Recent Globe champ 'Atonement' leads BAFTA noms
In the past two years, four out of five of the BAFTA nominees for best picture lined up with the Oscars, but that won't occur this year. While Oscar frontrunners "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" made the cut (and each have nine nominations over all), two other BAFTA selections are rather iffy ("Atonement," "American Gangster") and one impossible ("The Lives of Others" won the Oscar for best foreign-language film last year).
"Atonement" leads with the most bids (14) just 4 days after winning best drama picture at the Golden Globes. Other tallies: "La Vie en Rose" (7), "The Bourne Ultimatum" (6) and "American Gangster" (5). See the full list of nominees, CLICK HERE Read the Associated Press report, CLICK HERE.
"Atonement" was based upon one of Britain's biggest-selling books of recent years and was produced by British firm Working Title, which previously produced "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill." BAFTA deputy chairman David Parfitt said of Atonement: "We know that the serious-minded costume drama is something that the British industry really knows how to do."
Keira Knightley's best-actress bid is sweet vindication considering she was snubbed two years ago when "Pride and Prejudice" was nommed for six BAFTAS, including best British film.
Jame McAvoy is back in the running for a third year, this time up for lead actor. He was nominated last year in the supporting race for "Last King of Scotland" even though he actually had more screen time than BAFTA and Oscar best-actor winner Forest Whitaker. The previous year he won the award for rising young star.
"The BAFTA nominations this morning basically constitute a pretty heartening list of good, very good and really excellent films," commented Britain's Guardian. "So far the only reported oddity is the relative absence of nominations for 'Sweeney Todd,' apparently as a result of not having screeners to send out to BAFTA members."
