London: Hollywood stars shone amid a dreary London drizzle on Sunday at the British Academy Film Awards — the UK version of the Oscars.
Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Robert Downey Jr. and Mickey Rourke were among the big names who walked a damp red carpet before the glitzy ceremony at London's Royal Opera House.
The ceremony draws a large contingent of Hollywood talent alongside the British stars, and has a reputation for predicting who will win at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles two weeks later.
This year's front-runners for the British awards, popularly known as the BAFTAs, are The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire, with 11 nominations each, including best picture.
Attendees also included Penelope Cruz, Kristin Scott Thomas, Daniel Craig and Kate Winslet — twice nominated in the best-actress category, for Revolutionary Road and The Reader.
Winslet has said she will be ready to give an acceptance speech this time, to avoid a repeat of her now-infamous emotional meltdown at the Golden Globes.
Hundreds of fans brazed a wet and chilly night to spot stars and grab autographs. The crowd's biggest cheers were for an arm-and-arm Pitt and Jolie — he wearing a mustache, she an elegant, old-Hollywood strapless black and gold dress.
All four of last year's acting prize winners at the British awards — officially called the Orange British Academy Film Awards — went on to take home Oscars.
Sunday's sentimental favourite is Slumdog Millionaire, the British-written and directed underdog drama about a Mumbai street boy. Its nominations include best picture, best actor for 18-year-old Dev Patel and best director for Danny Boyle.
It's competing for best picture against Benjamin Button, which stars Pitt as a man who ages backward; political drama Frost/Nixon; inspirational biopic Milk; and Nazi-themed drama The Reader.
In the eclectic category of best British film, the nominees are Slumdog; ABBA musical Mamma Mia!; hit-man comedy In Bruges; Irish hunger-striker drama Hunger; and tightrope-walking documentary Man on Wire.
Best actress contenders are Winslet; Jolie for the missing-child drama Changeling; Streep for the moral thriller Doubt; and Scott Thomas for the French film I've Loved You So Long.
The best-actor nominees are Patel for Slumdog; Penn for Milk; Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon; Rourke for The Wrestler; and Pitt — who also was nominated in the supporting-actor category for the Coen brothers' spy comedy Burn After Reading.
There are nine nominations for Batman thriller The Dark Knight, including a best supporting actor nomination for the late Heath Ledger. Clint Eastwood's LA noir Changeling is nominated in eight categories, including best director.
Comments
0 comment