“Avatar”, “Hurt Locker”, “An Education” lead BAFTA race!

“Avatar”, “The Hurt Locker” and “An Education” lead the pack of British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award nominations with 8 nods apiece. Fresh from their Golden Globe wins, Mo’Nique, La Streep, Christoph Waltz and Jeff Bridges are also nominated in their respective categories.

The BAFTAs is considered the British equivalent of the Oscars.

Snubs: No Sandra Bullock. No Sam Rockwell in the Best Actor race. No Julianne Moore in supporting. (500) Days of Summer was shut out. And Nine got only one nod for Make Up & Hair. Lol.

Smiley Face: Vindication for District 9 with multiple nominations in the directing, adapted screenplay and the technical categories. Can’t be happier to find Quentin Tarantino and Neil Blonkamp in the Directing race.

Here's the BAFTA lineup.


BEST FILM
Avatar – James Cameron, Jon Landau
An Education – Amanda Posey, Finola Dwyer
The Hurt Locker – Nominees TBC
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire – Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness
Up In the Air – Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Daniel Dubieck
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
An Education – Amanda Posey, Finola Dwyer, Lone Scherfig, Nick Hornby
Fish Tank – Kees Kasander, Nick Laws, Andrea Arnold
In the Loop – Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy, Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche
Moon – Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler, Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker
Nowhere Boy – Kevin Loader, Douglas Rae, Robert Bernstein, Sam Taylor-Wood, Matt Greenhalgh

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Broken Embraces – Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar
Coco Before Chanel – Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo, Philippe Carcassonne, Anne Fontaine
Let the Right One In – Carl Molinder, John Nordling, Tomas Alfredson
A Prophet – Pascale Caucheteux, Marco Chergui, Alix Raynaud, Jacques Audiard
The White Ribbon – Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Margaret Menegoz, Michael Haneke

ANIMATED FILM
Coraline – Henry Selick
Fantastic Mr. Fox – Wes Anderson
Up – Pete Docter

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
LUCY BAILEY, ANDREW THOMPSON, ELIZABETH MORGAN HEMLOCK, DAVID PEARSON – Directors, Producers – Mugabe and the White African
ERAN CREEVY – Writer/Director – Shifty
STUART HAZELDINE – Writer/Director – Exam
DUNCAN JONES – Director – Moon
SAM TAYLOR-WOOD – Director – Nowhere Boy

DIRECTOR
Avatar – James Cameron
District 9 – Neill Blomkamp
An Education – Lone Scherfig
The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow
Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino

LEADING ACTOR
JEFF BRIDGES – Crazy Heart
GEORGE CLOONEY – Up In the Air
COLIN FIRTH – A Single Man
JEREMY RENNER – The Hurt Locker
ANDY SERKIS – Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

LEADING ACTRESS
CAREY MULLIGAN – An Education
SAOIRSE RONAN – The Lovely Bones
GABOUREY SIDIBE – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
MERYL STREEP – Julie & Julia
AUDREY TAUTOU – Coco Before Chanel

SUPPORTING ACTOR
ALEC BALDWIN – It’s Complicated
CHRISTIAN McKAY – Me and Orson Welles
ALFRED MOLINA – An Education
STANLEY TUCCI – The Lovely Bones
CHRISTOPH WALTZ – Inglourious Basterds

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
ANNE-MARIE DUFF – Nowhere Boy
VERA FARMIGA – Up in the Air
ANNA KENDRICK – Up in the Air
MO’NIQUE – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS – Nowhere Boy

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Hangover – Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
A Serious Man – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Up – Bob Peterson, Pete Docter

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
District 9 – Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
An Education – Nick Hornby
In the Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire – Geoffrey Fletcher
Up In the Air – Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar – Mauro Fiore
District 9 – Trent Opaloch
The Hurt Locker – Barry Ackroyd
Inglourious Basterds – Robert Richardson
The Road – Javier Aguirresarobe

EDITING
Avatar – Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron
District 9 – Julian Clarke
The Hurt Locker – Bob Murawski, Chris Innis
Inglourious Basterds – Sally Menke
Up in the Air – Dana E. Glauberman

MUSIC
Avatar – James Horner
Crazy Heart – T-Bone Burnett, Stephen Bruton
Fantastic Mr. Fox – Alexandre Desplat
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll – Chaz Jankel
Up – Michael Giacchino

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Avatar – Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
District 9 – Philip Ivey, Guy Poltgieter
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – Nominees TBC
Inglourious Basterds – David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds Wasco

COSTUME DESIGN
Bright Star – Janet Patterson
Coco Before Chanel – Catherine Leterrier
An Education – Odile Dicks-Mireaux
A Single Man – Arianne Phillips
The Young Victoria – Sandy Powell

SOUND
Avatar – Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson, Addison Teague
District 9 – Nominees TBC
The Hurt Locker – Ray Beckett, Paul N. J. Ottosson, Craig Stauffer
Star Trek – Peter J. Devlin, Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Mark Stoeckinger, Ben Burtt
Up – Tom Myers, Michael Silvers, Michael Semanick

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar – Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones
District 9 – Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – John Richardson, Tim Burke, Tim Alexander, Nicolas Aithadi
The Hurt Locker – Richard Stutsman
Star Trek – Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton

MAKEUP & HAIR
Coco Before Chanel – Thi Thanh Tu Nguyen, Jane Milon
An Education – Lizzie Yianni Georgiou
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – Sarah Monzani
Nine – Peter ‘Swords’ King
The Young Victoria – Jenny Shircore

ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
Jesse Eisenberg
Nicholas Hoult
Carey Mulligan
Tahar Rahim
Kristen Stewart

Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock win acting honors at 2010 Golden Globes!

