The Brits are coming to wreak havoc once again on the Oscar race. Thursday’s BAFTA Awards nominations were full of surprises, thanks to its new (and improved?) jury system. Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng are here to break it down.
Let’s start with the most important category: Best Actress, of course. For the second year in a row — even with the new rule of the top two first-round vote-getters being automatic nominees — we got some major snubs with none of Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”), Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) and Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”), all of whom are predicted Oscar nominees, getting in via top two or with the jury for the other four slots. The one predicted Oscar contender who did make it? Lady Gaga. The “House of Gucci” star made it in alongside Alana Haim (“Licorice Pizza”), Emilia Jones (“CODA”), Renate Reinsve (“The Worst Person in the World”), Joanna Scanlan (“After Love”) and Tessa Thompson (“Passing”). So is Gaga in the driver’s seat now?
SEE Full list of BAFTA nominations
Best Actor includes Leonardo DiCaprio for “Don’t Look Up,” which got four nominations, including Best Film in a field of five. DiCaprio, who’s been circling the fifth spot in the Oscar odds, made it in over presumptive Oscar nominees Andrew Garfield (“Tick, Tick… Boom!”) and Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”), the latter of whom has never been nominated at BAFTA. We debated if Leo is taking that open fifth spot at the Oscars over Screen Actors Guild Award nominee Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”)… or perhaps someone else?
“Tick, Tick… Boom!” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth” underperformed drastically, the former getting blanked entirely while the latter only made it in for cinematography. Also underperforming was “West Side Story,” which only got five bids and missed Best Picture (and also Best Director, but that is juried). It did get a supporting actor nomination for Mike Faist, which we’re both happy about. The Brits also eschewed double “Belfast” in that category in favor of double “The Power of the Dog” as Kodi Smit-McPhee and Jesse Plemons both got in. However, the Netflix film missed Kirsten Dunst in supporting actress, so an up-and-down morning for the Dunst-Plemons household.
Elsewhere, we discuss “Licorice Pizza’s” over-performance, “Spencer” getting snubbed across the board and more.
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