Projection Room: The BAFTAs 2018 in a nutshell

We are in the final stages of the 2017-18 awards run, and with the 71st celebration of the British film industry in the can, it’s time to look at the ups and downs of what was one of the more unique BAFTA ceremonies we’ve had for a while. Yes, we didn’t have Stephen Fry this year, but Joanna Lumley certainly delivered. With all that in mind, it’s time to go journalistic, as we welcome back the Projection Room posts for the first time this year.

Three Billboards and The Shape of Water dominate the night

Unsurprisingly the night belonged to Martin McDonaugh and the team behind the almighty Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, as they picked up quite a few big nods for Best Film, Outstanding British Feature and Original Screenplay alongside two big acting categories for Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell respectively. The film’s just been getting bigger and bigger as the season has rolled on, and it stands a very firm chance at Oscar glory in just over 2 weeks time.

As for Guillermo del Toro’s latest (which only officially opened on Wednesday here in the UK), The Shape of Water managed to pick up Best Director, as well as the technical awards for Production Design and Music, and while it’s a shame that the magnificent work of Sally Hawkins was overlooked, it really was too close to call in many categories this year- it really has been an epic 12 months for the film industry.

The rundown

When it came to Best Actor, it just had to be Gary Oldman. It had to be. And he got it. Winning his first BAFTA for his work on-screen, Darkest Hour was able to pick up 2 awards last night, including recognition for Hair and Make-Up, which is surprising knowing that two films about the same subject shared nominations this year. Speaking of that other film about Dunkirk, Nolan’s latest film did secure a win for Sound, and just one award is fine by me- it is my joint Film of the Year (alongside The Renata Road, which if it did qualify for the BAFTAs would’ve been a dead cert for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer/Director/Producer) after all.

Baby Driver secured a much deserved win for Editing, and Roger Deakins added to the collection for his work behind the camera on Blade Runner 2049, but as expected, the favourites we’ve been talking about since the Golden Globes secured their wins, including Allison Janney for the mighty I, Tonya, James Ivory’s script for Call Me By Your Name (which hasn’t screened at a major cinema in my neck of the woods), Blade Runner 2049′s epic Visual Effects, and lest we forget, the section I label the Pixar Award- wait, they call it Best Animation at this ceremony- and it was won this year by Coco.

There was a major surprise for fans of Get Out- the film’s fantastic lead actor Daniel Kaluuya won the EE Rising Star award (the only one voted for by you guys), and he now joins a very esteemed club of winners that includes James McAvoy, John Boyega, Kristen Stewart and Tom Hardy. All of them became Hollywood greats, and I can see the same happening here, as Margot Robbie and Octavia Spencer quite rightly alluded to on the night, the British public do make good casting agents.

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All in all, it was a very open/close night- well, aside from Sir Ridley Scott accepting the Fellowship at the end, he absolutely deserves it after innovating the art of cinema for over 40 years- but with the Oscars in a matter of weeks, it’ll be interesting to see how the Academy votes differently to our beloved BAFTA. Speaking of the Oscars, it’s time to reveal this year’s coverage for the blog.

THE OSCARS ON THEJACKSMIT.COM

As is tradition, I’ll be pulling an overnight shift on March 2nd to live-tweet the ceremony from about 1.30am UK time, and once I’ve made up for the lost sleep, you’ll be seeing an article like this right here on the blog. It’s time to bring to an end what has been a pretty average awards season, but we do it with style as ever.