BAFTA nominations!!!!!

Best film
Arrival
I, Daniel Blake
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Aside from the inclusion of the very British (and very fine, my second of the year so far) I, Daniel Blake, the other four are all now considered locks when Best Picture at the Oscars get announced. 

Best British film 
American Honey 
Denial 
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 
I, Daniel Blake 
Notes on Blindness 
Under the Shadow

Best film not in the English language 
Dheepan 
Julieta 
Mustang 
Son of Saul 
Toni Erdmann

Elle and The Handmaiden weren't eligible because they're not being released here until March and April, respectively. Son and Saul and Mustang, which were nominated at last year's Oscars, weren't eligible in time for last year's BAFTAs, but were obviously too strong to be forgotten, so they have their belated nominations now.

Best documentary 
13th 
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years 
The Eagle Huntress 
Notes on Blindness 
Weiner 

I haven't seen any of these because documentaries bore me to tears. #SorryNotSorry

Best animated film
Finding Dory
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
Zootropolis

Haha at BAFTA not being able to find five Animated films they felt passionately about. Whilst I'm glad that means the overrated Your Name doesn't get nominated, I do feel When Marnie Was There deserves to be in the pantheon of the films listed; particularly Finding Dory which it was far superior to.

Best director
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)
Ken Loach (I, Daniel Blake)
Damien Chazelle (La La Land)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)

Barry Jenkins not getting nominated for Moonlight will damage the film's credentials as the main competitor to La La Land for Best Movie at the Oscars. :( I'm happy to see some recognition for Ken Loach, however. He crafted a really touching and powerful film in I, Daniel Blake and deserves to be nominated. Not so sure about Tom Ford, on the other hand.

Best original screenplay
Hell or High Water
I, Daniel Blake
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Best adapted screenplay
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hidden Figures
Lion
Nocturnal Animals

Jesus, dat adapted screenplay category. It's a shame that Screenplay is the only place where Hidden Figures is recognised; I hear it's quite good. And no Fences in adapted but Nocturnal Animals and Hacksaw Ridge are present? Damn. The shade of it all.

I'm also disappointed that the very British treat Love and Friendship, an adaptation of a Jane Austen novella, wasn't recognised here, given it featured some of the wittiest one-liners in 2016.

Best actor
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Nocturnal Animals)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

No Denzel, BAFTA???? WTF???? It's crazy that BAFTA have never nominated Denzel Washington.

I ain't even mad about David Oyelowo's snub for A United Kingdom, as well as A United Kingdom's absence on the list overall. I presume they didn't send screeners (or I'm just gonna tell myself that).

I love Jake Gyllenhaal a lot (Brokeback Mountain is my sixth favourite film of all time and he was snubbed of an Oscar nomination for Nightcrawler) but he was, dare I say it... a little hammy in Nocturnal Animals, especially in the scene where he breaks down in front of Aaron Taylor-Johnson's redneck. It would be a shame if he got nominated for an Oscar for his awards-begging turn.

Best actress
Amy Adams (Arrival)
Emily Blunt (The Girl on the Train)
Emma Stone (La La Land)
Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)

With Isabelle Huppert out of contention due to her film's late release, this was pretty expected. I did expect BAFTA to use that fifth spot on their very own Emily Blunt, who was fantastic (my number 1 in Leading Actress so far) in the otherwise terrible The Girl on the Train, but, given they overlooked Charlotte Rampling last year for 45 Years, I couldn't be sure.

The fact that Jackie only has two other technical nominations indicate to me that BAFTA didn't love the film, thus they'll probably give the win to the Yellowfaced Felicia for playing Emma Stone in the Emma Stone Biopic. However, I'm praying for a curveball; Emma Stone doesn't need a BAFTA yet and Amy Adams or Emily Blunt deserve it more. I certainly haven't seen them taking any whitewashed roles.

Best supporting actor 
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals)
Dev Patel (Lion)
Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

What a week Gorgeous Taylor-Johnson is having. A few weeks ago he wasn't in the Oscar race, with most preferring Michael Shannon's work in Nocturnal Animals. Now he has a Golden Globe win under his belt, and his home nation have gotten behind him. I'm not surprised BAFTA nominated ATJ; they liked Nowhere Boy a lot (which is where he met his missus, 50 Shades of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson). His acceptance speech at the Golden Globes was very humble and concise and it's clear he loves his wife a lot, which I really adore. Would LOVE for all this momentum to result in an Oscar nomination. His days of being wooden in Anna Karenina are long-forgotten!

The other four nominations are probably going to be considered locks come Oscar nomination morning. It's funny; BAFTA go out of their way to show they're ~above Category Fraud~, for example, by nominating Felicia Vikander in The Danish Girl for Lead Actress last year when she campaigned for Supporting, and doing the same with Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit and as well as Bérénice Bejo for The Artist, amongst others. But Brits Dev Patel and Hugh Grant are commonly considered leading performances, yet BAFTA have nominated them in the only category they can find space for them.

The BAFTAs aren't above category fraud themselves, then.

Best supporting actress 
Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake)
Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Nicole Kidman (Lion)
Viola Davis (Fences)

Delighted for Hayley Squires, who is currently fourth in my personal ballot. The food bank scene in I, Daniel Blake was gut wrenching and her acting in it was understated perfection.

The other four ladies on this list are probably locks for Oscar nominations now.

Best original music 
Arrival 
Jackie 
La La Land 
Lion 
Nocturnal Animals 


Best cinematography 
Arrival 
Hell or High Water 
La La Land 
Lion 
Nocturnal Animals 

Best editing 
Arrival 
Hacksaw Ridge 
La La Land 
Manchester by the Sea
Nocturnal Animals 

Best production design 
Doctor Strange 
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 
Hail, Caesar! 
La La Land 
Nocturnal Animals 

So they saw Hail, Caesar, then? Then where's Alden Ehrenreich's nomination for his unforgettably charming, perfectly comedic turn??

The rest of the technical noms here.

Overall, this is... pretty weak stuff. The suspect acting nominations, the category fraud, the shutout for Moonlight in direction and editing, all points to a sweep for Step Up 9: The Emma Stone Biopic in the manner of their massive Golden Globes wins on Sunday. It looks like BAFTAs have tried a wee bit too hard to predict the Oscars, and the results, bar Emily Blunt and ATJ's nominations, utterly, utterly inspiring. 

I really hope they throw some curveballs when announcing the winners!