BAFTA Goes for THE ARTIST, ASC for THE TREE OF LIFE

There were two major motion picture awards yesterday, Sunday, February 12th. First, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) gave out their Orange Awards, and the American Society of Cinematographers presented their ASC Awards.

1. First, the BAFTA Awards. The French Motion Picture, THE ARTIST, received the most awards, seven: best feature film; actor, JEAN DUJARDIN; director and screenplay, MIKEL HAZANAVICIUS; original music, LUDOVIC BOURCE; cinematography, GUILLAUME SCHIFFMAN; and costume design, Mark Bridges.

THE IRON LADY's Meryl Streep was named best actress and THE IRON LADY received the award for best hair and makeup. No surprise in either. OCTAVIA SPENCER (The Help), and CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER (Beginners), were honored as supporting actors.

The Spanish motion picture produced by the Almodóvar brothers from Spain, Pedro and Agustin. THE SKIN I LIVE IN, received the nod for best motion picture not in the English language, directed by Pedro and produced by both. Spain did not submit this motion picture for Oscar consideration  in the Best Foreign Language Film Category.

The best documentary award went to SENNA, a documentary about Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the Formula1 world championship three times before his death at age 34. It also won the BAFTA for best editing.

The outstanding British feature was TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, which also won the best adapted screenplay. TINKER stars Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy and John Hurt.

                                                                                   The best animated motion picture was RANGO (voiced by Johnny Depp).  Concerning RANGO, on 2/2, I Tweeted (@mimifink), "Last week, International Animated Society #AnnieAwards picked RANGO with Johnny Depp best for 2011." Those two awards elevate RANGO to the top of the Oscar speculation list for best animated feature.

If you are interested in the Best Animated Short Film for 2011, you might do well to put Minkyu Lee's ADAM and DOG – from Warner Brothers and Pixar Animation Studios - on your speculation list. Two smaller companies were involved, I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat and La Luna. See Annie Awards.

For more about the BAFTA Awards, including the honorary awards and other winners, click the title of this post.

2. Also on Sunday, the 26th Annual American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Awards were presented in the Hollywood and Highland Grand Ballroom.

WINNER: Emmanuel Lubezki for THE TREE OF LIFE.

Winners of the ASC award go on to win an Oscar about 50% of the time. The BAFTA went to Guillaume Schiffman for THE ARTIST. If statistics hold, ladies and gentlemen, the 84th Academy Award will go to one of these two. The awards are not yet posted on the ASC Official Website, so go to Reuters for more.

 UPCOMING AWARDS THIS WEEK

Friday, February 17th -  43rd Annual NAACP Image Awards, which celebrate people of color in the arts and individuals who promote social justice. THE HELP has eight nominations.
 

Saturday, February 18, 2012 -  The 62nd Annual American Cinema Editors' (ACE) Eddie Awards will be presented at the Beverly Hilton. The Eddie Awards honor editors working in motion pictures and television.

Sunday, February 19th - Writers Guild Awards at the Hollywood Palladium. See their Website.