BAFTAs 2008
To gear up for the Oscars this weekend, I decided to watch the BAFTA award ceremony on BBC America. The BAFTAs are the UK equivalent of the Oscars, and as such, many of the same films were nominated. The ceremony took place at the Royal Opera House in London. The broadcast was more condensed than the Oscars, since not every single award was included. Also, from a technical aspect the production seemed less pretentious and stylized than the Oscars.
The award I found most interesting was the fellowship given to Sir Anthony Hopkins. It’s sorta like an honorary Oscar where they put together a montage to recognize a respected member of the filmmaking community. Hopkins accepted the award with modesty and grace. He deflected some of the attention from himself by thanking Sir Richard Attenborough who presented the award to him.
They even had a special award for the best 60 second film made with a digital camcorder. Crazily, the winner didn’t bother attending the ceremony to accept it. Save a few exceptions, the award categories are almost exactly the same as the Academy’s. Atonement won best film, which I thought was pretty predictable seeing how it was an all British production, including the writer of the source novel. This win doesn’t bode well for There Will Be Blood winning the Oscar, which is my personal choice. If you like predicting the winners, visit imdb for your own ballot or to read their guesses.
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2 comments
I am boycotting Atonement on the basis that it looks like “The English Patient 2007″, and i refuse to sit through The English Patient again. And because that little girl has a really annoying voice that sounds like a baahing sheep, IMO. Do you think No Country for Old Men has a chance at the Oscars?
Atonement is a total snooze fest, but definitely what the academy leans towards. No Country has a 30 percent chance of winning, but the violence might make them go for Atonement instead.
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