Movie award season is in full swing and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts chose its winners this past Sunday.The Hurt Locker, which follows a bomb disposal squad in Iraq, swept the show winning the “Best Film,” “Best Director” for Kathryn Bigelow and “Original Screenplay” categories. In addition, the movie won a slew of other awards for cinematography and sound. The other biggest winner of the night was Up, Pixar’s animated jewel, which took the “Best Animated Feature” and “Best Sound” categories.
The most noticable snub of the show was Avatar, James Cameron’s blockbuster which has either broken or will break every box office record ever. It did win all the purchasable awards, the technical ones, but the lack of any major awards came in stark contrast to how heavily favored Avatar entered the evening.
A myriad of other films won the remaining categories, but the winners in the major categories could give a hint to who will hit it big at the Oscars.
The BAFTAs are the British version of the Oscars and the similarities don’t end there. Over the past few award seasons, the two awards shows have shared many of the same winners, breaking away from the Golden Globe selections. Last year, the two shared Slumdog Millionaire winning the biggest prize, “Best Picture” or “Best Film.” But, several trends indicate a shake-up in the commonalities this year between the two shows could happen.
For example, a movie about Iraq has never won “Best Picture” at the Oscars. And, remember how Avatar is taking all the box office records? It’s taking all those records away from Cameron’s Titanic, the 1997 “Best Picture” winner. Cameron could buck the recent drama-centric trend and put a blockbuster back on top.
So, what does this all mean? Nothing really, but it sure is fun to speculate. We all have to wait until March 7 to know for sure, but until then, let the guessing begin.
