written and directed a brilliant coming-of-age film about a young man, that man would be heralded with awards far and wide.
I guess we should give the BAFTAs some credit for nominating Daniel Kaluuya though – he got a Golden Globe and SAG nomination too, and I think/hope there’s a good chance he could get an Oscar nomination. Please! But it probably won’t matter – Gary Oldman is waging his stupid f–king campaign for that Churchill movie. As much as I want all of the awards to go to the Daniels (Kaluuya and Day Lewis), I bet Oldman gets what he wants.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Honestly, Lithgow’s Churchill on The Crown was twice as good as Oldman’s with only half the prosthetics…LOL!
TBH though I really think actors need to capture the essence of the character, rather than making it a contest of how many hours in the makeup trailer.
Wait…I love DDL but his film hasent even come out yet has it???? How can he be nominated?
It had a premiere in the USA back in December.
I agree. I think Lithgow did a great job.
^This. Pia, I think Hary Oldman’s makeup looks absolutely comical and ridiculous. It’s distracting in the movie.
Agreed.
I can’t believe Get Out isn’t being nominated in all possible categories. I mean, listen, those other movies may be good and one may personally want to watch them again. However, Get Out was so skillfully done and DESIGNED to be watched multiple times. So many things have different meanings upon another viewing. There are so many actions, phrases, or glances that you didn’t notice the first time around.
Get Out was an okay movie, but nothing special. It wasn’t as original as it made itself out to be and it was an odd mix of horror/comedy that didn’t really know what it was doing with itself. I can’t see how it was award worthy particularly?
Get Out was amazing and tapped into so many layers of what it means to be black in white spaces. It spoke not only to black people about our own experiences but it helped a lot of people UNDERSTAND those experiences and feelings. It certainly deserved to be nominated.
I just… Get out should be nominated, yes. But I have to say – I watched the film after I heard all the buzz about it, and I was really disappointed. I agree with Suki – it was okay, but nothing special.
:runsforcover:
I don’t think the umpteenth movie based on the same British figure is award worthy, but here we are seeing basically the same film nominated again.
Agree with Suki, it was entertaining but all over the place and silly.
I honestly don’t get the hype for Get Out. Everyone was taking about that movie, so I watched it. Guess what? I didn’t like it. Are people going to crucify me now?
Some don’t understand why Get Out was nominated but its a movie that’s dark, funny, it keeps you guessing, keeps you on the edge your seat, its full of suspense and it gets you wondering and talking. And people are still talking about the movie so yes I believe it is Oscar worthy. Do I believe the star of the movie deserves a Oscar nomination NO do I believe the director deserves an Oscar Yes and Yes plus a nominee for best screen play.This movie I believe years from now this movie wiill be viewed in different classes for its social views and social beliefs. So yes it deserves an Oscar.
I agree HH. I LOVED Get Out. Loved it. The acting was sublime. I am so disappointed it isn’t nominated for any awards. My husband and I watched it and he was afraid to take the dog outside to pee afterwards. We live in a rural area and it left us both with such a creepy feeling. It was magnificent.
Get Out was a breath of fresh air! The acting was on point, the writing, the directiing all great. Not original?! Please! More original than all of the movies nominated with the exception of The Shape of Water. Yeah another war movie, another biography about some old crusty crank, so original! Not only was Get Out a critical darling but box office receipts were phenomenal!
I agree that there are obvious problems with the nominations and given all of the hype surrounding Lady Bird, it seems obvious that Greta Gerwig should be nominated. I think Get Out is getting a raw deal on so many levels here.. Jordan Peele deserves more. I haven’t seen Mudbound yet, but I hear it’s spectacular.
That said, I was deeply underwhelmed by Lady Bird.. was anyone else? Perhaps my expectations were high going in, but I was not a big fan. I do agree that the acting was stellar. Nominate Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf for everything!
I enjoyed Ladybird. It’s a good film but I don’t think it’s worth winning the Best Film/ Picture of the year. The acting in this film however is really good both from Saoirse and Laurie so I wasn’t surprised that Soarse won in the globes.
