BAFTA's

I'm slightly late in publishing this but it's been a busy week, what with working alot and going to London this past weekend (more on that later!!). I thought I'd just give some of my opinions about what happened at the BAFTA's and what it now means for the Oscars next week!

First off I must say that in the predictions game I kicked Peters bum! Before most of the major award shows we go through the nominations and pick out who we think will win. In the smaller categories, Peter faired much better - indeed at one point I thought he would predict more correct results than me! When it came to the big categories though, I romped home! I was 6/6 for the major categories of Best Film, Best Director, Actor, Actress and suporting roles. Peter was also pretty good, but he went out on a limb for Frank Langella for best actor and picked out Kate Winslett for best actress, but picked her for her performance in Revolutionary Road rather than The Reader!

Now I have seen quite a few of the Oscar films this year, but not nearly as many as I'd have liked. Part of the problem of the academy picking smaller films this year is that it can be quite hard for the more commercial cinemas to screen them - indeed the Wrestler, Milk, The Reader and Doubt all have yet to be shown in my local cinema. As a result I sometimes can't say unequivically who is the best in the categories that these films are in and so have to rely on bits of footage from youtube and information from the media. That said, I do believe that some of the films nominated this year shouldn't be gaining as much momentum as they are doing. I thought Slumdog Millionaire for example was a very good film, but there is no way it should be winning Best Film at all these awards shows. I went and watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last week, and although it is by no means perfect, I felt the acting, the story, the setting, the directing and the music was much better than most other films out there I've seen this past year - including Slumdog Millionaire. A travesty, I feel is that Kate Winslett hasn't garnered a nomination for her role in Revolutionary Road. Whilst the film was very depressing and slightly overlong, I couldn't fault her performance and feel that it was a much better performance than Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It seems like the Academy would rather "big up" films to have as many nominations as possible for the media attention (Button has 13) than actually acknowledge the performances!

Despite my thoughts, I still feel that Slumdog Millionaire will win Big at the Oscars - best film in particular. I think that David Fincham will get Best Director and that Button won't be as left out as it has been at previous awards ceremonies. Mickey Rourke and Heath Ledger have the acting categories sown up while the actress categories are a little more open - expect Kate Winslett to finally bag an Oscar. I will post a full list of predictions closer to the time - expect me to beat Peter again!