Baftas 2010: Awkward moments on the red carpet

Red carpet interviews are a bit like speed dating and, as such, things don’t always go quite to plan. Lines that would work on some misfire completely on others, and this is part of the fun. Hosting for E!, Duncan James had his best Ryan Seacrest impression on – but, occasionally, even the all-conquering ‘Crest gets it wrong. And so to the clangers…

• This was more of a curio – talking to Christoph Waltz, James remarked that it had been a ‘crazy year’ for the Austrian star of Inglourious Basterds, prompting the tri-lingual actor to philosophically ponder the meaning of the word ‘crazy’ in this precise context.
• A rather tricky joke about umbilical cords and saying the word ‘cut!’ to the pregnant Sam Taylor-Wood and her partner and directee for Nowhere Boy, Aaron Johnson. They didn’t play ball at all.
• When chatting to a bustily glamorous Anne-Marie Duff, James said: ‘obviously you’re pregnant aren’t you’, which didn’t seem to be quite what she was expecting to hear. A further question about whether her and husband James McAvoy were ready for the birth seemed a bit too personal for her – fair enough – but ultimately she seemed amused by the whole encounter.
• Speaking to Carey Mulligan about her guests, James remarked that she brought her ‘breast friend’ to the SAGs’, an easy slip that Mulligan gracefully let pass without comment.
• He also appeared to forget Up In The Air star Vera Farmiga’s name when doing her outro – apparently having to check it on the card before he said it – admittedly it’s not the most ordinary of names. 

Baftas 2010: Alternate awards

A News Hour round-up of the ceremony and the activities of its glamorous attendees, beginning with the winner of the most immovable expression…

Most Glacial Expression Award
First place is Dustin Hoffman, who managed a dignified restraint whenever the camera was on him. Second to Prince William, whose emotions seeped through with  a smile during Colin Firth’s acceptance speech – and with much blinking during Vanessa Redgrave’s emotional receipt of the Bafta fellowship. The bronze goes to Rupert Everett, whose features moved barely an inch, even during his presenting of an award. But was this an act of will? (We should point out that Mr Everett denies rumours of plastic surgery.)

Best Awards Presenter
Goes to Guy Pearce for his easygoing, professional delivery – he barely seemed to look at the autocue, and was utterly ‘in character’ without looking like he was trying. (He also looked oddly like Stanley Tucci on the night.) Second place goes to Peter Capaldi, for an only slightly less assured performance.

Remarkable mentions include James Corden, pitching for Jonathan Ross’s hosting job when his current contract runs out. Mackenzie Crook and Nick Frost, ambling on stage looking like frightened rabbits – Frost wore the most extraordinary green suit, claiming that’s what he thought it said on the invite. It could have been a joke but the crowd didn’t seem to get it. Mickey Rourke could barely see the autocue, while Noel Clarke made a big show of getting his glasses out to read it.

Best Awards Acceptance
Goes to Moon director Duncan Jones, for a winning mix of emotion and bewilderment. Honourable mention to Carey Mulligan, who didn’t quite say the right thing. Rather like on the red carpet, when she said receiving nominations was like ‘being punched… nicely’. It’s an endearing habit.

Best Awkward Acceptance
Goes to Twilight’s Kristen Stewart, seeming to acknowledge the power of franchise fans in vote her this year’s Rising Star. Could the Doctor Who contingent have played a part in Noel Clarke’s receipt of the same prize in 2008? A lo-fi, strapless Stewart was similarly uncomfortable on the red carpet, all crossed arms and hunched shoulders, scratching the back of her head yet somehow managing some glamour on the side.

Best Clark Gable Moustache
One contender, one winner – The Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner, perched with his chin on the chair in front. Renner winningly commented on the red carpet that he was used to ‘being the guy that dies in films’.

Bafta Film Awards 2010: Predictions

Another awards ceremony, another list of predictions. Tedious? We hope not. The ceremony took place on February 21.
UPDATE: A 59 per cent success rate. Could try harder.

bold = winner
italic = News Hour pick

BEST FILM
AVATAR
AN EDUCATION
THE HURT LOCKER
PRECIOUS
UP IN THE AIR

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
AN EDUCATION
FISH TANK
IN THE LOOP
MOON
NOWHERE BOY

DIRECTOR
AVATAR James Cameron
DISTRICT 9 Neill Blomkamp
AN EDUCATION Lone Scherfig
THE HURT LOCKER Kathryn Bigelow
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Quentin Tarantino

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE HANGOVER Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
THE HURT LOCKER Mark Boal
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Quentin Tarantino
A SERIOUS MAN Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
UP Bob Peterson, Pete Docter

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
DISTRICT 9 Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
AN EDUCATION Nick Hornby
IN THE LOOP Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
PRECIOUS Geoffrey Fletcher
UP IN THE AIR Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
BROKEN EMBRACES
COCO BEFORE CHANEL
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
A PROPHET
THE WHITE RIBBON

ANIMATED FILM
CORALINE
FANTASTIC MR FOX
UP

LEADING ACTOR
JEFF BRIDGES Crazy Heart
GEORGE CLOONEY Up in the Air
COLIN FIRTH A Single Man
JEREMY RENNER The Hurt Locker
ANDY SERKIS Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

LEADING ACTRESS
CAREY MULLIGAN An Education
SAOIRSE RONAN The Lovely Bones
GABOUREY SIDIBE Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
MERYL STREEP Julie & Julia
AUDREY TAUTOU Coco Before Chanel

SUPPORTING ACTOR
ALEC BALDWIN It’s Complicated
CHRISTIAN McKAY Me and Orson Welles
ALFRED MOLINA An Education
STANLEY TUCCI The Lovely Bones
CHRISTOPH WALTZ Inglourious Basterds