I’m glad you said that. I ran out to see Lady Bird when it opened and while I enjoyed it, the quality of the acting and writing, etc, it was kind of episodic. Not sure where it went – it was a quality coming-of-age movie, but nothing more. That said, Gerwig should be at least nominated for script. I don’t see it as best movie.
I also agree with those who were underwhelmed by Dunkirk. Some technical achievement, but so impersonal – and historically incomplete as well. It was like an excellent videogame production that deserves a proper film treatment.
Mud bound is pretty amazing. The type of movie that sits in your gut and makes you uncomfortable for all of the right reasons. It blew me away.
I’m really looking forward to watching it! I am just waiting for a night when I can sit down and give it my full attention!
My advice is read the book first and then watch the movie. The movie is very faithful adaptation to the book!
It’s too bad about Get Out and Jordan Peele. Daniel Kaluuya is a Brit so that’s probably why BAFTA even knew who he is. It’s such a lazy selection process.
Frankly these award ceremonies are just another way for the film industry to fawn over themselves. I don’t give these award ceremonies any credit for pretending to honor excellence. No wonder monstrous egomaniac Weinstein lasted for so long.
Yep, I guessed they wouldn’t leave out a fellow Brit. And happy that Irish pearl Saoirse also made it even though both their films didn’t. To be fair BAFTA is supposed to represent their country and both films are uniquely American.
That’s a good point. I wonder if Get Out and Lady Bird translate well to British audience. Both are very American movies.
Greta Gerwig deserves, Patty Jenkins does not. WW was a great female superhero film in comparison to other superhero films. WW was not a great film compared to the nominated films. Jenkins now has a platform to make another (non superhero) movie and get nominated for that.
All the awards for Gerwig. Shitty she’s not involved in the conversation. Happy Kaluuya and Get Out got a nod. Fantastic film, fantastic actor.
If James Cameron can be noninated for Best Director for Avatar, then Patty Jenkins can be noninated for WW. Period. I’m sick of women and their work being held to higher standards than men’s.
As much as I dislike James Cameron, his movies are technical marvels. There’s simply no comparison between him and Patty Jenkins (and I liked Wonder Woman).
I am happy to hold women to a higher standard because we do better work then the trash that these men are putting out. Cameron has been nominated for loads of things he shouldn’t have. That does not change my point that WW is not an awards worthy film, regardless of how culturally relevant or important it is. Films should not be nominated just because they have a female director. That does not change the fact that more women should be given opportunities to direct. Jenkins might be a great director, and now she has the opportunity to make something else and be nominated for it.
Sorry, the “xyz was nominated so xyz should be nominated too!” argument does not fly with me and is a strawman. We make better movies, we do better work. We should get nominated for the work that does better.
@Bridget. A technical marvel? Then give the nonination to the people who did the work to make it a technical marvel – the CGI team. Avatar was trash outside of that. The story was weak and so was the acting and direction. And the fact that it continues to be lauded shows how low the bar is set for male directors and how high it’s set for women. Having seen both film I found WW to be more engaging and interesting.
They did. And Cameron didn’t even win for Avatar. But there’s simply no comparison when it comes to the technical Work and innovation Cameron does, and the way he shapes it with new technology. It’s the art of movie making – obviously, it came at the expense of his story telling as Avatar clearly wasn’t the best movie that year. But what he and Jenkins did are very different and can’t be compared. Liking one better doesn’t mean that it was more technically innovative.
@BroodyTrudy so take WW off the table then. Why wasnt LadyBird nominated or Mudbound, or Get Out…?? Better work WAS done this year. By both women AND minorities. And it was ignored. So no – it’s NOT a strawman.
Not what I said. You said if Avatar could be nominated then WW should be. That’s a strawman as my comment had nothing to do it comparison. My point was that WW in itself is not an awards worthy film and now Jenkins can make something else she can be nominated for. Full stop. Nothing additional. No comparison to men’s films, no comparison to any women’s films. That’s the entire context. Adding an argument in for something I didn’t say and trying to dismantle it is an actual strawman argument.
I stated that Gerwig deserved the nom. So I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at there because it’s the point I already made?
Guillermo del Toro is minority.
Agreed. The OP didn’t mention Lady Bird or Get Out, instead choosing to make a specific comparison that didn’t work.