It was a night of the "underappreciated" as Hollywood longtimers Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock and Robert Downey Jr. win their first Globes in the star-studded affair hosted by Ricky Gervais. Even in the television categories, the consistently brilliant but usually underrated stars (Julianna Marguilles, Chloe Sevigny, Toni Collette) triumphed in the acting categories.

*BEST SPEECH OF THE NIGHT- Mo'Nique
"I am in the midst of my dream, and when I look into the eyes of the man that I stood next to at fourteen years old, and I said to him, 'One day we're gonna be stars,' and he said 'You first,' I love you more than you will ever know, baby."

*WORST SPEECH OF THE NIGHT- Drew Barrymore. She just rambled and rambled and rambled.

*FUNNIEST QUIP: Meryl Streep
"I just want to say, in my long career, I've played so many extraordinary women that basically I'm getting mistaken for one."

*MOST METAPHORIC SPEECH: Christoph Waltz.
He talked about stars and constellations and planetary orbits like a mad scientist and ended his speech with: "I wouldn't have dared dream my little world, my globe, would be part of that constellation, and now you've made it golden."


*MOST IRONIC SPEECH: Sandra Bullock
"(If I may steal from Michael Oher), I may not be the most talented, but I've been given opportunity,"

Here's a rundown of this year's Golden Globe winners:

MOVIE
Best Picture: Drama — Avatar

Best Picture: Comedy or Musical — The Hangover
Best Director — James Cameron, Avatar
Best Actor: Drama — Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Best Actress: Drama — Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Best Actress: Comedy or Musical — Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Best Actor: Comedy or Musical — Robert Downey, Jr., Sherlock Holmes
Best Supporting Actress — MoNique, Precious
Best Supporting Actor — Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Best Foreign-Language Film — The White Ribbon
Best Screenplay — Up in the Air
Best Animated Feature Film — Up


TELEVISION
Best Television Series: Drama — “Mad Men”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series: Drama — Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series: Drama — Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
Best Television Series: Comedy — “Glee”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series: Comedy — Toni Collette, “The United States of Tara”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series: Comedy — Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television — John Lithgow, “Dexter”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television — Chloe Sevigny, “Big Love”

National Board of Review Picks "Up In The Air" 2010 Best Picture

The Oscar season officially begins with the announcement of the 2010 National Board of Review honorees. The NBR traditionally beats everyone to the draw as it announces its winners in early December. Not a major ripple in the pond though, as NBR isn’t really a reliable barometer of the Oscars.


This year's winners include George Clooney, Morgan Freeman and NBR favorite Clint Eastwood.
NBR snubs: “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”, “Nine”, “An Education”, “Avatar” and “Lovely Bones”

NBR Biggest WTF: “Star Trek”? Seriously?!


Here is the complete list of NBR winners:


BEST FILM: "Up in the Air"

TEN BEST FILMS
(Alphabetical order)
"An Education"
"(500) Days of Summer"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Invictus"
"The Messenger"
"A Serious Man"
"Star Trek"
"Up"
"Where the Wild Things Are"

BEST DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood, "Invictus"
BEST ACTOR (tie): George Clooney, "Up in the Air"; Morgan Freeman, "Invictus"

BEST ACTRESS: Carey Mulligan, "An Education"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "A Prophet"

BEST DOCUMENTARY: "The Cove"

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: "Up"

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: "It's Complicated"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR: Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS: Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious"

SPOTLIGHT AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT: Duncan Jones, "Moon"; Oren Moverman, "The Messenger"; Marc Webb, "(500) Days of Summer"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Joel and Ethan Coen, "A Serious Man"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air"

SPECIAL FILMMAKING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Wes Anderson, "Fantastic Mr. Fox"

WILLIAM K. EVERSON FILM HISTORY AWARD: Jean Picker Firstenberg

NBR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
"Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Country"
"Invictus"
"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers"

FIVE BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILMS
(Alphabetical order)
"The Maid"
"Revanche"
"Song of Sparrows"
"Three Monkeys"
"The White Ribbon"

FIVE BEST DOCUMENTARIES
(Alphabetical order)
"Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Country"
"Crude"
"Food, Inc."
"Good Hair"
"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers"

TOP 10 INDEPENDENT FILMS
(Alphabetical order)
"Amreeka"
"District 9"
"Goodbye Solo"
"Humpday"
"In the Loop"
"Julia"
"Me and Orson Welles"
"Moon"
"Sugar"
"Two Lovers"

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin To Host Oscars!

Funnymen Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will share hosting chores at the 82nd Academy Awards. This was announced by Oscar telecast producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman last November 3.

Uhmm. That�s a welcome surprise although I was kind of rooting for Neil Patrick Harris after his superb showmanship at this year�s Emmys.

With Baldwin in, I bet my Tracy Jordan t-shirt that the show would be littered with a few Tina Fey jokes.

Incidentally, both Baldwin and Martin appear with Meryl Streep in the Christmas release �It�s Complicated�.