BAFTAs Preview

And now for a last minute run through the likely winners at this Sunday’s BAFTA awards. Enjoy.

MAKE UP & HAIR
COCO BEFORE CHANEL Thi Thanh Tu Nguyen, Madeleine Cofano, Jane Milon
AN EDUCATION Lizzie Yianni Georgiou
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS Sarah Monzani
NINE Peter Swords King
THE YOUNG VICTORIA Jenny Shircore

This category seems populated by an abundance of “hair” nominees
rather than make-up – from the sleek, sultry looks of Nine to the posh fashionista stylings of Coco Before Chanel, The Young Victoria and An Education, the category might as well be named “Best Hair”. Coco Before Chanel arguably has the most support of all the nominees (with 4 nominations in total), but one can’t help feeling that The Young Victoria’s distinctive manipulation of royal wigs and hairstyles will win over BAFTA voters. An Education’s nod here seems calculated to project more weight behind the lone British Best Picture nominee, which despite its field-leading tally of nominations (at 8 if you include the “Best British Film” citation), doesn’t really seem a threat for the win with its unremarkable crafts. Nine’s critical drubbing and lone nomination makes it an unlikely contender for victory and Imaginarium, while featuring stellar, highly deserving
work from Monzani, will have to sit back and watch the film with the
highest profile swoop in for the kill.

Bottom line: The Young Victoria takes it but watch out for Coco Before Chanel to surprise.

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

This is a notoriously difficult category to predict as BAFTA doesn’t appear to appreciate only lavish period garb. Past winners vary from ornate finery (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “The Lord of the
Rings: The Two Towers”, “Memoirs of a Geisha”) to subtle, character-serving creations (“Vera Drake”, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”) and yes, to extravagant couture (encapsulated perfectly by last year’s Oscar winner “The Duchess”). All of the nominated films could feasibly be categorised under one of these three labels and thus could walk away with the prize. However, I’ll make an educated guess and venture that Phillips’ nomination for her classic work on “A Single Man” will be its own reward. I’m also going to suppose that “Coco Before Chanel” and “Bright Star”, two films featuring costume designers (for lack of a better word) will split their collective vote. Against my better judgement, I’m predicting “The Young Victoria” to continue the trend evidenced by “Marie Antoinette” and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” which lose the BAFTA but proceed to have their fabulous frocks lauded by the Academy. It should not be forgotten that “An Education” also led the nominations (easy to overlook given the David vs. Goliath headline dominating the media) and achieved a (somewhat surprising) costume design nomination. This clear seal of approval could feasibly result in a win for Mireaux’s elegant and timeless attire.

Bottom line: The hometown advantage gives “An Education” the edge in this category but BAFTA (and Academy) favourite Powell is probably the safer (and more probable) victor. Here’s hoping for a Sunday surprise.

PRODUCTION DESIGN
AVATAR Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
DISTRICT 9 Philip Ivey, Guy Potgieter
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS Dave Warren, Anastasia Masaro, Caroline Smith
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds Wasco

In a line up consisting entirely of fantasy nominees
(here I go stretching Inglorious Basterds omnipresent “World War II fantasy” tag to its limits), Avatar stands out for simply building the entire Pandora universe from little more than sheer imagination.District 9 is too atypical of a winner in this category while for the often overlooked Stuart Craig, despite bolstering the Harry Potter franchise to arguably its most technically proficient depths yet, the nomination looks to be the reward. Inglourious Basterds’ lived-in sets for Nazi-occupied France were omitted from this category at the Oscars, which doesn’t bode well for its chances here. So, it would appear to be a two-way tussle between Dr Parnassus’ loopy, candy-coloured designs andAvatar’s epic landscapes. Something tells me Avatar takes the prize in a cakewalk.

Bottom line: Avatar resoundingly triumphs, with Parnassus a possible spoiler.

