I ♥ UK: The BAFTA Awards

Did you ever get the feeling that you woke up on the wrong side of the bed? I can top you. Every day, I wake up on the wrong side of the world.

A longtime (perhaps even lifetime) Anglophile, I’ve always preferred Britcoms to sit-coms, the BBC to ABC. Cary Grant and Hugh Grant light my proverbial fire. I wouldn’t want to face a movie world without my dear Merchant-Ivory, Richard Curtis, and Mike Leigh. Without Monty Python, Blackadder, The League of Gentlemen, Ricky Gervais, Steve Coogan, Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, AbFab, Eddie Izzard, Stephen Fry, Simon Pegg, and other comedy geniuses too numerous to list here, life would be a darker and far less entertaining slog.

Still, I’ve made my peace with my circumstance. My ancestors left the steppes of Russia for the promise of American freedom, and I accept that. I do. But then I read this year’s list of BAFTA nominees.

It’s official. I do not belong here.

2010 BAFTA Awards

Winners to be announced on Sunday, February 21st.

Best Film Nominees:

Avatar (2009)

An Education (2009)

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Precious (2009)

Up in the Air (2009/I)

Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film of the
Year Nominees:

An Education (2009)

Fish Tank (2009)

In the Loop (2009)

Moon (2009)

Nowhere Boy (2009)

Best Actor Nominees:

Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart (2009)

George Clooney for Up in the Air (2009/I)

Colin Firth for A Single Man (2009)

Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker (2008)

Andy Serkis for Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010)

Best Actress Nominees:

Carey Mulligan for An Education (2009)

Saoirse Ronan for The Lovely Bones (2009)

Gabourey Sidibe for Precious (2009)

Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia (2009)

Audrey Tautou for Coco avant Chanel (2009)

Best Supporting Actor Nominees:

Alec Baldwin for It’s Complicated (2009)

Christian McKay for Me and Orson Welles (2008)

Alfred Molina for An Education (2009)

Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones (2009)

Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Best Supporting Actress Nominees:

Anne-Marie Duff for Nowhere Boy (2009)

Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air (2009/I)

Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air (2009/I)

Mo’Nique for Precious (2009)

Kristin Scott Thomas for Nowhere Boy (2009)

David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction Nominees:

Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008)

Neill Blomkamp for District 9 (2009)

James Cameron for Avatar (2009)

Lone Scherfig for An Education (2009)

Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Best Screenplay (Original) Nominees:

The Hangover (2009): Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

The Hurt Locker (2008): Mark Boal

Inglourious Basterds (2009): Quentin Tarantino

A Serious Man (2009): Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Up (2009): Bob Peterson, Pete Docter

Best Screenplay (Adapted) Nominees:

District 9 (2009): Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell

An Education (2009): Nick Hornby

In the Loop (2009): Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell,
Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

Precious (2009):
Geoffrey Fletcher

Up in the Air (2009/I): Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

Best Cinematography Nominees:

Avatar (2009)

District 9 (2009)

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

The Road (2009)

Best Editing Nominees:

Avatar (2009)

District 9 (2009)

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Up in the Air (2009/I)

Best Production Design Nominees:

Avatar (2009)

District 9 (2009)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Best Costume Design Nominees:

Bright Star (2009)

Coco avant Chanel (2009)

An Education (2009)

A Single Man (2009)

The Young Victoria (2009)

Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music Nominees:

Avatar (2009): James Horner

Crazy Heart (2009): T-Bone Burnett, Stephen Bruton

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009): Alexandre Desplat

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010): Chaz Jankel

Up (2009): Michael Giacchino

Best Make Up/Hair Nominees:

Coco avant Chanel (2009)

An Education (2009)

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

Nine (2009)

The Young Victoria (2009)

Best Sound Nominees:

Avatar (2009)

District 9 (2009)

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Star Trek (2009)

Up (2009)

Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects Nominees:

Avatar (2009)

District 9 (2009)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Star Trek (2009)

Best Film not in the English Language Nominees:

Los abrazos rotos (2009)

Coco avant Chanel (2009)

Låt den rätte komma in (2008)

Un prophète (2009)

Das weisse Band – Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)

Best Animated Feature Film Nominees:

Coraline (2009)

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Up (2009)

Orange Rising Star Award Nominees:

Jesse Eisenberg

Nicholas Hoult

Carey Mulligan

Tahar Rahim

Kristen Stewart

Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer
Nominees:

Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock,
David Pearson for Mugabe and the White African (2009)(Directors, Producers)

Eran Creevy for Shifty (2008)(Writer/Director)

Stuart Hazeldine for Exam (2009)(Writer/Director)

Duncan Jones for Moon (2009)(Director)

Sam Taylor Wood for Nowhere Boy (2009)(Director)

Best Short Animation Nominees:

The Gruffalo (2009) (TV)

The Happy Duckling (2008)

Mother of Many

Best Short Film Nominees:

14 (2008/II)

I Do Air (2009)

Jade (2009)

Mixtape (2009/II)

Off Season (2009)