BAFTA Award Nominees 2011: Has 'Social Network' Finally Met Its Match?

                                                                Photo: Indie Wire

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (or simply BAFTA) have announced the nominees for their annual awards ceremony, with The King's Speech leading the way in nominations -- 14 of them, to be exact.
The big question here is whether The Social Network can continue its dominance on British turf, as The King's Speech seems tailored to take home the top awards here. We shall see.

BAFTA announces its winners on Sunday, February 13.

Breakdown of major categories after the jump...

Best Film

• Black Swan
• Inception
• The King's Speech*
• The Social Network
• True Grit

Outstanding British Film

• 127 Hours
• Another Year
• Four Lions
• The King's Speech*
• Made in Dagenham

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director or Producer

• Clio Barnard, The Arbor
• Banksy, Exit Through the Gift Shop
• Chris Morris, Four Lions
• Gareth Edwards, Monsters*
• Nick Whitfield, Skeletons

Best Director

• Danny Boyle, 127 Hours
• Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
• Christopher Nolan, Inception
• Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
• David Fincher, The Social Network*

Original Screenplay

• Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz and John Mclaughlin, Black Swan
• Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson, The Fighter
• Christopher Nolan, Inception
• Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
• David Seidler, The King's Speech*

Adapted Screenplay

• Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
•  Rasmus Heisterberg and Nikolaj Arcel, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network*
• Michael Arndt, Toy Story 3
• Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

Leading Actor

• Javier Bardem, Biutiful
• Jeff Bridges, True Grit
• Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
• Colin Firth, The King's Speech*
• James Franco, 127 Hours

Leading Actress

• Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
• Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
• Natalie Portman, Black Swan*
• Noomi Rapace, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Supporting Actor

• Christian Bale, The Fighter*
• Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
• Pete Postlethwaite, The Town
• Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
• Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Supporting Actress

• Amy Adams, The Fighter
• Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech*
• Barbara Hershey, Black Swan
• Lesley Manville, Another Year
• Miranda Richardson, Made in Dagenham

(*denotes my projected winners)

Nominations Tally

• The King's Speech: 14
• Black Swan: 12
• Inception: 9
• 127 Hours: 8
• True Grit: 8
• The Social Network: 6
• Alice in Wonderland: 5
• The Kids Are All Right: 4
• Made in Dagenham: 3
• The Fighter: 3
• Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: 3
• Toy Story 3: 3
• Another Year: 3
• Biutiful: 2
• How To Train Your Dragon: 2
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1: 2

(all others with just one nomination)


Observations

• An obvious slant towards British films, with The King's Speech racking up an astounding 14 nominations -- and also 3 noms for both Another Year and Made in Dagenham
• The Social Network scores a modest 6 nominations, and fails to make the cut for Original Music (it's original score won at both the Critics' Choice and Golden Globes)
• True Grit gets a much-needed Best Film nomination, leaving The Fighter as the odd-man-out
• Danny Boyle scores a much-needed director nomination, edging out Russell and the Coen brothers
• Really hoping that Gareth Edward's Monsters gets the win for British Debut
• Girl With the Dragon Tattoo gets a couple of surprising nominations (Adapted Screenplay and Leading Actress)
• Hailee Steinfeld is nominated for Leading Actress instead of Supporting Actress -- expect to see her in the latter category at the Oscars
• A surprising posthumous nomination for Pete Postlethwaite
• No Melissa Leo nomination for Supporting Actress, though Amy Adams makes the cut -- probably the biggest shake-up in the acting department