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

A quick perusal of the BAFTA winners in this category over the last decade indicated they don’t like musicals – “Chicago”, “Dreamgirls” and “Mamma Mia!” all went home empty-handed . So there goes any hopes Jankel had off winning. Although they’ve displayed an oriental preference as of late (over the years, handing their music prizes to “The Motorcycle Diaries”, “Memoirs of a Geisha”, “Babel”, “Slumdog Millionaire”, none of the nominees seem to fill that bill. Without any real clue as to how this category will pan out, I’ll play it safe and put my chips on BFCA, Globe and Grammy winner Michael Giacchnio for his beautiful, lyrical compositions for this year’s critical and audience fave “Up”.

Bottom line: Giacchino should continue his recent hot streak (and cement his Oscar) for his stirring work on “Up” but the vital, narrative-serving music of “Crazy Heart” looms as a strong possibility as well.

SOUND
AVATAR Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson, Addison Teague
DISTRICT 9 Brent Burge, Chris Ward, Dave Whitehead, Michael Hedges, Ken Saville
THE HURT LOCKER Ray Beckett, Paul N. J. Ottosson
STAR TREK Peter J. Devlin, Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Mark Stoeckinger, Ben Burtt
UP Tom Myers, Michael Silvers, Michael Semanick, Doc Kane

BAFTA’s choices went 3 for 5 with the Academy, with District 9
and Up being swapped out for Inglourious Basterds and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. However, BAFTA’s membership is probably ignorant of what constitutes good sound mixing, which is why (like the Academy’s selections in this category) the winner tends to be either a beloved frontrunner (The Hurt Locker) or a tech-heavy giant (Avatar and one could argue Star Trek). Though Star Trek is allegedly the best example of Sound amongst this year’s crop of nominees (read Kris Tapley’s impassioned FYC for the crew here, continued here), there may be an unshakable perception that Avatar, as the colossal blockbuster, is sonically more accomplished due to its immersive spectacle properties and “game-changing” use of motion-capture technology that make voting for any other film unthinkable. Pixar’s output is generally exemplary on the sound front, but frankly Up is not that impressive when compared to The Incredibles, Finding Nemo or the space-dwelling Wall-E. That said, it’ll likely boil down to an Avatar vs The Hurt Locker showdown once more, with current momentum slightly favouring The Hurt Locker.

Bottom line: The Hurt Locker pulls out a hard-fought win but Avatar could just as easily win. A coin toss with this one.

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

Bottom line: This one is embarrassingly locked and loaded – “Avatar” has got it in the bag.

CINEMATOGRAPHY
AVATAR Mauro Fiore
DISTRICT 9 Trent Opaloch
THE HURT LOCKER Barry Ackroyd
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Robert Richardson
THE ROAD Javier Aguirresarobe

The Road was criminally unsung during most of the precursors, so it was heartening to see the tough little film get its due in this category. District 9 continued its impressive streak in the awards race, landing a somewhat unexpected cinematography nod for Opaloch’s gritty handheld dexterity. However, both men are non-starters to take out the category, which pits the three most talked-about possibilities for Oscar’s top prize against one another. The Hurt Locker dials up District 9’s realism scale to 11, with frenetic, you-are-there camerawork that ratchets up the tension whilst reminding us that in war, the enemy comes from all sides with a face incapable of recognition. Avatar and Inglourious Basterds are your typical eye-candy in this category, which may swing votes from members put off by the sometimes nausea-inducing fast cam, even when used to brilliant, thematically appropriate effect as in the technically sound The Hurt Locker.

Bottom line: Avatar ekes out a slight win over Basterds, with The Hurt Locker losing out due to “shakey cam” bias.

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

Don’t look for any correlations with the Academy’s Best Picture winner in this category. 2008’s “Slumdog Millionaire” was the first Best Picture nominee since 2000’s “Gladiator” to take the editing prize from BAFTA. I think “The Hurt Locker” has more than enough critical support to come up trumps in this category, much like the “Slumdog” juggernaut last year. BAFTA seems to favour frenetic or in-your-face editing work, which aligns perfectly with previous winners “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, “United 93” and “The Bourne Ultimatum”. This would seem to favour the well-received sci-fi allegory pic “District 9” and tech behemoth “Avatar”, both of which are likely victors here. I don’t expect BAFTA to be discerning enough to reward Glauberman’s subtle cutting on “Up in the Air” or Menke’s allowance for expository-heavy scenes in “Inglourious Basterds”.

