British royal drama “The Favourite” earned maximum twelve nominations for this year’s British Academy Film Awards while critically-loved features “Roma”, “Green Book” and “A Star Is Born” also made the cut. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) announced the nominations on Wednesday and while the Yorgos Lanthimos film is leading the pack, there was enough love for this year’s other major titles, including those that were snubbed by the recently concluded Golden Globes.”The Favourite”, starring British actors Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz and American star Emma Stone, will fight it out with racial drama “Green Book”, Spike Lee’s undercover story “BlacKkKlansman”, Alfonso Cuaron’s black-and-white “Roma” and Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut “A Star is Born”. However, “If Beale Street Could Talk” failed to make it to the category.
“Bohemian Rhapsody”, which was a surprise best motion picture – drama award winner at the Globes, has done well at the Baftas as well with seven nods, equal to “Roma”, “First Man” and “A Star Is Born”.Following close with six nods is Adam McKay’s “Vice”, starring Christian Bale as former US vice president Dick Cheney. “BlacKkKlansman” has five nominations while Pawel Pawlikowski’s much loved monochrome romance “Cold War” and Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” each scored four. Lee, Pawlikowski, Lanthimos, Cuaron and Cooper are in the running for the best director Bafta. This year’s best actress Golden Globe winners — Glenn Close (“The Wife”) and Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”) — are the front-runners in the best actress category at the Baftas. The two actors are joined by Lady Gaga (“A Star Is Born”), Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) and Viola Davis (“Widows”). Bale and Rami Malek may have won individual Golden Globes but the two are pitted against each other in the best actor category, which also features the names of Cooper and Viggo Mortensen of “Green Book”.
Steve Coogan (“Stan & Ollie”) completes the list. The supporting actor and actresses categories are equally rich, including all the names that are being considered as front-runners at the Academy Awards.The actresses list features Amy Adams for “Vice” and “The Favourite” co-stars — Stone and Weisz. “First Man” star Claire Foy and Margot Robbie of “Mary Queen of Scots” are also in the running.”Green Book” star Mahershala Ali’s sprint to win his second Oscar in supporting actor category got a major boost with a Bafta nomination. He will face it off with Adam Driver of “BlacKkKlansman”, Richard E Grant of “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, Sam Rockwell of “Vice” and Timothee Chalamet of “Beautiful Boy”.
Interestingly, the category, film not in the english language closely mirrors the Oscar shortlist till now with “Roma”, “Shoplifters”, “Cold War” and “Capernaum”. Italian film “Dogman” also features in the best five.The best original screenplay category is a battle between Cuaron’s “Roma”, Pawlikowski’s “Cold War”, Lanthimos’ “The Favourite”, McKay’s “Vice” and Farrelly’s “Green Book”.While Cooper’s “A Star Is Born” will square off against Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman”, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, “First Man” and “If Beale Street Could Talk” in the adapted screenplay category. The best animated film category is a direct fight between Disney and Sony’s superhero features — “Incredibles 2” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, respectively. Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animated film “Isle of Dogs” round off the list.
Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns” star Emily Blunt might have failed to make a cut in the best actress category but the musical fantasy film has managed to get nods in best production design, best costume design and best original music categories. The film will also face off against “Blackkklansman”, “If Beale Street Could Talk”, “Isle of Dogs” and “A Star Is Born” in the original music category. “Roma”, “The Favourite”, “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “First Man” have also been nominated in the best cinematography and editing categories.
Marvel blockbusters — “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War” — have both received nods in the best visual effects category. The two films are joined by “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”, “First Man” and Steven Speilberg’s “Ready Player One” in the list. The organisers had previously announced that actors Jessie Buckley, Cynthia Erivo, Letitia Wright, Lakeith Stanfield and Barry Keoghan will vying for the coveted EE Rising Star Award, which is voted on by the public. The Bafta ceremony will take place on Feb 10 at London’s Royal Albert Hall and will be broadcast on BBC One. Joanna Lumley will once again host the event.
