Monday 14 February 2011

Critical Week: King of the world

It wasn't surprising that The King's Speech dominated last night's British Academy Film Awards, although no one really expected the film to walk away with 7 Baftas, including both Best Film and Best British Film. On the other hand, everyone knew Colin Firth would win his second consecutive Best Actor Bafta.

The ceremony at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, broadcast as always on tape-delay, had a stripped-down feel this year. The red carpet watchers could barely muster up enough people to chat to, the glamour level seemed oddly low, and host Jonathan Ross was strangely subdued. Awards presenters made clumsy gaffes - most notably Rosamund Pike tearing open the envelope before even reading the nominees, or Stephen Fry introducing David Warner when he meant Heyman. And several key recipients were no-shows, including David Fincher, Natalie Portman, Geoffrey Rush, Chris Morris and Tom Hardy.

That said, the two winning actors present were the highlights: Firth with another deeply charming thank you ("I like coming here!") and Helena Bonham Carter with a rambling speech that was actually rather funny. Here are all of the winners...

Film: The King’s Speech
Foreign Language Film: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Animated Film: Toy Story 3
British Film: The King’s Speech
Director: David Fincher – The Social Network
Actress: Natalie Portman – Black Swan
Actor: Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
Supporting Actress: Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
Supporting Actor: Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech
Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network – Aaron Sorkin
Original Screenplay: The King’s Speech – David Seidler
British Debut: Chris Morris – Four Lions
Rising Star: Tom Hardy - Inception
Bafta Fellowship: Christopher Lee
Outstanding Contribution: JK Rowling and David Heyman – Harry Potter
Cinematography: True Grit – Roger Deakins
Editing: The Social Network – Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
Music: The King’s Speech – Alexandre Desplat
Costumes: Alice in Wonderland – Colleen Atwood
Production Design: Inception
Make Up & Hair: Alice in Wonderland
Visual Effects: Inception
Sound: Inception
Short Film: Until the River Runs Red
Short Animation: The Eagleman Stags

Meanwhile, in London screening rooms, we suffered through the latest Adam Sandler rom-com Just Go With It, enjoyed learning about the world's most famous hairdresser in Vidal Sassoon: The Movie, and took a romantic stroll through London in the sad-sweet Forget Me Not. Not a very busy week, really, although this coming week is slightly busier, with Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau, the Anthony Hopkins thriller The Rite, the backstage doc Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, the kidnapped child drama Arc, the acclaimed Japanese mystery Confessions and the romantic drama Just Say Love.

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