Bad news, British Bat fans. While the American Academy seems poised to give some love to The Dark Knight, their counterparts across the pond have snubbed the Bat and company for the top BAFTA award. The Dark Knight was excluded from the Best Picture nominee, with The Reader taking its place alongside The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and Slumdog Millionaire.
Those five films, trading Dark Knight for The Reader, are widely expected to be Oscar's five Best Picture nominees, but I doubt BAFTA's choice here will be reflected at the Oscar nominations next week. The Reader boasts a British director and screenwriters as well as two of its three stars, and late producer Anthony Minghella was loved as much in his homeland as he was over here. The BAFTAs threw another Reader-related curveball by nominating Kate Winslet for Best Actress, not Best Supporting Actress as the Weinstein Company has been pushing; that means she's up against herself in that category, having also been nominated for Revolutionary Road.
At least The Dark Knight got more love than Milk, which made it in for Best Picture, Actor, Screenplay and Makeup, but director Gus van Sant and supporting actor contender Josh Brolin were both snubbed. You can check out the full list of nominees below, and decide for yourself whether this changes the Oscar race, or if it's just some weird opinions from across the pond. Thanks to Awards Daily for typing up the full list. BEST FILM
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
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
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX
GOMORRAH
I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG
PERSEPOLIS
WALTZ WITH BASHIR
ANIMATED FILM
PERSEPOLIS
WALL•E
WALTZ WITH BASHIR
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
PENÉLOPE 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 / Björn 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
PRODUCTION DESIGN
CHANGELING James J. Murakami / Gary Fettis
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Donald Graham Burt / Victor J. Zolfo
THE DARK KNIGHT Nathan Crowley / Peter Lando
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Kristi Zea / Debra Schutt
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Mark Digby / Michelle Day
COSTUME DESIGN
CHANGELING Deborah Hopper
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Jacqueline West
THE DARK KNIGHT Lindy Hemming
THE DUCHESS Michael O’Connor
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Albert Wolsky
SOUND
CHANGELING Walt Martin / Alan Robert Murray / John Reitz / Gregg Rudloff
THE DARK KNIGHT Lora Hirschberg / Richard King / Ed Novick / Gary Rizzo
QUANTUM OF SOLACE Eddy Joseph / Chris Munro / Mike Prestwood Smith / Mark Taylor
SLUMDOG MILLIONARE Glenn Freemantle / Resul Pookutty / Richard Pryke / Tom Sayers / Ian Tapp
WALL•E Ben Burtt / Tom Myers / Michael Semanick / Matthew Wood
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Eric Barba / Craig Barron / Nathan McGuinness / Edson Williams
THE DARK KNIGHT Chris Corbould / Nick Davis / Paul Franklin / Tim Webber
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL Pablo Helman
IRON MAN Shane Patrick Mahan / John Nelson / Ben Snow
QUANTUM OF SOLACE Chris Corbould / Kevin Tod Haug
MAKE UP & HAIR
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Jean Black / Colleen Callaghan
THE DARK KNIGHT Peter Robb-King
THE DUCHESS Daniel Phillips / Jan Archibald
FROST/NIXON Edouard Henriques / Kim Santantonio
MILK Steven E. Anderson / Michael White
SHORT ANIMATION
CODSWALLOP Greg McLeod / Myles McLeod
VARMINTS Sue Goffe / Marc Craste
WALLACE AND GROMIT: A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH Steve Pegram / Nick Park / Bob Baker
SHORT FILM
KINGSLAND #1 THE DREAMER Kate Ogborn / Tony Grisoni
LOVE YOU MORE Adrian Sturges / Sam Taylor-Wood / Patrick Marber
RALPH Olivier Kaempfer / Alex Winckler
SEPTEMBER Stewart le Maréchal / Esther May Campbell
VOYAGES D’AFFAIRES (THE BUSINESS TRIP) Celine Quideau / Sean Ellis
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
HUNGER
IN BRUGES
MAMMA MIA!
MAN ON WIRE
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film
SIMON CHINN Producer – Man On Wire
JUDY CRAYMER Producer – Mamma Mia!
GARTH JENNINGS Writer – Son of Rambow
STEVE McQUEEN Director/Writer – Hunger
SOLON PAPADOPOULOS / ROY BOULTER Producers – Of Time And The City
THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
MICHAEL CERA
NOEL CLARKE
MICHAEL FASSBENDER
REBECCA HALL
TOBY KEBBELL
