'Avatar', 'An Education' and 'The Hurt Locker' Lead 2010 BAFTA Nominations

Today the nominations for the 2010 Orange British Academy Film Awards were announced and Avatar, An Education and The Hurt Locker lead the way with eight nominations each followed closely by District 9 with seven and Inglourious Basterds and Up In the Air each pulling in six each. The only film not amongst the nomination leaders that was nominated for Best Film is Lionsgate’s Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, which did manage four nominations.

Looking over the nominations there are a few that stand out as breaking from the norm, such as Neill Blomkamp (District 9) and Lone Scherfig (An Education) both getting directorial nominations alongside James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow and Quentin Tarantino. Both District 9 and An Education have enjoyed plenty of love during the awards season, but this is a nice bonus that both Blomkamp and Scherfig should be proud of.

In the lead actor nominations it was pretty much standard outside of Andy Serkis (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll) scoring a lead actor nom. I thought Tom Hardy (Bronson) may be able to score a BAFTA nom for lead actor, but it seems the extra space went to Serkis for a film I have not yet seen.

The lead actress category experienced a bit of a shake-up, though, with Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) and Audrey Tautou (Coco Before Chanel) each getting the nod. Tautou and Ronan’s inclusion means no Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), a surprise for those following the Oscar race, but perhaps not that much of a surprise for people that saw more than five films this past year with solid lead actress performances. Bullock’s omission (she was ineligible due to The Blind Side not yet seeing an overseas release), however, is not as much a surprise as is the fact Tautou and Ronan were nominated rather than Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria) and Helen Mirren (The Last Station).

I’m happiest to see Christian McKay (Me and Orson Welles) getting nominated for Best Supporting Actor, a prediction I am holding onto against better judgment when it comes to the Oscars. And while it’s ineligible here in the States apparently, the hilarious Brit comedy In the Loop was nominated for Original Screenplay and Outstanding British Film. At least it’s getting attention somewhere.

Finally, the nominees for the Orange Rising Star Award include Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland and Zombieland), Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man), Carey Mulligan (An Education and Brothers), Tahar Rahim (A Prophet) and Kristen Stewart (Adventureland and The Twilight Saga: New Moon). Fans can vote on that award right here.

All that said, here is the complete list of nominations. The Orange British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday, February 21 at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. It will be broadcast on the BBC, but I’m not sure if it will be televised here in the States.

BEST FILM

Avatar – James Cameron, Jon Landau
An Education – Amanda Posey, Finola Dwyer
The Hurt Locker – Nominees TBC
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire – Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness
Up In the Air – Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Daniel Dubiecki

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

An Education – Amanda Posey, Finola Dwyer, Lone Scherfig, Nick Hornby
Fish Tank – Kees Kasander, Nick Laws, Andrea Arnold
In the Loop – Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy, Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche
Moon – Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler, Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker
Nowhere Boy – Kevin Loader, Douglas Rae, Robert Bernstein, Sam Taylor-Wood, Matt Greenhalgh

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

LUCY BAILEY, ANDREW THOMPSON, ELIZABETH MORGAN HEMLOCK, DAVID PEARSON – Directors, Producers â€“ Mugabe and the White African
ERAN CREEVY – Writer/Director â€“ Shifty
STUART HAZELDINE – Writer/Director â€“ Exam
DUNCAN JONES – Director â€“ Moon
SAM TAYLOR-WOOD – Director â€“ Nowhere Boy

DIRECTOR

Avatar – James Cameron
District 9 – Neill Blomkamp
An Education – Lone Scherfig
The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow
Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Hangover – Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
A Serious Man – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Up – Bob Peterson, Pete Docter

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

District 9 – Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
An Education – Nick Hornby
In the Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire – Geoffrey Fletcher
Up In the Air – Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Broken Embraces – AgustÃn AlmodÃ³var, Pedro AlmodÃ³var
Coco Before Chanel – Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo, Philippe Carcassonne, Anne Fontaine
Let the Right One In – Carl Molinder, John Nordling, Tomas Alfredson
A Prophet – Pascale Caucheteux, Marco Chergui, Alix Raynaud, Jacques Audiard
The White Ribbon – Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Margaret Menegoz, Michael Haneke

ANIMATED FILM

Coraline – Henry Selick
Fantastic Mr. Fox – Wes Anderson
Up – Pete Docter

LEADING ACTOR

JEFF BRIDGES – Crazy Heart
GEORGE CLOONEY – Up In the Air
COLIN FIRTH – A Single Man
JEREMY RENNER – The Hurt Locker
ANDY SERKIS – Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

LEADING ACTRESS

CAREY MULLIGAN – An Education
SAOIRSE RONAN – The Lovely Bones
GABOUREY SIDIBE – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
MERYL STREEP – Julie & Julia
AUDREY TAUTOU – Coco Before Chanel

SUPPORTING ACTOR

ALEC BALDWIN – It’s Complicated
CHRISTIAN McKAY – Me and Orson Welles
ALFRED MOLINA – An Education
STANLEY TUCCI – The Lovely Bones
CHRISTOPH WALTZ – Inglourious Basterds

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

ANNE-MARIE DUFF – Nowhere Boy
VERA FARMIGA – Up in the Air
ANNA KENDRICK – Up in the Air
MO’NIQUE – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS – Nowhere Boy

MUSIC

Avatar – James Horner
Crazy Heart – T-Bone Burnett, Stephen Bruton
Fantastic Mr. Fox – Alexandre Desplat
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll – Chaz Jankel
Up – Michael Giacchino

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Avatar – Mauro Fiore
District 9 – Trent Opaloch
The Hurt Locker – Barry Ackroyd
Inglourious Basterds – Robert Richardson
The Road – Javier Aguirresarobe

EDITING

Avatar – Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron
District 9 – Julian Clarke
The Hurt Locker – Bob Murawski, Chris Innis
Inglourious Basterds – Sally Menke
Up in the Air – Dana E. Glauberman

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Avatar – Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
District 9 – Philip Ivey, Guy Poltgieter
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – Nominees TBC
Inglourious Basterds – David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds Wasco

COSTUME DESIGN

Bright Star – Janet Patterson
Coco Before Chanel – Catherine Leterrier
An Education – Odile Dicks-Mireaux
A Single Man – Arianne Phillips
The Young Victoria – Sandy Powell

SOUND

Avatar – Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson, Addison Teague
District 9 – Nominees TBC
The Hurt Locker – Ray Beckett, Paul N. J. Ottosson, Craig Stauffer
Star Trek – Peter J. Devlin, Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Mark Stoeckinger, Ben Burtt
Up – Tom Myers, Michael Silvers, Michael Semanick

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

Avatar – Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones
District 9 – Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – John Richardson, Tim Burke, Tim Alexander, Nicolas Aithadi
The Hurt Locker – Richard Stutsman
Star Trek – Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton

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