BIFA: The King's (Acceptance) Speech and Other Oscar Matters

You guys. I'm so not (quite) ready for this. It's only November 1st and in English language cinema we've already had at least three awards lineups outside of the film festivals: NY's Gotham Awards, Australia's AFI, and now BIFA... which translates to the British Independent Film Awards.

BIFA considers Oscar-buzzing Lesley Manville as "Supporting"

It will surprise virtually no one that the Oscar hopeful Brit films like The King's Speech (and all of its actors), Made in Dagenham and Another Year are in play for various prizes. It may surprise some that the indifferently received Never Let Me Go, the divisive Kick-Ass, and the largely undiscussed Brighton Rock received multiple nominations as well.

A complete list of nominees (with Oscar-adjacent comments) follows after the jump but I shan't clog the main page with these über long lists that each awards groups hands out.

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM

• 
Four Lions

• Kick-Ass

• The King’s Speech

• Monsters
• 
Never Let Me Go

Interesting that Another Year did not make the "Best Film" list, despite important nominations elsewhere. BIFA has no problem with "genre" films as evidenced by the inclusion of both Monsters & Kick-Ass. I'm sure there will be pockets of online rejoicing if this film gets an awards run. I'd like to kick the ass of anyone who votes for it though. Metaphorically speaking! I'm mostly a pacifist. Plus an 11 year-old girl could probably kick my ass in real life, even if she didn't have Hit Girl's training.

BEST DIRECTOR


• Mike Leigh - Another Year

• Matthew Vaughn - Kick-Ass

• Tom Hooper - The King’s Speech

• Gareth Edwards - Monsters

• Mark Romanek - Never Let Me Go

Leigh and Hooper are safely in the hunt for Best Director Oscar nominations. The rest of them, well, at least they have this homegrown honor to brag on.

BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR [THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD]


• Debs Gardner Paterson - Africa United

• Clio Barnard - The Arbor

• Rowan Joffe - Brighton Rock
• 
Chris Morris - Four Lions

• Gareth Edwards - Monsters

I was confused about Rowan's nomination here until I remembered this wasn't Roland Joffe but his son. Clio Barnard (pictured left) recently on "best newcomer" at the  BFI London Film Festival for the same film. It's a documentary that's also apparently an acted biopic (it's one of those uncategorizables) about the playwright Andrea Dunbar and her experience growing up in a housing project in Northern England.

BEST SCREENPLAY


• Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Simon Blackwell, Christopher Morris - Four Lions

• Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn - Kick-Ass

• David Seidler - The King’s Speech

• William Ivory - Made In Dagenham

• Alex Garland - Never Let Me Go

BEST ACTRESS


• Manjinder Virk - The Arbor

• Ruth Sheen - Another Year

• Andrea Riseborough - Brighton Rock

• Sally Hawkins - Made In Dagenham

• Carey Mulligan - Never Let Me Go



Good on Ruth and Sally who are both subtly fantastic in their movies.

BEST ACTOR

Colin Firth probably won't stutter during his Oscar acceptance speech

• 
Jim Broadbent - Another Year

• Riz Ahmed - Four Lions

• Colin Firth - The King’s Speech
• 
Scoot McNairy - Monsters

• Aidan Gillen - Treacle Junior

I suspect this is the only place we'll see honors for Jim Broadbent because Ruth Sheen has the screentime in Another Year and Lesley Manville the showiest character. More pointedly: anyone wanna wager how many Best Actor prizes Colin Firth is going to have to accept this year.... 5? 10? 15? 20? 25? All? I always forget to count but I think there's something crazy like 30+ prizes one can win during precursor and Oscar season.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS


• Lesley Manville - Another Year

• Helena Bonham Carter - The King’s Speech

• Rosamund Pike - Made In Dagenham

• Keira Knightley - Never Let Me Go

• Tamsin Greig - Tamara Drewe

Interesting that in the two "local" awards so far (this and the AFI) we've seen Oscar contenders show up in the opposite category in which they've been pegged for Oscar consideration. It's safe to assume that Jacki Weaver would only be Supporting in her American awards run (despite the "lead" vote in Australia, where she's "a national treasure" according to her director and co-stars) but Manville could obviously go either way, depending on how the Another Year campaign plays out. The most interesting inclusion here is Rosamund Pike. She has a couple really great scenes in Dagenham -- and was my favorite supporting actress in the film -- but I had expected that Miranda Richardson, a more well known 'prestige' actress, would be the one to win honors and Oscar traction. Maybe not?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR


• Kayvan Novak - Four Lions

• Guy Pearce - The King’s Speech

• Geoffrey Rush - The King’s Speech
• 
Bob Hoskins - Made In Dagenham
• 
Andrew Garfield - Never Let Me Go



<-- Hi, Kayvan! Nice to meet'cha. About this list: I'm pleased for Garfield. As you know, I really loved him in that movie. Meanwhile: This is the first memory jog I've been given that Guy Pearce is in The King's Speech since all the buzz and the trailer attention and whatnot is on the central three characters (Geoffrey, Helena and Colin).

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER

• 
Manjinder Virk - The Arbor
• 
Andrea Riseborough - Brighton Rock

• Tom Hughes - Cemetery Junction
• 
Joanne Froggatt - In Our Name
• 
Conor McCarron - Neds

Riseborough (pictured right in Toronto -- must have been a crazy year for her) was amazing in Never Let Me Go with almost nothing to work with and also highly watchable in Made in Dagenham in another sideshow role so I'm curious if she's even better in Brighton Rock with a big meaty role? Is more truly more with Andrea? I'm intrigued.