Bottom line: “The Hurt Locker” has amassed the largest critical support of any of this year’s nominated films – why shouldn’t its golden awards run continue here? The sci-fi double-hander of “District 9” and “Avatar” seem to be the only feasible threats.

ANIMATED FILM
CORALINE Henry Selick
FANTASTIC MR FOX Wes Anderson
UP Pete Docter

Bottom line: Up, up and away.

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
BROKEN EMBRACES Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar
COCO BEFORE CHANEL Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo, Philippe Carcassonne, Anne Fontain
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN Carl Molinder, John Nordling, Tomas Alfredson
A PROPHET Pascal Caucheteux, Marco Cherqui, Alix Raynaud, Jacques Audiard
THE WHITE RIBBON Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Margaret Menegoz, Michael Haneke

Putting it bluntly, “Let the Right One In” and “Coco Before Chanel” has virtually no chance of pulling off wins here (BAFTA isn’t normally the sort to make adventurous, left-field choices and I can’t see them breaking that trend to award Alfredson’s Swedish vampire pic a whole year after the rest of the world fell for the film). The surprisingly popular “Broken Embraces” boasts a slightly more credible chance at winning – with Spanish auteur Almodóvar at the helm and Academy favourite Penelope Cruz headlining – but I think this category boils down to a photo finish between two Cannes alumni. With a few exceptions (like 2004’s “In This World”, 2006’s “The Beat My Heart Skipped” and 2009’s “I’ve Loved You So Long”), the victor in this category tends to be the most high-profile film that musters up significant cross-over support from the Academy (see former winners “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Talk to Her”, “Pan’s Labyringth” and “The Lives of Others”). That would make Michael Haneke’s meditative, morally ambiguous World War II drama “The White Ribbon” the frontrunner, given it has more Oscar nominations (2) than the competition. However, the Academy clearly didn’t lavish praise on “Ribbon” and I doubt the BAFTA will. Hot on the heels of Best Picture wins at the London Film Festival and London Film Critics Circle, “A Prophet” seems to have the enthusiastic approval of the British film community and I’m wagering on a repeat victory here. If “A Prophet” does walk away with the prize, the race for the Foreign Film Oscar becomes all the more fierce between the category’s presumed frontrunners.

Bottom line: “A Prophet” should pip “The White Ribbon” at the post, with Almodóvar’s “Broken Embraces” a possibility if the Academy’s feeling nostalgic.

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 Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

BAFTA predicted the Academy lineup in this category 4/5, which is not especially noteworthy given the consensus that established itself very early on in the season. As the sole nominee not finding favour from the Academy, I’d say “The Hangover” scribes Jon Luca and Scott Moore are just along for the ride. The brilliant idiosyncrasy of the Coens’ work on “A Serious Man” has been neglected the entire season and I don’t see the uber-conservative BAFTA bucking this trend. Thus, the category boils down to an exact replica of the race for the Original Screenplay Oscar – with Boal and Tarantino duking it out for the win and Peterson lurking to steal the prize in case of a vote split. The eventual victor here will shed some light on whether “Locker” has amassed enough support to nab the screenwriting Oscar in favour of the more traditional writer’s piece which is “Basterds”. As for the BAFTA, I’ll side with the proverbial frontrunner and nomination-leading “Locker”.

Bottom line: The widespread praise for “Locker” should be enough to seal the win but Tarantino’s genius work on “Basterds” should not be ignored.

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

BAFTA impressively matched Oscar’s line up 5 for 5 in this
category (I also did the same in my final Oscar predictions), although In the Loop, a witty, fast-paced, profanity-infused glimpse at the wars that take place away from those on the battlefield, owes its nomination as much to the British origins of the film it adorns to its finesse with words and comedic timing. But, despite taking out the prestigious New York Film Critics prize for Best Screenplay (as well as several other trophies throughout the season) , In the Loop, both here and at the Oscars, is just thankful not to be left, er, out of the loop amongst a crop of four Best Picture nominees. Up in the Air has seized pretty much every adapted screenplay award since the precursors began, which makes it a lock of almost Mo’Nique/Waltz proportions to triumph yet again.
The Oscar is already engraved with Reitman and Turner’s
names on it (in more ways than one this year)
and after the now Academy-sycophantic BAFTA voters have
had their say, this will still be the case.

