‘Gravity’ And ’12 Years A Slave’ Lead 2014 BAFTA Nominations

Awards season ticks along and the wee hours of this morning have brought an announcement from the British Academy Of Film And Television Arts, or BAFTA, that as ever, is full of surprises. “Gravity” leads the field with eleven nominations, with “12 Years a Slave” and “American Hustle” just behind with ten, and “Captain Phillips” with nine. “Saving Mr. Banks” also did well with five, as did (surprisingly enough) “Behind the Candelabra,” which got a theatrical release in the U.K., and was therefore eligible. Brit favorite “Philomena” also had a strong showing with four nods, joining “Gravity” in picking up nominations for Best Film and Best British Film.

Missing out completely were “Her” and “Dallas Buyers Club,” both of which have been on a strong run with precursor awards (neither have opened in the U.K. yet, which may have been a factor, though both were eligible, and voters were invited to screeners and sent DVDs), while it wasn’t a great morning for “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” or “August: Osage County.” But there are odd snubs or inclusions here and there throughout, so below, you can find category-by-category analysis. In general, in terms of Oscar, it looks to be a fair indication of we’re heading in eight days, but don’t expect a complete replication of this—look for “Nebraska” in particular to perform better.

Best Film
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Gravity”
“Philomena”
“12 Years a Slave” 

No wild surprises here: this is about how we were expecting this category to shake out. Had “Philomena” missed, we’d have figured that it’s Oscar chances were slim, but it’s looking pretty good for now.

Best Director
David O. Russell – “American Hustle”
Paul Greengrass – “Captain Phillips”
Alfonso Cuaron – “Gravity”
Steve McQueen – “12 Years a Slave”
Martin Scorsese – “The Wolf of Wall Street” 

Again, no major shocks here, with Martin Scorsese subbing in for “Philomena” ‘s Stephen Frears. With “Her” and “Inside Llewyn Davis” not finding much favor, Scorsese was always the most likely extra inclusion here.

Best British Film
“Gravity”
“Mandela”
“Philomena”
“Rush”
“Saving Mr. Banks”
“The Selfish Giant” 

For the record, “Gravity” comes from British producer David Heyman, and was shot in the U.K with a British crew, while “Saving Mr. Banks” was developed by British producer and writer Alison Owen and Kelly Marcel before Disney snapped it up. It’s a little curious that they qualify, while “12 Years a Slave” or even “Captain Phillips”  appear not to, but the submission rules here are always a touch nebulous. We’re glad that “The Selfish Giant” made the cut, at least, but we’ve long ago given up home of this giving a boost to the films that could actually use it.

Best Actor
Christian Bale – “American Hustle”
Bruce Dern – “Nebraska”
Leonardo DiCaprio – “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Chiwetel Ejiofor – “12 Years a Slave”
Tom Hanks – “Captain Phillips” 

Forest Whitaker‘s omission isn’t much of a shock, Robert Redford‘s is more so, and still puts his Oscar nod in dicey territory. But we’re genuinely surprised that Matthew McConaughey didn’t make the cut here, though the film not having opened in the U.K. may have hurt its profile, even with it being eligible. He’s still safe with the Oscars, though. Christian Bale‘s been seen as an outsider in this category, but we wouldn’t be entirely surprised to see him and DiCaprio both repeat next week with the Academy, though Redford’s not down and out just yet. Idris Elba could have snuck in here too, but didn’t make it in the end.

Best Actress
Amy Adams – “American Hustle”
Cate Blanchett – “Blue Jasmine”
Sandra Bullock – “Gravity”
Judi Dench – “Philomena”
Emma Thompson – “Saving Mr. Banks” 

Mostly stuck with the narrative in this category, though Amy Adams makes it in over Meryl Streep. We’ve long wondered if that would be the case with the Academy too, though ‘August’ should have more of a chance back in the U.S.

Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi – “Captain Phillips”
Daniel Bruhl – “Rush”
Bradley Cooper – American Hustle”
Matt Damon – “Behind the Candelabra”
Michael Fassbender – “12 Years a Slave” 

Damon’s obviously the big surprise here, though a worthy one—it was one of the best performances of last year period, even if it’s clearly a lead one. But Bradley Cooper‘s equally interesting, completing a clean sweep of the acting categories for Russell’s film. “Silver Linings Playbook” managed that too—could ‘Hustle’ repeat the feat? Jared Leto will certainly be an Oscar nominee, having missed out here, but Jonah Hill, James Gandolfini or even Will Forte could still sneak in here over Cooper.

Best Supporting Actress
Sally Hawkins – “Blue Jasmine”
Jennifer Lawrence – “American Hustle”
Lupita Nyong’o – “12 Years a Slave”
Julia Roberts – “August: Osage County”
Oprah Winfrey – “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” 

With Hawkins gathering momentum of late, this could well match up exactly with the Oscars next week, though Julia Roberts making it in, while Meryl didn’t is interesting. That said, June Squibb of “Nebraska”  should ultimately beat out Roberts or, more likely, Hawkins.

Best Original Screenplay
Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell – “American Hustle”
Woody Allen – “Blue Jasmine”
Alfonso & Jonas Cuaron – “Gravity”
Joel & Ethan Coen – “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Bob Nelson – “Nebraska” 

“Gravity” getting a nomination here shows the depth of support for the film, while the Coens at least get a consolation prize of a screenplay nod. “Her” is the surprise omission here, but if Spike Jonze‘s film is shut out elsewhere with the Academy, it should at least figure in this category.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Richard LaGravenese – “Behind the Candelabra”
Billy Ray – “Captain Phillips”
Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope – “Philomena”
John Ridley – “12 Years a Slave”
Terence Winter – “The Wolf of Wall Street” 

Again, “Behind the Candelabra” throws the predictions for a loop, and the WGA-ineligible “Philomena” and “12 Years a Slave” also shake things up a bit. The latter two could well repeat with Oscar, but look for “August: Osage County” or “Before Midnight” to complete the five there.

