The BAFTAs took place in London last night. If you’re American, this is your chance to say, “What are the BAFTAs?” If you are British, then it was your chance to feel embarrassed as journalists ran right and left on the red carpet, trying to persuade the major Hollywood actors who had flown over for the occasion to say that the event was as big as the Oscars.

The BAFTAs — or annual film awards given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts — aren’t as big as the Oscars, but they are the closest we Brits get to an equivalent. And, in their favor, they’re usually a lot more concise than the Oscars, clocking in at a neat two hours rather than a bum-numbing four.

I’ll admit I love awards ceremonies — the women, the gowns, the often incomprehensible choices by the Academy, and the awkward acceptance speeches — so without further ado, here’s a rundown of what went down last night:

Sienna Miller was nominated for the Orange Rising Star Award (voted for by the public):

As were Ellen Page and the beautiful Lust, Caution actress Tang Wei. But they lost out to Shia LaBeouf. Yawn. … continue reading

The nominees for the 80th Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning. The big question, though, is whether the Oscars broadcast will happen at all. It's slated for Feb. 24, which is, like, 5 minutes from now in writers' strike years. And the stakes are very high. As Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly puts it, "If putting the kibosh on the Globes put the hurt on NBC and made the world pay attention to the strike, imagine what stopping the 80th Annual Academy Awards would do?"

I hope they find a way for the show to go on. Meanwhile, here are the Best Picture nominees:

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

That's right, Juno! Woo hoo! I still haven't seen Atonement. I liked Michael Clayton well enough, but not more than Juno. And I won't be seeing those last two very male-oriented films. So, yay, Juno!

Several other AfterEllen.com favorites nabbed some nods. Here are the actress categories: … continue reading

The writers' strike certainly made an impact on the Golden Globe Awards this year. No glitz, no glamour, no stars, no oops-Christine-Lahti-is-in-the-bathroom moments. Shots of the red carpet were replaced by shots of those red-and-black WGA picket signs. But, as cohost (and pinhead) Billy Bush noted, the winners still deserved recognition, so some sort of show had to go on. Here are some highlights of last night's Golden Globes Winners Special on NBC. (Images are from the press conference rather than the broadcast, but you get the idea.)

MOVIES

Best Actress, Comedy or Musical: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

Best Actress, Drama: Julie Christie, Away From Her
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

Best Actor, Comedy or Musical: Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Best Actor, Drama: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Best Picture, Comedy or Musical: Sweeney Todd
Best Picture, Drama: Atonement
Best Director: Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

TELEVISION

Best Actress, Drama: Glenn Close, Damages
Best Actress, Comedy: Tina Fey, 30 Rock … continue reading

The nominations for the 2008 Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning, and there are many AfterEllen.com favorites among the nominees. Here are the highlights:

MOVIES

• Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
• Julie Christie, Away From Her
• Jodie Foster, The Brave One





• Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
• Keira Knightley, Atonement

I'm thrilled to see Jodie on that list (especially considering the lukewarm reviews for The Brave One), but I'm even happier about Angelina's nomination. A Mighty Heart deserves a bigger audience, and Angelina deserves much more credit for her performance in it. I thought it was some of her finest work yet. Meanwhile, I can't wait to see Atonement — everybody's raving about it. … continue reading

The British movie Atonement debuts in the U.S. in December. In the U.K., it has already been making waves, with many predicting that it could provide Keira Knightley with her second Best Actress Oscar nomination (her first was for Pride and Prejudice in 2006). Certainly, there are several factors that are likely to endear the movie to Academy voters: It’s an adaptation of a prestigious novel, it’s set during World War II, and it features a tragic romance (between Knightley and James McAvoy, star of Becoming Jane). It’s also very finely directed, and it deserves to be well received. But if they do start handing out Oscar nods for the performances, I hope there’ll be one in there for Romola Garai.

Garai is a young British actress who has yet to achieve the breakout success of Knightley, although she’s been on my radar for about as long. While Keira was appearing in Bend It Like Beckham in 2002, Romola was starring in the BBC’s adaptation of George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda, as Gwendolen Harleth, the beautiful, spoiled, willful heroine. … continue reading

I adore a woman who speaks her mind, so between a willingness to be unabashedly opinionated and superb acting talents, Vanessa Redgrave holds a spot high on my list of favorites. Last week she reached the top of a rather more important list when she received a career achievement award at the Hamptons International Film Festival, and during her appearance she assured the audience that her gift for opinion has lasted just as well as her artistic gift.

Apparently Redgrave didn't wax political for the entire hour-long, onstage conversation with Alec Baldwin, but nonetheless touched upon the prison-industrial complex and the failure of modern leadership, suggesting that "if every politician devoted their entire attention to the well-being of children, they'd change everything in ten years." Mild words, really, coming from the Year of Magical Thinking star and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador who doesn't mind that openly leftist leanings have cost her roles in the past. "It's always worth it to stand by some basic principles," she explained in a recent CBS interview. Her rabble-rousing certainly hasn't cost her any beauty — she looked as stunning as ever during the event last week.

… continue reading