Bottom line: Up in the Air soars off with the prize with an Oscar statuette not far behind. An Education’s Nick Hornby is an outside chance for an upset.

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

Bottom line: No contest. Mo’Nique is just getting warmed up for the Oscars and unfortunately, her competitors (if one can even call them that) will all vote split each other’s chances down the drain.

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

Bottom line: Waltz will waltz away with this one. Next, the Oscar. Enough said.

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

BAFTA managed to correctly pin down 3 of Oscar’s nominated performers this year, with the young Irish teenager Ronan and the French superstar Tautou edging out Oscar nominee Helen Mirren in The Last Station. Both should be content with being nominated after being disregarded for the majority of the season. Sandra Bullock, the current frontrunner in the category, is conspicuously absent as The Blind Side has not touched down across the pond, making for a refreshing contest between the British Mulligan, who adroitly shouldered Lone Scherfig’s poised film on her dainty shoulders and the legendary Streep, who has a strong shot at taking home only her second BAFTA, after The French Lieutenant’s Woman in check. Mulligan, who has hitherto been sidelined during the major precursors (Golden Globe, BFCA, SAG), stands to benefit tremendously from the British contingency of the BAFTAs voting body, who may want to throw a crumb to the star-is-born turn in the homegrown favourite. However, BAFTA often likes to play prophet with the Oscars and may thus give the win to the actress with the only serious chance of derailing the Sandra Bullock freight train at this critical junction in the awards race.

Bottom line: Mulligan has to be slightly favoured here, if only for her British roots. Streep and her infectiously joyous character Julia Child, are arguably not as popular in England as in the USA, which may be all that separates the two in the end.

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

Although the BAFTA sometimes like to reward its own in this category (evidenced by Jamie Bell’s win in 2000), recently they have showed a disturbing penchant for second-guessing the Academy’s choices (awarding their Leading Actor prizes between 2004 and 2007 to eventual Oscar winners Jamie Foxx, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Forest Whitaker and Daniel Day-Lewis). That officially puts a damper on hometown favourites Firth or Serkis coming up trumps here. I highly doubt BAFTA will throw their support behind Clooney, given this year’s strong showing for movie stars (Bullock, Downey Jr.) and populist, accessible fare (Avatar, The Hangover) at the Golden Globes failed to yield a win for “Up in the Air”’s leading man. Meanwhile, pundits favourite Jeff Bridges, who, while largely overlooked in the early precursors (ironically, in favour of Clooney), has nabbed the important trifecta of acting prizes (BFCA, Globe, SAG) and looks set to walk away with the BAFTA (and Oscar) as well. As with the Oscars, the only potential spoiler here is Jeremy Renner for his bravura, fully-realised performance in “The Hurt Locker” – if “Locker” pulls off a win in the top category as predicted, the appreciation of the film may be enough to allow Renner to edge into the winner’s circle.

Bottom line: Bridges should continue this category’s inclination towards the Oscar frontrunner (and victor) but if “Locker” takes the top prize, Renner looks tantalising poised for a (shocking) upset.

DIRECTOR
AVATAR James Cameron
DISTRICT 9 Neill Blomkamp
AN EDUCATION Lone Scherfig
THE HURT LOCKER Kathryn Bigelow
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Quentin Tarantino

District 9 and Inglourious Basterds rode off the coattails of passion for their films to
register lone director nominations for Neil Blomkamp and Quentin Tarantino respectively. Therefore, as helmers of Best Picture nominees Avatar, An Education and The Hurt Locker, it is Cameron, Scherfig and Bigelow who remain standing as potential victors here. Bigelow, with the exception of the Golden Globe which went to ex-husband Cameron, has steamrolled through the precursor season, recently capping it off with a historic win from the Directors Guild of America. I don’t see the result being
any different here.

