| The nominees for the British Academy Film Awards were announced this morning, and it's a good year for Her Majesty, with The Queen picking up ten nominations and leading the field. Hot on her heels, and indeed on her secret service, is Casino Royale with nine (including a nod for Craig's performance, rare for a blockbuster film and a first for any Bond) and Pan's Labyrinth with eight. One of the current Oscar front-runners, Babel, picked up seven, while The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine and United 93 (finally getting some awards kudos) picked up six each. The Last King of Scotland, The Devil Wears Prada and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (all in the technical categories) all picked up five each. Probably the major losers were Children of Men, picking up only three nods for Cinematography, Production Design and Special Effects, and Red Road, which swept the Scottish BAFTAs but here picked up only a nomination for director Andrea Arnold for the "Special Achievement by a British director, writer or producer in their first feature film" award. Perhaps surprisingly, Dreamgirls was almost entirely overlooked, bagging only nominations for Best Supporting Actress for Jennifer Hudson and Achievement in Film Music, suggesting that we Brits aren't easily impressed by fabulous sequins. Less surprisingly, Flags of our Fathers failed to find any love, and Clint Eastwood's other film, Letters from Iwo Jima, was made ineligible by a change in the rules regarding release dates. Some welcome nominees who haven't been receiving a lot of praise elsewhere: Peter O'Toole for Venus, Kate Winslet for Little Children, Paul Greengrass for Achievement in Directing for United 93, and Penelope Cruz for Volver. All in all, it looks like it's going to be an interesting year at the BAFTAs, with a real mix of homegrown and Hollywood, indie and arthouse and blockbuster. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on February 11. Here's the full list.
FILM BABEL THE DEPARTED THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE THE QUEEN THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the Year CASINO ROYALE THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND NOTES ON A SCANDAL THE QUEEN UNITED 93 THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film ANDREA ARNOLD (Director) – Red Road JULIAN GILBEY (Director) – Rollin’ with the Nines CHRISTINE LANGAN (Producer) – Pierrepoint GARY TARN (Director) – Black Sun PAUL ANDREW WILLIAMS (Director) – London to Brighton THE DAVID LEAN AWARD for Achievement in Direction BABEL - Alejandro González Iñárritu THE DEPARTED – Martin Scorsese LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE – Jonathan Dayton/Valerie Faris THE QUEEN – Stephen Frears UNITED 93 – Paul Greengrass ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY BABEL – Guillermo Arriaga LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE – Michael Arndt PAN’S LABYRINTH – Guillermo del Toro THE QUEEN – Peter Morgan UNITED 93 – Paul Greengrass ADAPTED SCREENPLAY CASINO ROYALE – Neal Purvis/Robert Wade/Paul Haggis THE DEPARTED – William Monahan THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA – Aline Brosh McKenna THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND – Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock NOTES ON A SCANDAL – Patrick Marber FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE APOCALYPTO BLACK BOOK (ZWARTBOEK) PAN’S LABYRINTH RANG DE BASANTI (PAINT IT YELLOW) VOLVER ANIMATED FEATURE FILM CARS FLUSHED AWAY HAPPY FEET ACTOR in a LEADING ROLE DANIEL CRAIG – Casino Royale LEONARDO DICAPRIO – The Departed RICHARD GRIFFITHS – The History Boys PETER O’TOOLE – Venus FOREST WHITAKER – The Last King of Scotland ACTRESS in a LEADING ROLE PENELOPE CRUZ - Volver JUDI DENCH – Notes on a Scandal HELEN MIRREN – The Queen MERYL STREEP – The Devil Wears Prada KATE WINSLET – Little Children ACTOR in a SUPPORTING ROLE ALAN ARKIN – Little Miss Sunshine JAMES MCAVOY – The Last King of Scotland JACK NICHOLSON – The Departed LESLIE PHILLIPS – Venus MICHAEL SHEEN – The Queen ACTRESS in a SUPPORTING ROLE EMILY BLUNT – The Devil Wears Prada ABIGAIL BRESLIN – Little Miss Sunshine TONI COLETTE – Little Miss Sunshine FRANCES DE LA TOUR – The History Boys JENNIFER HUDSON – Dreamgirls THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement in Film Music BABEL – Gustavo Santaolalla CASINO ROYALE – David Arnold DREAMGIRLS – Henry Krieger HAPPY FEET – John Powell THE QUEEN – Alexandre Desplat CINEMATOGRAPHY BABEL – Rodrigo Prieto CASINO ROYALE – Phil Meheux CHILDREN OF MEN – Emmanuel Lubezki PAN’S LABYRINTH – Guillermo Navarro UNITED 93 – Barry Ackroyd EDITING BABEL – Stephen Mirrione/Douglas Crise CASINO ROYALE – Stuart Baird THE DEPARTED – Thelma Schoonmaker THE QUEEN – Lucia Zucchetti UNITED 93 – Clare Douglas/Christopher Rouse/Richard Pearson PRODUCTION DESIGN CASINO ROYALE – Peter Lamont/Simon Wakefield CHILDREN OF MEN – Geoffrey Kirkland/Jim Clay/Jennifer Williams MARIE ANTOINETTE – K K Barrett/Véronique Melery PAN’S LABYRINTH – Eugenio Caballero/Pilar Revuelta PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST – Rick Heinrichs/Cheryl A Carasik COSTUME DESIGN THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA – Patricia Field MARIE ANTOINETTE – Milena Canonero PAN’S LABYRINTH – Lala Huete PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST – Penny Rose THE QUEEN – Consolata Boyle SOUND BABEL – José García/Jon Taylor/Chris Minkler/Martín Hernández CASINO ROYALE – Chris Munro/Eddy Joseph/Mike Prestwood Smith/Martin Cantwell/Mark Taylor PAN’S LABYRINTH – Martín Hernández/Jamie Bashkt PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST – Christopher Boyes/George Watters II/ Paul Massey/Lee Orloff UNITED 93 – Chris Munro/Mike Prestwood Smith/Douglas Cooper/Oliver Tarney/Eddy Joseph ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS CASINO ROYALE – Steve Begg/Chris Corbould CHILDREN OF MEN – Frazer Churchill/Tim Webber/Michael Eames/Paul Corbould PAN’S LABYRINTH – Edward Irastorza/Everett Burrell PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST – John Knoll/Hal Hickel/Charles Gibson SUPERMAN RETURNS – Mark Stetson MAKE UP & HAIR THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA – Nicki Ledermann/Angel De Angelis MARIE ANTOINETTE – Jean-Luc Russier/Desiree Corridoni PAN’S LABYRINTH PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST – Ve Neill/Martin Samuel THE QUEEN – Daniel Phillips SHORT ANIMATION FILM DREAMS AND DESIRES – FAMILY TIES – Les Mills/Joanna Quinn GUY 101 – Ian Gouldstone PETER AND THE WOLF – Hugh Welchman/Alan Dewhurst/Suzie Templeton SHORT FILM CARE – Rachel Bailey/Corinna Faith CUBS – Lisa Williams/Tom Harper DO NOT ERASE – Asitha Ameresekere HIKIKOMORI – Karley Duffy/Paul Wright KISSING, TICKLING AND BEING BORED – David Smith/Jim McRoberts THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD (nominees announced on Monday 8 January) EMILY BLUNT EVA GREEN NAOMIE HARRIS CILLIAN MURPHY BEN WHISHAW | 
