‘Slumdog Millionaire And ‘Benjamin Button’ Lead The British BAFTAs With 11 Nominations Each

The BAFTA nominations are in. They’re obviously the equivalent of the British Oscars, if you happen to be living under a rock. Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” and David Fincher’s “The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button” lead the nominees with eleven nods each. The British love their own, expect Boyle to sweep, but as one astute commenter reminds us, “If the British love their own, where is Sally Hawkins?” Hmm, indeed. Consider her a major snub. “The Dark Knight” was also snubbed in the major categories outside of Heath Ledger, but it did take the second most nominations with 9 (mostly technical awards). The Brits seemed to favor “The Reader” over “Revolutionary Road,” and the Batman film in thos prestige categories.

BAFTA nominations
BEST FILM
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Cean Chaffin
“Frost/Nixon” — Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard
“Milk” — Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen
“The Reader” — Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris
“Slumdog Millionaire” — Christian Colson

DIRECTOR
“Changeling” — Clint Eastwood
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — David Fincher
“Frost/Nixon” — Ron Howard
“The Reader” — Stephen Daldry
“Slumdog Millionaire” — Danny Boyle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Burn After Reading” — Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
“Changeling” — J. Michael Straczynski
“I’ve Loved You So Long” — Philippe Claudel
“In Bruges” — Martin McDonagh
“Milk” — Dustin Lance Black

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — Eric Roth
“Frost/Nixon” — Peter Morgan
“The Reader” — David Hare
“Revolutionary Road” — Justin Haythe
“Slumdog Millionaire” — Simon Beaufoy

LEADING ACTOR
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Dev Patel, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

LEADING ACTRESS
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Kristin Scott Thomas, “I’ve Loved You So Long”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”
Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road”

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Brendan Gleeson, “In Bruges”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Brad Pitt, “Burn After Reading”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Freida Pinto, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Tilda Swinton, “Burn After Reading”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”

MUSIC
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — Alexandre Desplat
“The Dark Knight” — Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard
“Mamma Mia!” — Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus
“Slumdog Millionaire” — A.R. Rahman
“Wall-E” — Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Changeling” — Tom Stern
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — Claudio Miranda
“The Dark Knight” — Wally Pfister
“The Reader” — Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
“Slumdog Millionaire” — Anthony Dod Mantle

EDITING
“Changeling” — Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
“The Dark Knight” — Lee Smith
“Frost/Nixon” — Mike Hill, Dan Hanley
“In Bruges” — Jon Gregory
“Slumdog Millionaire” — Chris Dickens

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
“Hunger” — Laura Hastings-Smith, Robin Gutch, Steve McQueen, Enda Walsh
“In Bruges” — Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh
“Mamma Mia!” — Judy Craymer, Gary Goetzman, Phyllida Lloyd, Catherine Johnson
“Man on Wire” — Simon Chinn, James Marsh
“Slumdog Millionaire” — Christian Colson, Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
“The Baader Meinhof Complex” — Bernard Eichinger, Uli Edel
“Gomorrah” — Domenico Procacci, Matteo Garrone
“I’ve Loved You So Long” — Yves Marmion, Philippe Claudel
“Persepolis” — Marc-Antoine Robert, Xavier Rigault, Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Parannaud
“Waltz With Bashir” — Serge Lalou, Gerhard Meixner, Yael Nahl Ieli, Ari Folman

ANIMATED FILM
“Persepolis” — Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Parannaud
“Wall-E” — Andrew Stanton
“Waltz With Bashir” — Ari Folman

The full nominations can be seen at Variety. Nice to see “I’ve Loved You So Long” grab a few nominations (KST!) as well as Steve McQueen’s “Hunger” in the Best British Film category.