Bottom line: Bigelow moves one step closer to her first Oscar. Any other winner would draw an outcry so fierce BAFTA would simply not live it down.

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
AN EDUCATION Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey, 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 Robert Bernstein, Douglas Rae, Kevin Loader, Sam Taylor-Wood, Matt Greenhalgh

The BAFTA generally recognises more eclectic and unconventional films in this somewhat overlooked category (following the selection of “The Warrior” in 2003, “Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2006 and “This is England” in 2008), which is why “An Education” will probably continue the trend of Academy Awards bait (“The Aviator”, “Atonement” and “Slumdog Millionaire”) having more success in the Best Film category. By contrast, “Moon” represents the style of bold, uncompromising filmmaking this category generally rewards. “Fish Tank” seems a non-player given its one citation was in this category while the dialogue-heavy “In the Loop” probably has a better shot in the Adapted screenplay category. However, with Best Debut and two Supporting Actress nominations, John Lennon biopic “Nowhere Boy” looks prime for a (surprise) upset.

Bottom Line: “Moon” looks to be the frontrunner but don’t count out “Nowhere Boy”.

BEST FILM
AVATAR James Cameron, Jon Landau
AN EDUCATION Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey
THE HURT LOCKER Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness
UP IN THE AIR Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Daniel Dubiecki

Given the omission for Reitman and Daniels, Up in the Air and Precious appear to be the weak ducklings in the race with very little chance of winning so once again it is down to nomination leaders Avatar, An Education and The Hurt Locker for the top prize. Something tells me Avatar is not currying favour with awards groups, becoming a film to be respected for its revolutionary technical achievements, if not loved enough by voters to hand it the prestigious honour. That pits Scherfig’s delicate coming-of-age tale against Bigelow’s tension-drenched, IED-drama in a battle that looks closer than it is. With a consolation Best British prize on offer for the former, the Best Picture frontrunner should handily come out trumps her. Don’t underestimate An Education though as former wins for Atonement and The Queen show BAFTA are not afraid of going for one of their own when the occasion arises.

Bottom line: The Hurt Locker chalks up another impressive win but An Education could predictably emerge victorious, especially it if loses out in the Best British film category.

In short:

Film: The Hurt Locker
watch for: An Education

British Film: Moon
watch for: Nowhere Boy

Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
watch for: Don’t bother

Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
watch for: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education
watch for: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
watch for: Don’t bother

Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious
watch for: Don’t bother

Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
watch for: Nick Hornby, An Education

Original Screenplay: Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
watch for: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Foreign Film: A Prophet
watch for: The White Ribbon

Animated Film: Up
watch for: Don’t bother

Editing: Bob Murawski and Chris Innis, The Hurt Locker
watch for: Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron, Avatar

Cinematography: Mauro Fiore, Avatar
watch for: Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds

Special Visual Effects: Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones, Avatar
watch for: Don’t bother

Sound: Ray Beckett and Paul N. J. Ottosson, The Hurt Locker
watch for: Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson and Addison Teague, Avatar

Music: Michael Giacchino, Up
watch for: T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton, Crazy Heart

Production Design:Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg and Kim Sinclair, Avatar

watch for:

Dave Warren, Anastasia Masaro and Caroline Smith, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus

Costume Design: Odile Dicks-Mireaux, An Education
watch for: Sandy Powell, The Young Victoria

Make Up and Hair: Jenny Shircore, The Young Victoria
watch for: Thi Thanh Tu Nguyen, Madeleine Cofano and Jane Milon, Coco Before Chanel

