2011 Oscar countdown: Best Picture, Documentary, Foreign Film and the Melissa Leo fiasco

The double Goya/Bafta award ceremonies on Sunday last week left me intellectually and literally hung-over. I had diligently stocked up the freezer with champagne in the unlikely eventuality of Lesley Manville's triumph in the supporting category at the Baftas. Helena Bonham Carter predictably prevailed for her role in The King's Speech, which didn't prevent champagne from flowing. Thus, on Monday I had to deal not only with my disappointment at Manville's loss but also with a splitting headache.

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2011 BAFTA Predictions

Two film award ceremonies in one night is too much even for me, but I have to do this. I have just posted the entry with my analysis and predictions for tonight's Goya Awards, but I cannot start preparations for the simultaneous broadcasting spree without offering my choices for tonight's Bafta Awards. After all, my personal highlight of this year's film award season will come when the name of the 2010 best supporting actress Bafta recipient is announced. If Lesley Manville is recognised for her extraordinary performance in Mike Leigh's Another Year I'll be the happiest man on earth. I'm aware that right now Helena Bonham Carter is the frontrunner for her role in The King's Speech, but I cannot lose my faith in a moment like this. Champagne is ready and I'll drink it either way, but victory tastes always so much sweeter...

Here are my predictions for the 2010 Bafta Awards.

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2011 Oscar nominations: the aftermath

That to follow and scrutinize the film award season is a pointless exercise has always been clear to me.  It is also an unrewarding one. The proliferation of Oscar precursors and the Academy's faint-hearted choices have rendered the Oscar prognostication game easy and predictable.

Looking at this year's Oscar nominations, which have been announced earlier today, one might argue that absolutely nothing out of the ordinary has really happened, at least in the main categories.

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Interview: Bafta nominee and Oscar contender Lesley Manville

Imitation of Life voted Lesley Manville best actress of 2010 for her performance in Mike Leigh's Another Year. I first saw the film in the Sarajevo Film Festival, where I had the opportunity to talk with Lesley Manville about the film, her longtime collaboration with Mike Leigh and the Oscar buzz generated by her extraordinary performance. Here's an extract of the interview:

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Best female performances of 2010

Following our entry on the best films of 2010, here is our choice of the best female performances of the year. We have tried to be commercially and geographically unbiased in our selection. The list accommodates a small South Korean film (or, in this case, two) with an art house vocation as much as a high-school comedy with blockbuster aspirations.

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