2014 - Awards Season: BAFTA - Nominations

January 11, 2015

The BAFTA nominations were announced yesterday and unlike most other Awards Season voters, the BAFTA voters gave us some real surprises. For instance, Birdman didn't lead the way. In fact, it was a comedy, The Grand Budapest Hotel, that earned the most nominations at 11. Granted, Birdman and The Theory of Everything were tied for second place with ten each, but it is still strange to see a comedy leading the way.

The categories and nominees are...

Best Film

• Birdman
• Boyhood
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• The Theory of Everything

Best Director

• Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Damien Chazelle for Whiplash
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman
• Richard Linklater for Boyhood
• James Marsh for The Theory of Everything

Best Actress in a Leading Role

• Amy Adams for Big Eyes
• Felicity Jones for The Theory of Everything
• Julianne Moore for Still Alice
• Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl
• Reese Witherspoon for Wild

Best Actor in a Leading Role

• Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game
• Ralph Fiennes for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler
• Michael Keaton for Birdman
• Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

• Steve Carell for Foxcatcher
• Ethan Hawke for Boyhood
• Edward Norton for Birdman
• Mark Ruffalo for Foxcatcher
• J.K. Simmons for Whiplash

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

• Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
• Keira Knightley for The Imitation Game
• Rene Russo for Nightcrawler
• Imelda Staunton for Pride
• Emma Stone for Birdman

Best Original Screenplay

• Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Damien Chazelle for Whiplash
• Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., and Bo Armando for Birdman
• Richard Linklater for Boyhood

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Jason Hall for American Sniper
• Paul King and Hamish McColl for Paddington
• Gillian Flynn for Gone Girl
• Anthony McCarten for The Theory of Everything
• Graham Moore for The Imitation Game

Best Cinematography

• Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman
• Dick Pope for Mr. Turner
• Hoyte Van Hoytema for Interstellar
• Robert Yeoman for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Łukasz Żal and Ryszard Lenczewski for Ida

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

• Stephen Beresford (Writer) and David Livingstone (Producer) for Pride
• Gregory Burke (Writer) and Yann Demange (Director) for '71
• Elaine Constantine (Director/Writer) for Northern Soul
• Paul Katis (Director/Producer) and Andrew de Lotbiniere (Producer) for Kajaki
• Hong Khaou (Director/Writer) for Lilting

Outstanding British Film

• '71
• Paddington
• Pride
• The Imitation Game
• The Theory of Everything
• Under the Skin

Best Documentary

• 20 Feet from Stardom
• 20,000 Days on Earth
• CitizenFour
• Finding Vivian Maier
• Virunga

Best Original Music

• Alexandre Desplat for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Jóhann Jóhannsson for The Theory of Everything
• Mica Levi for Under the Skin
• Antonio Sánchez for Birdman
• Hans Zimmer for Interstellar

Best Sound

• American Sniper
• Birdman
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• Whiplash

Best Production Design

• Big Eyes
• Interstellar
• Mr. Turner
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game

Best Special Visual Effects

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Interstellar
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
• X-Men: Days of Future Past

Best Costume Design

• Into the Woods
• Mr. Turner
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• The Theory of Everything

Best Makeup and Hair

• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Into the Woods
• Mr. Turner
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Theory of Everything

Best Editing

• Birdman
• Nightcrawler
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Imitation Game
• The Theory of Everything
• Whiplash

Best Film Not in the English Language

• Ida
• Leviafan
• The Lunchbox
• Trash
• Two Days, One Night

Best Animated Film

• Big Hero 6
• The Boxtrolls
• The LEGO Movie

Best Short Animation

• Monkey Love Experiments
• My Dad
• The Bigger Picture

Best Short Film

• Boogaloo and Graham
• Emotional Fusebox
• Slap
• The Kármán Line
• Three Brothers

EE Rising Star Award

• Gugu Mbatha-Raw
• Jack O'Connell
• Margot Robbie
• Miles Teller
• Shailene Woodley

Notes and Reactions...

• I'm happy that The Grand Budapest Hotel did so well the the BAFTAs earning 11 nominations. Comedies tend to be undervalued during Awards Season.
• On the other hand, the three other big, big players were Birdman and The Theory of Everything with ten nominations and The Imitation Game with nine. Not a lot of surprise there.
• Selma got shut out, again. Why is this film and its 98% positive reviews being ignored so much?
• The animated feature film category only had three films, but one of them was a surprise. The Boxtrolls joined Big Hero 6 and The LEGO Movie, beating out How to Train Your Dragon 2, Song of the Sea, and even films like The Book of Life and Mr. Peabody and Sherman earned better reviews.
• Paul King and Hamish McColl earned a Best Adapted Screenplay for their work on Paddington, which is one of the bigger surprises. You generally don't see family films earn Awards Season accolades like this.
• I really want Gugu Mbatha-Raw to win rising star. Shailene Woodley wouldn't be a bad choice, except her first big hit came three years ago with The Descendants. After that film, no one should be surprised that she's amazing in nearly everything she does.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: Awards Season, Big Eyes, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Selma, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Interstellar, Under the Skin, The Boxtrolls, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Lego Movie, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Book of Life, Big Hero 6, Into the Woods, Foxcatcher, The Lunchbox, Paddington, Gone Girl, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Finding Vivian Maier, Boyhood, Ida, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), The Theory of Everything, Whiplash, The Imitation Game, Mr. Turner, Wild, American Sniper, Nightcrawler, Pride, 20,000 Days on Earth, Lilting, Song of the Sea, Leviafan, CitizenFour, Still Alice, Virunga, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Amy Adams, Wes Anderson, Steve Carell, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Keaton, Keira Knightley, Richard Linklater, Julianne Moore, Edward Norton, Jack O'Connell, Rosamund Pike, Dick Pope, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Ruffalo, Rene Russo, J.K. Simmons, Imelda Staunton, Emma Stone, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Alexandre Desplat, Hans Zimmer, Damien Chazelle, Felicity Jones, Miles Teller, Armando Bo, Nicolas Giacobone, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, James Marsh, Robert Yeoman, Dan Gilroy, Hamish McColl, Hoyte Van Hoytema, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Emmanuel Lubezki, Anthony McCarten, Paul King, Hugo Guinness, Margot Robbie, Ryszard Lenczewski, Mica Levi, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Gillian Flynn, David Livingstone, Łukasz Żal, Stephen Beresford, Hong Khaou, Antonio Sanchez, Yann Demange, Elaine Constantine, Graham Moore, Jason Hall, Gregory Burke, Paul Katis, Andrew de Lotbiniere