MAKE UP & HAIR

COCO BEFORE CHANEL Thi Thanh Tu Nguyen, Madeleine Cofano, Jane Milon

AN EDUCATION Lizzie Yianni Georgiou

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS Sarah Monzani

NINE Peter Swords King

THE YOUNG VICTORIA Jenny Shircore

This category seems populated by an abundance of “hair” nominees rather than make-up – from the sleek, sultry looks of Nine to the posh fashionista stylings of Coco Before Chanel, The Young Victoria and An Education, the category might as well be named “Best Hair”. Coco Before Chanel arguably has the most support of all the nominees (with 4 nominations in total), but one can’t help feeling that The Young Victoria’s distinctive manipulation of royal wigs and hairstyles will win over BAFTA voters. An Education’s nod here seems calculated to project more weight behind the lone British Best Picture nominee, which despite its field-leading tally of nominations (at 8 if you include the “Best British Film” citation), doesn’t really seem a threat for the win with its unremarkable crafts. Nine’s critical drubbing and lone nomination makes it an unlikely contender for victory and Imaginarium, while featuring stellar, highly deserving work from Monzani, will have to sit back and watch the film with the highest profile swoop in for the kill.

Bottom line: The Young Victoria takes it but watch out for Coco Before Chanel to surprise.

SOUND

AVATAR Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson, Addison Teague

DISTRICT 9 Brent Burge, Chris Ward, Dave Whitehead, Michael Hedges, Ken Saville

THE HURT LOCKER Ray Beckett, Paul N. J. Ottosson

STAR TREK Peter J. Devlin, Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Mark Stoeckinger, Ben Burtt

UP Tom Myers, Michael Silvers, Michael Semanick, Doc Kane

BAFTA’s choices went 3 for 5 with the Academy, with District 9 and Up being swapped out for Inglourious Basterds and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. However, BAFTA’s membership is probably ignorant of what constitutes good sound mixing, which is why (like the Academy’s selections in this category) the winner tends to be either a beloved frontrunner (The Hurt Locker) or a tech-heavy giant (Avatar and one could argue Star Trek). Though Star Trek is allegedly the best example of Sound amongst this year’s crop of nominees (read Kris Tapley’s impassioned FYC for the crew here), there may be an unshakable perception that Avatar, as the colossal blockbuster, is sonically more accomplished due to its immersive spectacle properties and “game-changing” use of motion-capture technology that make voting for any other film unthinkable. Pixar’s output is generally exemplary on the sound front, but frankly Up is not that impressive when compared to The Incredibles, Finding Nemo or the space-dwelling Wall-E. That said, it’ll likely boil down to an Avatar vs The Hurt Locker showdown once more, with current momentum slightly favouring The Hurt Locker.

Bottom line: The Hurt Locker pulls out a hard-fought win but Avatar could just as easily win. A coin toss with this one.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

AVATAR Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair

DISTRICT 9 Philip Ivey, Guy Potgieter

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS Dave Warren, Anastasia Masaro, Caroline Smith

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds Wasco

In a line up consisting entirely of fantasy nominees (here I go stretching Inglorious Basterds omnipresent “World War II fantasy” tag to its limits), Avatar stands out for simply building the entire Pandora universe from little more than sheer imagination. District 9 is too atypical of a winner in this category while for the often overlooked Stuart Craig, despite bolstering the Harry Potter franchise to arguably its most technically proficient depths yet, the nomination looks to be the reward. Inglourious Basterds’ lived-in sets for Nazi-occupied France were omitted from this category at the Oscars, which doesn’t bode well for its chances here. So, it would appear to be a two-way tussle between Dr Parnassus’ loopy, candy-coloured designs and Avatar’s epic landscapes. Something tells me Avatar takes the prize in a cakewalk.

Bottom line: Avatar resoundingly triumphs, with Parnassus a possible spoiler.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

AVATAR Mauro Fiore

DISTRICT 9 Trent Opaloch

THE HURT LOCKER Barry Ackroyd

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Robert Richardson

THE ROAD Javier Aguirresarobe

The Road was criminally unsung during most of the precursors, so it was heartening to see the tough little film get its due in this category. District 9 continued its impressive streak in the awards race, landing a somewhat unexpected cinematography nod for Opaloch’s gritty handheld dexterity. However, both men are non-starters to take out the category, which pits the three most talked-about possibilities for Oscar’s top prize against one another. The Hurt Locker dials up District 9’s realism scale to 11, with frenetic, you-are-there camerawork that ratchets up the tension whilst reminding us that in war, the enemy comes from all sides and with a face incapable of recognition. Avatar and Inglourious Basterds are your typical eye-candy in this category, which may swing votes from members put off by the sometimes nausea-inducing fast cam, even when used to brilliant, thematically appropriate effect as in the technically sound The Hurt Locker.

