Word: baftas
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...that it was BAFTA's fault: all it can do is send out the invitations and keep its fingers crossed. There's no excuse, though, for the limp material that host Jonathan Ross, the BBC's high-priced answer to Jay Leno, was tossing out all night. His running gag - that the writers' strike had left him with nothing but a bunch of lame puns - is a shtick Leno used months ago. And it doesn't make sense anyway, since Britain's writers aren't on strike. The evening's evidence does suggest, though, that in sympathy with their...
...while the ceremony was a disappointment, the BAFTA awards themselves could teach the Oscars a thing or two about the big, wide world of film. As the American Academy slowly, begrudgingly learns to accept the fact that other countries make great movies too, the British Academy has fully embraced the idea that all cinema is world cinema and that some of the best films are made in places where English is the foreign language. So France's La Vie En Rose and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Germany's The Lives of Others, and The Kite Runner, with most...
...there is a new generation of Brit actors whose appeal has nothing to do with their nationality. Kate Winslet is on both the bafta and Oscar shortlists, and Daniel Craig's Bond is the first 007 to ever earn a bafta nod. While their elders are known for their controlled performances, younger Brits are more raw and unrefined. And that's thanks to Hollywood. "Actors of my generation all look to Americans as the inventors of modern cinema acting technique," says Toby Jones, a British actor who plays American literary icon Truman Capote in Infamous - a role that both Sean...
...Last King of Scotland was distributed through a Hollywood studio, which gave it a bigger audience than any British studio could. The film now has one Oscar nomination for its star Forest Whitaker and five bafta nominations. As Macdonald knows, it's the Oscar that will stick. He won an Academy Award in 2000 for his documentary on the Munich Olympics, One Day in September, and a bafta four years later for Touching the Void. "Winning a bafta is like winning a literary award," he says. "You're happy, your friends phone you up, and a week later everyone...
...what bafta lacks in clout, it makes up for in camaraderie. With specific categories for British Film of the Year and best first feature by a British director, producer or screenwriter, the baftas look out for their own, giving more British filmmakers the chance to win a bronze mask. For many, it's the next best thing to bringing home a little gold man. "It's important to have awards that show British filmmakers how much their films resonate with British audiences," says Macdonald. "To have them say, 'This film, from our perspective, feels great. We love this.' Personally...