BAFTA's 2020 Preview

Unlike the Oscar nominations I'm only going to talk about films I've actually seen and the key categories so let's start with the big ones. Film & Director are grouped together as they are the same nominee's.

Best Film / Director Nominations

Joker

Parasite

The Irishman

1917

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

I think with most award ceremonies films that come out earlier in the year lose their awards momentum to the newer films that people have seen more recently, it is a great year with all five best film nominations clearly deserving all their acclaim.

However going into this Sunday's ceremeony the two front runners have to be Bong Joon Ho's Parasite and Sam Mende's 1917. Scorsese's Irishman minor flaw's are its extended running time and some questionable CGI in places, Tarantino's meandering OAUATIH well a superb film is light on story and with like many Tarantino films could do with some editing.

Snobbery might be the reason that Todd Phillip's Joker doesn't win the big awards, from his roots in gross out comedy to his recent outspoken comments about comedy in the media not many are expecting Phillip's film to win. The biggest irony is that Joker which essentially is a mash up of Scorsese's Taxi Driver & King of Comedy might beat out a Scorcese film.

I think its a toss up between Parasite & 1917, with 1917 having the technical excellence and amazing cinematography and Parasite having the better story and acting. Personally I'd pick Parasite as best film because I feel its the stronger film however last year the BAFTA's awarded a non English language film best film with Roma so will they do that two years in a row?

Ideally I'd see a split with Parasite picking up best film and 1917 picking up best director.

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley - Wild Rose

Scarlett Johansson - Marriage Story

Saoirse Ronan - Little Women

Charlize Theron - Bombshell

Renée Zellweger - Judy

For me its a two horse race between Saoirse Ronan & Scarlett Johansson, Wild Rose was a smaller film that maybe didn't have the exposure needed despite the films quailty, while Zellweger & Theron both provide very good, but not great performances in two films that were decent but not usual oscar calibre films or performances. I think Ronan takes the award as I personally thought Johansson gave a better performance in JoJo Rabbit.

Best Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio - Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood

Adam Driver - Marriage Story

Taron Egerton - Rocketman

Joaquin Phoenix - Joker

Jonathan Pryce - The Two Popes

I only see one obvious winner here and its Joaquin Phoenix's stunning portrayal of 'Arthur Fleck' in Joker, he has been winning almsot every award he has been nominated for this season and I can't see that changing here. As good as Dicaprio is on OUATIH, is it a better performance than his previous wins for The Revenant? It's not and he is upstaged by Brad Pitt throughout the film.

That said he could be pushed close by Adam Driver in Marriage Story, or we could get a real surprise with Taron Egerton repeating his Golden Globes success however with only the one catergory at the BAFTAS's (and no comedy / drama seperate catrgories) I would be stunned if Phoenix does not win here.

Outstanding British Film

1917

Bait

For Sama

Rocketman

Sorry We Missed You

The Two Popes

I'll personally go with 1917 purely because its a British story, made with British actors / crew and filmed in Britain, however if 1917 wins for this earlier in the evening I think that means it will not win best film, if it does not win here expect it to take one of the big two. If that happens then expect Ken Loach to pick up the award as he seems to get the outstanding British film pretty much every time he makes a film these days.

Best Supporting Actress

Laura Dern - Marriage Story

Scarlett Johansson - Jojo Rabbit

Florence Pugh - Little Women

Margot Robbie - Bombshell

Margot Robbie - Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood

I think Margot Robbie is a phenomenal actress but I have no earthly idea how she received two nominations this year. My personal favourite is Scarlett Johansson for JoJo Rabbit which I think is a better performance than her best actress nomination for Marriage Story, and its bceause in most films you see her just playing Scarlett Johnasson in JoJo Rabbit you fully believe her as the struggling mother of one.

However she will face strong competition from Laura Dern (also from Marriage Story) and Florence Pugh for Little Women, and with the BAFTA's usually opting for the British option I can Pugh walking away with the award.

Best Supporting Actor

Tom Hanks - A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Anthony Hopkins - The Two Popes

Al Pacino - The Irishman

Joe Pesci - The Irishman

Brad Pitt - Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood

Probably the toughest catergory to predict, Hanks is bizarrely nominated for supporting when its clearly lead performance which means BAFTA might be tipping their hand to his eventual win simply because of the nominaton. Pesci & Pacino give completely polar performances in The Irishman, Pesci is understated in his first film decades while Pacino is one career best form as Jimmy Hoffa (despite essentially still playing Al Pacino).

I confess I haven't seen The Two Popes but I think Pitt gets the nod this year despite it not being his best performance after the all round snubs to Ad Astra.

Film not in the English language

And now lets take a quick speed through my pics for some of the other categories

Original Screenplay - Knives out should win as it's been grossly snubbed in every other category but every film here could win with Booksmart, Marriage Story, Parasite & Once Upon A Time In Hollywood all competing

Adapted Screenplay - Jojo Rabbit should win but it will be either Little Women or The Irishman

Original Score - Hildur Gudnadottir is winning all the awards currently and is the strong favourite here

Cinematography - Roger 'The Deak' Deakins takes it for 1917

Costume Design - Needs to be Once Upon A Time In Hollywood for the perfect recreation of the era

Editing - While it pains me to go against the legendary Thelma Schoonmaker for The Irishman, I think Le Mans '66 (or Ford vs Ferrari asits also known) picks up it's only award here, though I wouldn't mind a Jojo Rabbit win here as well. And was there an editor on Once Upon A Time In Hollywood?

Best SFX - Surely has to be Avengers:Endgame as this is usually the only catergory Marvel films get nominated in (see also any Star Wars film)

Best Casting - This is new right? I've never heard of this catergory before, but I'll get it to Marriage Story as every actor excels in that film

Best Documentary - Apollo 11

Final Thought's

The diversity issue once again raises it's ugly head and unfortunately any debate about the films immediately bceame lost in a twitter melt down. I feel that Joker could have been swapped out in both film and director for Greta Gerwig & Little Women, as its a good film but its Phoenix's performance that got people talking. What I don't want is tokenism where a film by a female director or an actor of colour is nominated when it clearly has no chance of competing against the other nominee's.

There is absolutely no doubt that all five best film nominations are amazing films that deserve recognition, the issue lies deeper in the industry that women and people of colour are not getting given the roles and opportunities to get their foot in the door of the industry.

One glaring omission at every awards ceremony was Jordan Peele's US, a brilliant original horror film with a stunning dual performance by Lupita Nyong'o. My reasons for the snub are that the film came out in Janaury last year a month before that years BAFTAS and very few films hold onto their awards momentum for a whole year, add to that its a horror film which is a genre that is rarely awarded and I think thats why it was snubbed.

The same goes for Ari Aster's amazing Midsommar which should have been up for all the awards yet was missed out again, more than likely because it was a horror film. Florence Pugh was amazing in the film, for me arugably better than in Little Women, but again genre films miss out at award ceremonies.