Bottom line: Avatar ekes out a slight win over Basterds, with The Hurt Locker losing out due to “quick cam” bias

ANIMATED FILM

CORALINE Henry Selick

FANTASTIC MR FOX Wes Anderson

UP Pete Docter

Bottom line: Up, up and away.

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

BAFTA impressively matched Oscar’s line up 5 for 5 in this category (I also did the same in my final Oscar predictions), although In the Loop, a witty, fast-paced, profanity-infused glimpse at the wars that take place away from those on the battlefield, owes its nomination as much to the British origins of the film it adorns to its finesse with words and comedic timing. But, despite taking out the prestigious New York Film Critics prize for Best Screenplay (as well as several other trophies throughout the season) (MCN link), In the Loop, both here and at the Oscars, is just thankful not to be left, er, out of the loop amongst a crop of four Best Picture nominees. Up in the Air has seized pretty much every adapted screenplay award since the precursors began (MCN link), which makes it a lock of almost Mo’Nique/Waltz proportions to triumph yet again. The Oscar is already engraved with Reitman and Turner’s names on it (in literally more ways than one this year) (link) and after the now Academy-sycophantic BAFTA voters have had their say, this will still be the case.

Bottom line: Up in the Air soars off with the prize with an Oscar statuette not far behind. An Education’s Nick Hornby is an outside chance for an upset.

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

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

BAFTA managed to correctly pin down 3 of Oscar’s nominated performers this year, with the young Irish teenager Ronan and the French superstar Tautou edging out Oscar nominee Helen Mirren in The Last Station. Both should be content with being nominated after being disregarded for the majority of the season. Sandra Bullock, the current frontrunner in the category, is conspicuously absent as The Blind Side has not touched down across the pond, making for a refreshing contest between the British Mulligan, who adroitly shouldered Lone Scherfig’s poised film on her dainty shoulders and the legendary Streep, who has a strong shot at taking home only her second BAFTA, after The French Lieutenant’s Woman in check. Mulligan, who has hitherto been sidelined during the major precursors (Golden Globe, BFCA, SAG), stands to benefit tremendously from the British contingency of the BAFTAs voting body, who may want to throw a crumb to the star-is-born turn in the homegrown favourite. However, BAFTA often likes to play prophet with the Oscars and may thus give the win to the actress with the only serious chance of derailing the Sandra Bullock freight train at this critical junction in the awards race.

DIRECTOR

AVATAR James Cameron

DISTRICT 9 Neill Blomkamp

AN EDUCATION Lone Scherfig

THE HURT LOCKER Kathryn Bigelow

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Quentin Tarantino

District 9 and Inglourious Basterds rode off the coattails of passion for their films to register lone director nominations for Neil Blomkamp and Quentin Tarantino respectively. Therefore, as helmers of Best Picture nominees Avatar, An Education and The Hurt Locker, it is Cameron, Scherfig and Bigelow who remain standing as potential victors here. Bigelow, with the exception of the Golden Globe which went to ex-husband Cameron, has steamrolled through the precursor season, recently capping it off with a historic win from the Directors Guild of America. I don’t see the result being any different here.

Bottom line: Bigelow moves one step closer to her first Oscar. Any other winner would draw an outcry so fierce BAFTA would simply not live it down.

BEST FILM

AVATAR James Cameron, Jon Landau

AN EDUCATION Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey

THE HURT LOCKER Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro

PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness

UP IN THE AIR Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Daniel Dubiecki

Bottom line: The Hurt Locker chalks up another impressive win but An Education could predictably emerge victorious, especially it if loses out in the Best British film category.

So in short:

Picture: The Hurt Locker

watch for: An Education

Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

watch for: Don’t bother

Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education

watch for: Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious

watch for: Don’t bother

Animated Film: Up

watch for: Don’t bother

Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air