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
ANNE-MARIE DUFF Nowhere Boy
VERA FARMIGA Up in the Air
ANNA KENDRICK Up in the Air
MO’NIQUE Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS Nowhere Boy

CINEMATOGRAPHY
AVATAR Mauro Fiore
DISTRICT 9 Trent Opaloch
THE HURT LOCKER Barry Ackroyd
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Robert Richardson
THE ROAD Javier Aguirresarobe

EDITING
AVATAR Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron
DISTRICT 9 Julian Clarke
THE HURT LOCKER Bob Murawski, Chris Innis
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Sally Menke
UP IN THE AIR Dana E. Glauberman

PRODUCTION DESIGN
AVATAR Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
DISTRICT 9 Philip Ivey, Guy Potgieter
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS Nominees TBC
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds Wasco

COSTUME DESIGN
BRIGHT STAR Janet Patterson
COCO BEFORE CHANEL Catherine Leterrier
AN EDUCATION Odile Dicks-Mireaux
A SINGLE MAN Arianne Phillips
THE YOUNG VICTORIA Sandy Powell

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
AVATAR
DISTRICT 9
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
THE HURT LOCKER
STAR TREK

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD (public vote)
JESSE EISENBERG
NICHOLAS HOULT
CAREY MULLIGAN
TAHAR RAHIM
KRISTEN STEWART

Baftas 2009: News Hour supplementary prizes

Some awards that, alas, weren’t handed out on the night…

• The News Hour prize for cringeworthy awards-giving goes to the luvvie pairing of Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, announcing Best Director and chatting about their rehearsals for Waiting For Godot. On the other side of the coin, David Frost and Michael Sheen get a gong for their nice dual impersonation of David Frost – something that could have fallen hideously flat. 
• The prize for speaking off-piste went to Goldie Hawn, for her red carpet explanation of how life came to be (something to do with matter and energy).  
  
• The award for unfettered emotion goes to Sharon Stone, for crying at every speech. Is that the actor’s craft at it finest?
  
• Award for best wince goes to Michael Sheen, for when the main selling point of Frost/Nixon was described to be Frank Langella’s magnificent performance. 
  
• Award for bizarre technical cock-up goes to the montage of new Bafta fellow Terry Gilliam’s films, that was partially repeated at least twice.

Baftas 2009: Antelopes on the red carpet

The most extraordinary thing about this year’s Baftas has been the placement of the golden mask on the podium – everyone who gets up to give a speech, tearful or otherwise, appears to be sporting a golden codpiece. It was very odd, and most apparent for Jason Isaacs.

Sharon Stone’s awards introductory speech was incredible for its self-involved panache and dramatic pauses (although the dress was lovely), while Angelina Jolie appeared to be the most bored woman on earth, dredging the smallest bit of enthusiasm possible to clap in between gongs. She came across like a European aristocrat, all lofty hauteur and restrained glamour, although to be fair she managed a smile for Noel Clarke’s extrovert acceptance speech (in which he endearingly dubbed his wife his “tag team partner”) and Mickey Rourke’s ascension to the stage, which led to the greatest concentration of bleeps in the evening.

Perhaps she simply hates the things, or refrains from expression for fear of being misunderstood – but at least Brad Pitt managed to engage with Claudia Winkleman on the red carpet, which is no mean feat considering the surreal pitch of her questions, mostly supplied by children. (“Would you prefer to be an antelope or a celebrity?’ she asked a retreating Penelope Cruz, which prompted a surprisingly interesting response.) The other option is crippling nerves, as she seemed to visibly unclench after the best actor and actress awards were announced.

FILM: Jazz voice, paracetamol and repression in The Reader

Dosed up on a heady cocktail of paracetamol, Polar Krush and sugar-strong Pepsi, a beleaguered News Hour correspondent was dispatched to watch The Reader, Kate Winslet’s successful scoop for a Golden Globe. The situation at the cinema was confused, with our ticket server, the emo bastard child of Matt Lucas and Barbra Streisand, being called away mid-pour from the Polar Krush machine by an important personal phone call.

Perhaps it was about the confusing state of Ms Winslet’s deserved award nominations; quite why she got the Globe for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ is unclear – she is the only woman really in The Reader and, although the story is not told through her eyes, she doesn’t ‘support’ anyone in an acting sense (the Bafta and Oscar nominations rectify this), although you could argue the case from a narrative point of view. Her character, an older woman who seduces a much younger boy in post-war Germany, stands very much alone.

I say this, and only this about the plot, as much of the publicity and reviews (with some honourable exceptions) give away too much and while this doesn’t spoil the film entirely, the film’s structure is loose enough to make you wish you’d had more time to spend reeling with surprise. Presumably the marketeers’ idea was that they needed to give away the premise to get people through the door to a film that screams arty Oscar magnet, but is more ordinary than it appears. Certainly, compared to last year’s big Oscar films – No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood – it’s very linear. The Reader shares a cinematographer, Roger Deakins (although there’s no credit on imdb), with No Country, and some of the later shots, mindblowing in their powerful simplicity (notably in the New York apartment) remind you of this. Elsewhere in the film’s 124 minutes, Ralph Fiennes, as the older, wrecked version of that seduced boy (brilliantly played by David Kross) has the occasional spark of comedy; his voice has the odd moment of rebellion, turning against him with vaudeville pizazz during the dinner with his daughter.

Effective in short jolts, The Reader isn’t quite more than the sum of its parts – but leaves you thinking, if only to figure out what most of the characters are repressing.