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION

• 
The Arbor
• 
In Our Name
• 
Monsters

• Skeletons

• Streetdance 3D

RAINDANCE AWARD

• Brilliant Love
• Jackboots On
• Whitehall Legacy
• Son of Babylon
• Treacle Junior

BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT


• The Arbor - Sound - Tim Barker

• Brighton Rock - Cinematography - John Mathieson

• The Illusionist - Animation - Sylvain Chomet

• The King’s Speech - Production Design - Eve Stewart

• Monsters - Visual Effects - Gareth Edwards



BEST DOCUMENTARY


• The Arbor
• 
Enemies of the People
• 
Exit Through the Gift Shop
• 
Fire In Babylon

• Waste Land

BEST BRITISH SHORT

• 
Baby

• Photograph Of Jesus

• Sign Language
• 
Sis

• The Road Home



Wow. I've actually seen one of these. Photography of Jesus, about photo archive requests, is cute and interesting and well animated. You can watch it here. Better yet, it doesn't outstay its welcome (which is always a plus whether we're talking short or feature length films).

BEST FOREIGN FILM


• Dogtooth
• 
I Am Love

• A Prophet

• The Secret In Their Eyes

• Winter’s Bone

An odd mix of last year's Oscar nominees (Prophet, Secrets), a current submission (Dogtooth) and two directorial feats that are strangely mostly discussed only in terms of their fine leading actresses (Love, Bone).

NOT YET ANNOUNCED
The Richard Harris (Outstanding Contribution Award), Variety Award and Special Jury Prize have not yet been announced.

And there you have it. What do you make of all of this?
*

7 Word Reviews: Made in Dagenham, Stone, 127 Hours, Etc...

Can you feel Oscar precursor season gearing up?

Left: Aron Ralson as himself.
Right: James Franco as Aron Ralston

The mountaintops are a-rumbling. To delude myself into thinking I've "caught up" before the avalanche, herewith seven word reviews on a bunch of movies I haven't got around to talking about just yet. More to come on three of them.

127 Hours
In which James Franco plays Aron Ralston who is pinned under boulder in southern Utah.
7WR: Nervously tricked up storytelling, but gripping nonetheless. B/B+


Made in Dagenham
Sally Hawkins leads fellow factory women on a strike for equal pay in late-60s England.
7WR: Engaging nuanced star turn elevates predictable story.  B

Stone
A parole officer who is about to retire (of course!) gets mixed up with an inmate and his wife.
7WR: Weirdly acted, overcooked presentation of undefined 'whatthefuck?'ness. D

Norton: What the fuck are you looking at?
Nathaniel: Honestly, I have no idea. You should tell me since you made it. 

Salt
In which Angelina Jolie is an American spy accused of being a Russian sleeper agent.
7WR (Angelina): An unactable enigma, so Jolie charismas instead. B+
7WR (Movie): Endearingly absurd but sadly disposable. Lame ending. B-

Soul KitchenFatih Akin's comedy about second chances, a flailing restaurant, and two German-Greek brothers.
7WR: Slow burn silliness and lusty adult appetites. B+

Leaving
Kristin Scott Thomas gets the f*** of her life from Sergi Lopez, then loses her cool.
7WR: Feverishly horny portentousness. Somehow Kristin sells it. C+

I Am Love
Tilda is the matriarch of a rich Italian clan whose family business is changing hands.
7WR: Mouthwatering visuals, melodramatic verve, subtextual theme;  Masterpiece?  A/A-

(big article forthcoming now that it's on DVD. Probably in a week's time.)

Mic-Macs
(From the man behind Amélie.) A man with a bullet in his brain seeks revenge on arms dealers.
7WR: Inspired (But Exhausting) Hijinx Setpieces 'R Us B-

 *
If you've seen any of these, do share your feelings. I lift the restrictions on word counts for the comments. You may use more than 7! (If you're ever in doubt about whether or not to comment try to think of comments as little crumbs and The Film Experience as a zoo. Here you may should feed the animals because they don't eat otherwise.) 
*

Oscar Prediction Revisions: Costume Design, Documentary Shorts

The Oscar Prediction Pages are all finally revised and updated.

Costumes
This morning I was thinking about the costume designers who may be in play. Like many of the Academy's branches, costume designers can be a bit insular about who they nominate (though no group is anywhere near as "final club" elitist as the composers) but one previously unnominated designer I hope they consider is Louise Stjernsward who did the costuming for Made in Dagenham.

The period work in the film (late 60s England) doesn't seem unduly fussed over, which is a plus for a film that's aiming for a light touch on a serious topic. And it's one of those movies where the costumes actually play an important plot role once or twice, as in this red number we see Sally Hawkins wearing below. She's on her way to a very important meeting and she's borrowed the dress to look higher class. It's a touch too big on her.

The film also has quite a broad range of costumes on display since we have businessmen, factory workers at work and on their days off, politicians (Miranda Richardson, left), a swimsuit photoshoot (center) and even lots of undergarment on ever shape and size of woman since the women in the Dagenham factory regularly strip down to work, given the heat.

It seems like it must have been a big project for Stjernswad, but a hugely enjoyable one.

See the new costume design page now with animated gallery.

Documentary Shorts
Here is the trailer for one of eight Documentary Short finalists, Sun Come Up, which looks at the refugees of climate change. It looks gorgeous and sad.


Sun Come Up Trailer from Sun Come Up on Vimeo.

Oscar Prediction Pages: Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Foreign Films, Costume Design, Animation & Documentaries, Visual Categories and Aural Categories