Best Foreign Language Film
“The Act of Killing”
“Blue Is the Warmest Color”
“The Great Beauty”
“Metro Manila”
“Wadjda” 

A nice boost for the British-backed “Metro Manila,” which took the top prize from the British Independent Film Awards last month. Of these five, only “The Great Beauty” is on the Oscar shortlist, and to be honest, this is a much richer line-up than we’re likely to see next week from the Academy.

Best Documentary
“The Act of Killing”
“The Armstrong Lie”
“Blackfish”
“Tim’s Vermeer”
“We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks” 

A list that leans closer to big names—two from Alex Gibney!—than we were expecting, and a sad omission for “Stories We Tell” that could well be repeated next week. “Tim’s Vermeer” is a little surprising too, given that the film has almost no profile in the U.K. so far, but not unwelcome.

Best Animated Film
“Despicable Me 2”
“Frozen”
“Monsters University” 

Bleurgh. Not sure that “The Wind Rises” was eligible for BAFTA, though, and there wasn’t all that much to choose from here.

Best Cinematography
Barry Ackroyd – “Captain Phillips”
Emmanuel Lubezki – “Gravity”
Bruno Delbonnel – “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Phedon Papamichael – “Nebraska”
Sean Bobbitt – “12 Years a Slave” 

“Nebraska” is the more surprising inclusion here, though the black-and-white does it a lot of favor with voters. It’s likely in fierce competition with “Prisoners” for the fifth Oscar slot, but the Academy tend to reward craft a little more than here.

Best Production Design
“American Hustle”
“Behind the Candelabra”
“Gravity”
“The Great Gatsby”
“12 Years a Slave” 

‘Candelabra’ is obviously a departure here, but also “Gravity” and ‘Hustle’ making it in over more traditional period or fantasy fare.

Best Costume Design
“American Hustle”
“Behind the Candelabra”
“The Great Gatsby”
“The Invisible Woman”
“Saving Mr. Banks” 

This is an odd one, with “The Invisible Woman” and “Saving Mr. Banks” making it in over “12 Years a Slave.” With ‘Candelabra’ Oscar-ineligible, though, that’s unlikely to happen next week, and this should otherwise be close to next week’s nominations.

Best Film Editing
“Captain Phillips”
“Gravity”
“Rush”
“12 Years a Slave”
“The Wolf of Wall Street” 

Not wildly surprising here, though we’re a little surprised that “American Hustle” didn’t make the cut, given the love elsewhere for it. It could yet end up beating out “Rush” or even “The Wolf of Wall Street” for the fifth nomination for the Academy.

Best Make-Up And Hair
“American Hustle”
“Behind the Candelabra”
“Lee Daniels’ The Butler”
“The Great Gatsby”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” 

With only three Oscar slots, ‘Candelabra’ ineligible and “The Hobbit” and ‘The Butler’ failing to make the Academy’s bake-off list, this is quite different from what we’ll see next week. For one, there’s no nomination for “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa”…

Best Original Music
John Williams – “The Book Thief”
Henry Jackman – “Captain Phillips”
Steven Price – “Gravity”
Thomas Newman – “Saving Mr. Banks”
Hans Zimmer – “12 Years a Slave” 

Newman and Jackman are lightly surprising, though it’s not impossible they’ll follow through in the U.S. as well. It’s interesting to see Hans Zimmer get in for ‘Slave’ rather than “Rush,” especially given the British connections of the latter—perhaps that’ll also be true next week.

Best Sound
“All Is Lost”
“Captain Phillips”
“Gravity”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Rush” 

It’s hard to take much from this, given that the Oscar category is split. Still, it’s good to see “All Is Lost” finally getting some love, and deservedly so.

Best Visual Effects
“Gravity”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“Iron Man 3”
“Pacific Rim”
“Star Trek Into Darkness” 

“Star Trek Into Darkness” is a little surprising, but otherwise this is par for the course. As ever, this might as well have read “Gravity,” “Not Gravity,” “Not Gravity,” “Not Gravity” and “Not Gravity.”

Best British Debut By A Writer, Director Or Producer
Colin Carberry, Glenn Patterson – “Good Vibrations”
Kieran Evans – “Kelly & Victor”
Scott Graham – “Shell”
Kelly Marcel – “Saving Mr. Banks”
Paul Wright, Polly Stokes – “For Those In Peril” 

A nice list, and one that we sort of wish was reflected higher up the nominations too. Particularly pleased to see nods for Kieran Evans and Paul Wright/Polly Stokes here.

Best British Short Animation
“Everything I Can See From Here”
“I Am Tom Moody”
“Sleeping With The Fishes”

Best British Short
“Island Queen”
“Keeping Up With The Joneses”
“Orbit Ever After”
“Room 8”
“Sea View”

Rising Star Award
Dane DeHaan
George MacKay
Lupita Nyong’o
Will Poulter
Lea Seydoux

This is voted for by the public, so lord knows who they’ll go for, in the absence of a Noel Clarke-style populist candidate. DeHaan or Poulter seem like the best bets, though MacKay’s omnipresence could help him out. 

The BAFTAs will be held on February 16th—check back then for the results.