@BroodyTrudy MY point is this: women directors should NOT be held to higher stabdards than their nale peers. Period. Plenty of subpar films by male directors get noninated every year. Why should female directors have to juno through extra hoops for the sam recognition. Was WW the best film ever made?. No. But it was a solid and well DIRECTED film that had critical success. Just like a lot of the films noninated today. I’m especially sensitive to this issue because this argument is used a lot when it comes to the work of black filmmakers. The same kind of argument was used to “justify” why Ava DuVernay wasn’t nominated for Selma. People saying it wasn’t “good enough” when it was just as good as half the films nominated that year. But when you’re black AND a woman your work cant just be good. You have to be BETTER than everyone else. And that’s utter BS. Dont hold a woman’s work up to higher standards. Hold it up to EQUAL standards.
You are very justifiably angry about a lot of things I did not state. I agree with you regarding Ava DuVernay (who I did not bring up either?) and Greta Gerwig. I’ve responded to the other point regarding women’s work, WW, and Patty Jenkins. I do not make the rules regarding the awards nominations, and I realize the way I would like them run is not the way they are currently run nor the way others might like them run. So I think we are done here.
I hope you have a great day!
I agree with everything you wrote. I posted about how merit based was bunk after last year’s Oscar noms.
Is anyone actually surprised by this? The BAFTAS are even whiter and patriarchal than the Oscars and always have been. It’s funny to me how some across was the pond like to pretend that race isn’t as big of an issue there as it is here in the States. I would beg to differ and black British actors have spoken about it as well. The only difference is the Brits don’t like talking about it so it’s even more insidious. Just look at how some of the British press treated and are treating Meghan Markle
Denzil Washington has NEVER been nominated for a BAFTA. not Malcolm X , not Philadelphia, not John Q, not Training Day not Glory NEVER
Oh please! For one thing, the UK has never had Jim Crow or voter suppression of non-Caucasians. The UK is not here to validate your US centric view. As mentioned above, Bafta as a British, not America awards does not always recognise the same content as US based shows. Bafta’s priorities are different. This does not mean that they are racist. There are tons of examples of British and Indian actors/ directors recognised by Bafta. There’s a whole big world there outside the US. Do you have a passport?
BAFTAS did ignore The Post it seems.
Please, don’t. Pretending that racism is a US only thing is revisionist history at it’s finest. I guess we all just imagined Britain’s horrible racist colonial adventures in Africa and the Caribbean???? Open a history book, please. See Brexit too. Or all the information out there on the rise of hate crimes and racism in the UK in the past decade.
So, I’m just not here for you throwing out real issues that real people of color have experienced and talked about and lived through — both historically and in the present — because the “UK didn’t have an exact replica of a Jim Crow South!”
This is why racism is so insidious in the UK. “But we’re not like the US!” It’s like gaslighting because yes, you are. More than you care to admit, I think.
Commonsense: America is not Britain.
Same language, different culture.
I would see how The Post could be seen as a very American movie, and therefor be mostly ignored by the BAFTAs.
As someone who lived in Dublin for 18 months and traveled to England several times in that during, I can attest America and the UK do have a big gap in culture and that includes racism and race relations.
@ LAK: –edit– I think I’m reading the comment differently than it was intended. I took Horsforth’s comment to mean that there wasn’t as much racism in Britain than the US. Or that racism was really a US thing. THAT I don’t agree with, but I think I missed the subtext that it’s just a different type of racism and handled/expressed differently. And that American racism does not equal the way it happens all over the world…
Apologies to Horsforth if I misread your meaning! 🙁
@Horsforth: you’re right. The U.K. has something much worse: a long and bloody history as a colonial power.
