BAFTAs

So yesterday evening it was time for the BAFTA awards ceremony, and as that is a combination of all that is British, telling me about great films, and reminding me of which actors and movies I love, I had to watch. (Do you know the feeling, when they show the clip of all the great movies that came out last year, and you're thinking "Wow, did that come out last year? Feels like it's been around forever!" and "I wanted to go and see that! Why didn't I?" and "Yes, I love that actor, I should see more of his films!" repeated about 100 times so that you should actually be keeping a list of all the things you still want to watch.)
Now this year, it was kind of a disappointment, to be honest.
This had nothing to do with the great host, which was a pleasant surprise, because I was expecting Jonathan Ross but then they announced Stephen Fry and my evening became just a little bit better. It also had nothing to do with the fact that nos.nl published the results at about 22:45, when there was still more than an hour to go, and I knew that Meryl Streep had won Best Actress around the same time she did (the BAFTAs are never shown live, they have to squeeze everything into two hours and with actors giving tearful speeches you can be sure they will never stick to the 30 second time window they have). It also had nothing to do with the people presenting the awards, because most of them were funny, kind, and responded to Stephen's announcement joke (the ones who didn't were either nervous young stars whose eyes were glued to the autocue and who couldn't relax until they had gotten "and the nominees are..." out, or Penelope Cruz, who probably did not even hear Fry's "they've named a beach, a water vehicle, and a leisure activity after her" joke (which most people, herself included, probably did not understand anyway), but just stroooode to the microphone thinking "how hot do I look!"and suddenly found the Spanish accent she hasn't had for the last 10 years back), and to have Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe act out that funny Aussie bit was just brilliant.
No, the disappointment was in the winners. Or even the nominees.
Now I am sure The Artist must be a brilliant, wonderful film, being very innovative and original, but that does not mean it should win almost every award it was nominated for. The audience just stopped applauding whenever it was nominated, because then you would know it would win (Best Actress was a nice exception to this). The winner of Best Adapted Screenplay even thanked The Artist for "not being based on a novel", which was funny but also sad. The director of The Artist at some point didn't even bother to speech, but just thanked some people and walked off again, eager to hurry back to his seat to win the next award.
So who should have won?
Now I haven't seen all the films that were nominated, so I can't give a very objective opinion (yes, I know, oxymoron), but I will try.
Drive: I love this film. Stephen Fry mentioned that it is one of the best additions to the "car chase" genre ever, showing that there are always new angles and new things to work with, even in a genre where everyone thinks "been there, seen that". Carey Mulligan was at least nominated, but poor Ryan Gosling was put aside by true "been there, seen that" types like Brad Pitt and George Clooney who would never have won an award but it was nice to have them in the room (it was funny how embarrased Brad Pitt got when Stephen asked him to blow a kiss to the camera though) and show everyone how great the BAFTAs are. So Ryan should have been nominated. And he should have won. (Now is probably a good time to tell you that Sean was my all-time favourite character in Breaker High (eeeeverybody loved Scott or Alex, but not me) and that I thought that Ryan had disappeared into the black hole where all teen high-school actors, including the entire cast of Sweet Valley High, Heartbreak High, and Saved by the Bell somehow get sucked into, and I was thrilled to see that he somehow got out of there and was doing Drive, and The Ides of March, which I still have to see. Go Ryan!) Anyway, that's Best Film, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actress taken care of. (As Ryan was not actually nominated for Best Actor I should probably add my choice of those who were nominated, and in that case I think I would prefer Michael Fassbender or Gary Oldman, the first because he is up-and-coming and famous but still doing nice arthousy films like Jane Eyre and A Dangerous Method, the second because he has been working for so long to get some recognition and people are finally beginning to see that he is a good actor, so either one would have been great.)
For Best Actress I like that Meryl Streep won (and that she lost her shoe on the way to the podium, which Colin Firth obligingly put back on her foot), but I would rather have seen a new face, and although I haven't seen one of their films, I think Michelle Williams, Tilda Swinton, or Viola Davis would have been happier, that it would have a greater impact on them, and that it would have shown young actresses that it is still possible to break into the closed world of Hollywood (I realise Swinton already has won both a BAFTA and an Oscar, but Williams has only been nominated, and Davis has nothing, apart from some "break-through performer" awards).
Best Supporting Actor is difficult, because I haven't seen any of the films, so lets stick with what they have. Same goes for most of the other categories, although I would have loved to see Ralph Fiennes director's debut win the Outstanding Debut award, not because I have seen the film but because I like Ralph Fiennes.
The Fellowship was awarded to Martin Scorsese and as I can honestly say I have never seen even one of the films he directed, I have no opinion about this. However, when you compare this award to the heart-breaking, deeply moving award to Sir Chirstopher Lee last year, I was wondering whether Scorsese was maybe (dare I say it?) a bit too young to win the award. Generally people have stopped making movies and are resting in their old age (or rather dying in their old age) when they receive the award, and Scorsese had actually made a film and a documentary last year which were both nominated. I mean, I don't know, he may be a great contributer to film, but I would rather have seen someone else win. I was going to say Judi Dench, but I just looked it up and she already became a fellow in 2001, so maybe I just don't know what I am talking about!
So the true message here is that I still have to see a lot of films! The Ides of March, The Iron Lady, The Help, Hugo, Shame, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, (I put those in alphabetical order without realising it, sometimes my head is creepily organized) and maybe even Moneyball. Why do I always find out about these great films the year after they have been made? Ah well, the same happened last year, and then I still had True Grit and Black Swan and The King's Speech to look forward to! So, onwards and cinemawards! And let's hope the Oscars do not throw everything on The Artist, because three (Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and Oscars) in a row would be just a little bit too much!