BAFTA 2012: and the winners are...

The stars were out in celebration of the last 12 months of film at London's Royal Opera House in Covent Garden on February 12th 2012 for this year's BAFTAs. First and foremost, Stephen Fry has risen in my estimation. As the host for the evening, his one-liners were spot on, his dry delivery perfectly timed and his enthusiasm for film clear for all to see.

After a rousing entrance number from Tom Jones, belting out the classic Bond theme Thunderball to celebrate the Bond series' 50th anniversary this year, the awards got under way; the first of which a deserved triumph after 10 years of nominations for the Harry Potter series. Deathly Hallows Part 2, the final film in the series, picked up Special Visual Effects. Outstanding British Film went to Tomas Alfredson's adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a film that had 11 nominations at this year's ceremony and would pick up a further award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Rango took the Animated film award home and Scorsese's Hugo won Best Sound and Production Design, as well as the BAFTA fellowship award for the brilliant director.

Meryl Streep's depiction of Margaret Thatcher earned her Best Actress - if she also wins the Best Actress accolade at this year's Oscars it will be the first time she has won the award since Sophie's Choice in 1983. Christopher Plummer took home Best Supporting Actor for Beginners, Octavia Spencer took home Best Supporting Actress for The Help and perhaps the biggest disappointment of the night was that Gary Oldman lost out on Best Actor to Jean Dujardin for The Artist.

In the end, the night firmly belonged to Michel Hazanavicius' remarkable silent film The Artist. Receiving 7 BAFTAs including the Best Film gong, it goes to show that original and audacious concepts are becoming ever more welcome in an industry permeated with sequels. The results of this year's BAFTAs should leave film lovers eager for the Oscars ceremony which can be seen in the UK on Sky Movies Premiere/Premiere HD on Sunday February 26th 2012.

One for the Weekend...

It's February meaning that once again the Awards season is upon us, the time for the stars to shine and the deserving films to get the gongs. First up it's the Baftas, hosted by Stephen Fry. They can be seen on BBC One and BBC One HD from 9pm this Sunday February 12th 2012.

Below are the nominations for this year's awards.

Best Film

• The Artist


• The Descendants


• Drive


• The Help


• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Outstanding British Film

• My Week with Marilyn


• Senna


• Shame


• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy


• We need to talk about Kevin

Outstanding debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

• Attack the Block (Joe Cornish, Director/Writer)


• Black Pond (Will Sharpe, Director/Writer)


• Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes, Director)


• Submarine (Richard Ayoade, Writer/Director)


• Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine, Director)

Film not in the English Language

• Incendies


• Pina


• Potiche


• A Separation


• The Skin I live in

Documentary Film

• George Harrison: Living in the material world


• Project Nim


• Senna

Animated Film

• The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn


• Arthur Christmas


• Rango

Director

• Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)


• Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)


• Martin Scorsese (Hugo)


• Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)


• Lynne Ramsay (We need to talk about Kevin)

Original Screenplay

• The Artist


• Bridesmaids


• The Guard


• The Iron Lady


• Midnight in Paris

Adapted Screenplay

• The Descendants


• The Help


• The Ides of March


• Moneyball


• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Lead Actor

• Brad Pitt (Moneyball)


• Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)


• George Clooney (The Descendants)


• Jean Dujardin (The Artist)


• Michael Fassbender (Shame)

Lead Actress

• Berenice Bejo (The Artist)


• Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)


• Michelle Williams (My week with Marilyn)


• Tilda Swinton (We need to talk about Kevin)


• Viola Davis (The Help)

Supporting Actor

• Christopher Plummer (Beginners)


• Jim Broadbent (The Iron Lady)


• Jonah Hill (Moneyball)


• Kenneth Branagh (My week with Marilyn)


• Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Ides of March)

Supporting Actress

• Carey Mulligan (Drive)


• Jessica Chastain (The Help)


• Judi Dench (My week with Marilyn)


• Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)


• Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Original Music

• The Artist (Ludovic Bource)


• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)


• Hugo (Howard Shore)


• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Alberto Iglesias)


• War Horse (John Williams)

Cinematography

• The Artist (Guillaume Schiffman)


• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Jeff Cronenweth)


• Hugo (Robert Richardson)


• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Hoyte Van Hoytema)


• War Horse (Janusz Kaminski)

Editing

• The Artist (Anne Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius)


• Drive (Mat Newman)


• Hugo (Thelma Schoonmaker)


• Senna (Gregers Sall, Chris King)


• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Dino Jonsater)

Production Design

• The Artist (Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould)


• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Stuart Craig, Stephanie McMillan)


• Hugo (Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo)


• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald)


• War Horse (Rick Carter, Lee Sandales)

Costume Design

• The Artist (Mark Bridges)


• Hugo (Sandy Powell)


• Jane Eyre (Michael O'Connor)


• My week with Marilyn (Jill Taylor)


• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Jacqueline Durran)

Make up and Hair

• The Artist (Julie Hewitt, Cydney Cornell)


• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin, Nick Dudman)


• Hugo (Morag Ross, Jan Archibald)


• The Iron Lady (Marese Langan, Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland)


• My week with Marilyn (Jenny Shircore)

Sound

• The Artist (Nadine Muse, Gerard Lamps, Michael Krikorian)


• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (James Mather, Stuart Wilson, Stuart Hilliker, Mike Dowson, Adam Scrivener)


• Hugo (Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley)


• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (John Casali, Howard Bargroff, Doug Cooper, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley)


• War Horse (Stuart Wilson, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Richard Hymns

Special Visual Effects

• The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (Joe Letteri, Keith Miller, Wayne Stables, Jamie Beard)


• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery)


• Hugo (Rob Legato, Ben Grossmann, Joss Williams, Alex Henning)


• Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, Daniel Barrett)


• War Horse (Ben Morris, Neil Corbould)

Short Animation

• Abuelas


• Bobby Yeah


• A Morning Stroll

Short Film

• Chalk


• Mwansa The Great


• Only Sound Remains


• Pitch Black Heist


• Two and Two

Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award

• Adam Deacon


• Chris Hemsworth


• Chris O'Dowd


• Eddie Redmayne


• Tom Hiddleston

BAFTA Fellowship this year will be awarded to Martin Scorsese

Outstanding Contribution award will be awarded to John Hurt.

Where possible, I have highlighted in blue the ones that I think are the potential winners.

In many ways the shape of the outcomes of the BAFTAs often pre determines the winners of the Oscars. Tune in on Sunday to find out if your favourite is the winner.

The Artist review

At the top of the critics' lists and the biggest Oscar bait for 2012's awards season is Paris born director Michel Hazanavicius' sublime film The Artist. Shot entirely in black and white, the story follows George Valentin, a cock sure, hugely successful silent film star in Hollywood in the late 1920s. Valentin's conflict comes upon the advent of talkies in the motion picture industry. Younger stars are hogging the limelight and Valentin is reduced to a has been; a personification of the destruction of silent cinema and artistry on the screen.

It is for newcomer Peppy Miller, played with grace and sincerity by Argentinean beauty Berenice Bejo, to help Valentin to overcome his hubris at being rejected from the industry and shine once again on screen in a new age of cinema. Arguably not since Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen's Singin' in the Rain 60 years ago has a film about dance, artistry and the history of the cinema left such an indelible, lasting image on the screen and in our hearts. From Ludovic Bource's beautiful score, both uplifting and melancholic in equal measure, to the faultless performances of the film's leads, including an extraordinary Jack Russell dog, to the sumptuous cinematography that paints an incredible picture of the passion of filmmaking and originality in 1920s Hollywood, it is easy to see why people are falling for The Artist.

In an industry saturated with endless sequels and tired cliches, here is a reminder not only of the beauty and effectiveness of a simple narrative, but of the reason why we love going to the movies. A welcome and long overdue return for the silent era, arguably the most audacious and original period in the history of film. Hollywood, take note. Let's have more of the same.