@Horsforth
You are correct the UK is not America however just because there was no Jim Crow or voter suppression doesn’t mean that the UK is not racist . Racism can manifest in various forms it is always interesting to me when people set the bar for what constitutes racism to such extremes i.e well no lynchings and voter suppression = not racist LOL
Also this is site that attracts people from all over the world yet time and time again when someone post something people dont like about Canada. Uk and other parts of Europe it is assumed that they MUST be American and viewing things through a US lens s . I for one am not an American and yes i do have a passport, have lived in more than one country , have multiple friends and family that live all over the world , access to books and the internet
If you have read interviews from actors of Color in the UK; many of them say the reason they come to the US is because the opportunities are better for them here. So there is some issue there. The BAFTAs can run their Awards as they want. That is their right. But it is very clear to see how things are in many instances. And pointing it out is Right. We can do that in the Oscars here in the US and the BAFTs in the UK. Both have some serious work to do. And it all begins with putting a spotlight on who some groups are not represented in a fair way.
Wait, Christopher Plummer was nominated for a role he shot less than two months ago?!
Yup. Because he’s such a pro.
To be fair, he was perfect in the role.
Greta Gerwig’s lack of nomination is one of the most egregious snubs I can think of. Any male auteur of the most well reviewed movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes would be walking this. It’s just…if this isn’t enough, what the hell is? I’ll be hopping mad if she’s ignored come Oscar morning.
Get Out had a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score before Lady Bird did until someone decided to be an *sshole ans give it one bad review.
I should’ve specified white men. Jordan Peele deserves the nomination too. Was it the same moron who deliberately ruined Lady Bird’s rating? I don’t know why people feel the need to do stuff like that (and get paid for it, that’s the kicker)
I agree Jordan Peele so deserved a nomination for Get Out. It was original, it made a TON of net money due to its low production costs and it was so well acted! Also, this movie taught me what exactly what is a microaggression. I have taken many graduate level diversity classes and still was not exactly sure what a microaggression was until I saw the actor noticing his phone being moved several times (not a spoiler). Then I was “Ohhhhhh.” (Smacking my forehead). Whoever stated this movie will be shown in classes was correct. Really it needs to be shown in classes. Jordan Peele was robbed. P.S. Oscars love nominating British actors.
And:
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ELLE Paul Verhoeven, Saïd Ben Saïd
FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER Angelina Jolie, Rithy Panh
THE HANDMAIDEN Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim
LOVELESS Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky
THE SALESMAN Asghar Farhadi, Alexandre Mallet-Guy
Woohoo – well done Angelina and Co.
Yes, let’s cheer for the film which included child abuse as part of its casting process. Don’t effing sweep it under the carpet – it happened. And good grief, Maya, get some mental health care. You’re delusional.
I’m so excited by THE HANDMAIDEN. Have recommended it to everyone for the past year and i will be so pissed if it doesn’t win.
Actually, due to it’s bad distribution, it wasn’t seen by many people and it really needs to be up there with CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON
That movie should win, hands down.
^^^^ Yes
where is my Guillermo del Toro picture? (sniff)
I just love him. He makes such beautiful movies. I hope he wins this as well!
My take? If Hugh Grant is getting nominated for best supporting actor for Paddington 2, these probably aren’t the most fair nominations to begin with.
Gary Oldman’s performance blew me away. He’s earned the award.
Well in the outstanding british film category , they at least nominated Lady Macbeth. Talk about a female lead story. I think one of the two cowriters is a woman too.
I wish they had distinguished Florence Pugh also.
She got an EE Rising Star nomination for “Lady Macbeth”, it’s just not listed here.
Ok, thanks. I didn’t check the other names in this category, but she clearly was a revelation to me.
Very disturbing film, great actress.
Denis Villenueve? I mean he definitely deserves it but I was not expecting this. Blade Runner 2049 was the best cinematic experience I had this year so I am very happy for him!
My ideal directors category would be;
Guillermo del Toro
Greta Gerwig
Christopher Nolan
Jordan Peele
Denis Villenueve
And obviously give Del Toro everything. I was blown away when I found out Shape of Water’s budget was under 20 million.
Guillermo winning would absolutely make me happy, but Jordan and Greta should be nominated.
Same old, same old. Here’s the rub, they tell us our movies will get nominated when we put our award-quality work. We do, and our movies are still snubbed.
And once again nothing for McAvoy. Hfffff I just deleted a long rant about how I think they’re all doing Kaluuya a disservice here. Blergh
Kaluuya actually probably the only one there whose performance wasn’t in the awards baity movies and he really did great. So I am rooting for him to get an Oscar nomination. I think he has good chances considering GG and SAG noms. I actually doubt about DDL getting one now since SAG didn’t nominate him.
