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