Will the Baftas be a carbon copy of the Oscars?
The Bafta awards are the British film industry’s annual red-carpet get-together, and not unnaturally many of Hollywood’s big names will be in attendance; it has become an article of faith that a paparazzi shot in London can be a key opinion-shifter for the all-important campaign to grab Oscar votes before polling finishes on 17 February. That certainly accounts for the months of love-bombing that Bafta voters now experience, with intimate screenings and Q&As with the big-shots, and bundles of the same DVD screeners that the Oscar voters get. That, perhaps, explains the increasing convergence of the British and American Academy awards, with the same actors and films dominating the major categories. In fact, if the bookies have called it right, we could see exactly the same winners of the six top awards: Boyhood and Richard Linklater for best film and director, Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore for acting, JK Simmons and Patricia Arquette for supporting. Each of them are massively odds-on favourites in both awards shows. We won’t know for sure until after the Oscars on 22 February, but it’s looking more likely than ever that the two will simply be mirrors of each other.
Can Under the Skin sneak through?
The Jonathan Glazer-directed marauding alien film starring Scarlett Johansson was Guardian critics’ number one pick of the year; Peter Bradshaw described it as “gasp-inducing: hilarious, disturbing, audacious”. The London Film Critics’ Circle also liked it, naming it British film of the year. The Oscars, predictably, entirely ignored it, and a smattering of other bodies gave it nods, mostly for its score by Mica Levi. Clearly, this extraordinary, shattering film was too heady a concoction for most awards-givers – even the off-agenda National Society of Film Critics, who bafflingly named Godard’s Goodbye to Language as the year’s best. But Bafta voters have a chance to right this monumental wrong, by voting it in the outstanding British film category.
Will Mike Leigh break protocol?
When the Bafta nominations were declared on 9 January, there was an even more puzzling – nay, outrageous – omission. Where was Mr Turner, the Mike Leigh-directed biopic of Britain’s groundbreaking 19th-century painter, that had won so many accolades after premiering at Cannes and winning Timothy Spall the festival’s best actor award. If Under the Skin might come across a little renegade, that can’t be said for Mr Turner; a thoroughly mainstream, beguilingly told period film from one of our most garlanded auteurs. And doesn’t everyone love Spall? Then earlier this week - as if to deliberately draw attention to the nomination oversight – Bafta announced the director was to receive its annual fellowship. So Leigh gets to attend the ball, and make a speech to the assembled throng. Though he toed the line on the official statement – “I’m moved, delighted and surprised” – Leigh is not exactly afraid of a fight. The chances that his irritation over Mr Turner’s big-category exclusion may trigger some irascible words on the podium are pretty high. There’s much to hope for.
Will anyone mention the “S” word?
At least Mike Leigh has got something to look forward to at the Baftas: four of his crew are up for gongs. Not so Selma, the biopic of Martin Luther King. The Oscars only gave it two nominations (for best film and song) but Selma got nothing at all from the Baftas. Now, it’s possible to argue that King is a less resonant figure in the UK, where the US’s civil rights struggles are a distant if admirable process. But where Bafta has no problem nominating public school chaps like Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch, it rates as something of a shock that it has turned a blind eye to Selma’s lead David Oyelowo, a British actor who went to an Islington comprehensive. Plenty of ink has been spilled in recent weeks on exactly how racist the film industry may or may not be – including the furore over Cumberbatch’s “coloured” gaffe – while industry insiders mutter that delayed delivery of DVD screeners played its part. Someone – and I’d put money on Cumberbatch – could well call it out.
Will Paddington put in an appearance on the red carpet?
When all this awards season malarkey started back in October, the Paddington movie looked like it was going to be a nice little kids film, and not much more. Stellar box office figures, sobbing acclaim and – astonishingly – near-blockbuster status in the US, means that Paddington has mutated into a bona fide cinematic hit. The film’s human creators – director Paul King and producer David Heyman – are nominated in the best British film and will arrive, present and correct, in best bib and tucker. But what of the fluffy marmalade eater himself? Are you saying he’s not real? In that case the mix of CGI and animatronics (with the voice of Ben Whishaw) could be up for one of those wacky “live” animations, where Paddington can stroll on stage and do his stuff. Get that mouse clicking now!
Is Stephen Fry planning to sign off in style?
The big man – just married, which may well get a mention – has been shuffling his feet a bit over his longrunning hosting stint: this is his 10th time in the chair, having reclaimed the gig from Jonathan Ross in 2012. Now, Fry is a silvertongued master of the impromptu comeback, but even he admitted last year he may be getting a little stale, suggesting that Bafta should hire Steve Coogan next time around. Well, it didn’t happen, and Fry it will be, and there’s no reason he won’t do a thoroughly bang-up job. (Even if his faux-Wodehouse burblings have been somewhat put in the shade by the rapier-like stylings of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who have taken awards-show hosting to another comedy level.) You can see him falling on his metaphorical sword with defiant elan.
The British Academy film awards take place on 8 February in London.