Look I get being a feminist, I’m a feminist myself but to deny that certain male directors deserve to be there just to put Greta Gerwig & Patty Jenkins, bc they are women, it’s an insult to feminism. First Lady Bird, it’s an ok indie film, I saw it, it was well made but nothing extraordinary. OP said well if a man can be nominated for an ok indie film, why not a woman? Tell me the last time a man got nominated for an OK indie film as best director? Room, Carol, Moonlight, Spotlight? Those movies told a story bigger than a woman finds herself, I think the last time a man was nominated for an indie film that told a story that was only about a woman & her journey was Juno, the rest of indie films nominated painted a bigger picture. Not that is wrong to tell a story about the journey of a woman, but would people feel different about Lady Bird if it had been directed by a man? Wonder Woman it’s an ok superhero film, it Nolan doesn’t get nominated for the Dark Knight which was maybe the best superhero film of all times, I don’t see why Patty Jenkins should get the nom for something that it’s not as good. The only woman directed film that I could say deserved to be nominated is Des Rees, Mudbound is brilliant. And Get Out is overrated, I love Jordan but I don’t get they hype about his film. It’s a well made movie, but you can’t compare his work w what Del Toro did in the Shape of Water or Nolan in Dunkirk, it’s not your paint by the numbers war film. I don’t know if you guys saw that movie but the fact that he chose not to have one lead character & he concentrated in the unknown heroes of the battle was very ingenious & I love that it’s not a linear story but that it jumps through different moments so you tie the pieces on your mind, I’m also very happy the Baftas recognized Denis Villeneuve, that man is the Kubrick of our times. Not everything is sexism ladies, I want to see more female directed movies as well, but I also want out gender to be recognized for a job well done. Yes, it’s truth that men get recognized for sub-par job as well, but the idea is that both genders should be recognized for their best job. And this year at least in the Baftas I feel the best director category is the best w the exception of Des Rees, but I feel her lack of nomination is bc her film was released by Netflix more than anything, after all we know the industry is scared of the changes that Netflix is bringing to the system.
No.
Thanks for summing up what people dislike about certain feminists, that aren’t asking for equality, they are asking for preferential treatment. Bc you want POC & women to get nominated to get awards for the colour of their skins or bf of their gender & not bc of the quality of their work
@Pamela: congratulations on getting that 100% wrong.
I’m pretty sure we feminists would rather you not speak for us.
@Bridget
+1
Well said Pamela.
So ridiculous. “No, we can be nominting woman and people of colour, they’ll take our jobs!” This is what I feel a majority of the industry is thinking. I’m sorry if I’m generalizing, but it’s so blatant.
And can I just say, Hugh grant for Paddington 2?! HAHAAHA! What a joke.
I am happy for chalamet. He was so incredible in CMBYN. Wish armie got a nod too. But no, apparently Hugh grant was better.
Oldman has dissed awards shows as ‘meaningless’ for almost his whole career (his Playboy interview is easily found online)…he certainly seems to have changed his tune.
Maybe just bitter that he wasn’t “chosen” before?
It seems he dissed GG mainly, not other awards. Apparently he also has two BAFTAs.
“Please – if a man had written and directed a brilliant coming-of-age film about a young man, that man would be heralded with awards far and wide.”
Perhaps, but then, if a man had directed Wonder Woman, he would be getting NO attention during awards season. Case in point: Logan, not Wonder Woman, was the best-reviewed superhero movie of the year, yet NOBODY is talking about James Mangold getting nominated for Best Director. Hell, even Thor: Ragnarok received reviews just as good as Wonder Woman. How come nobody’s talking about Taika Waititi? The fact that some people think Patty Jenkins is getting unfairly denied nominations is ridiculous. If anything, her gender is giving her a boost.
I finally saw The Florida Project yesterday and I think Brooklyn Prince should be receiving nominations for it.
honestly I’m most surprised that there’s so little British work celebrated this year
I’m not saying that’s good or bad, it’s just not what I expected from the BAFTA’s