In comparison to the Oscars, the Baftas are a smaller affair. There’s much less pomp and pageantry than the Academy Awards.
The show is hosted rather more seriously (this year by Joanna Lumley, for the first time.) Overall, it’s a lot drier than the Oscars and acts almost as a rehearsal for its US cousin.
The trouble is that, sandwiched between the Golden Globes and the Oscars, the Baftas rarely adds much to the conversation.
Never has this been clearer than at the 2018 Baftas which played out exactly as it was expected to, with zero surprises.
However, the list of Bafta nominees did provide some welcome variation from the Academy Award nominees list. There were nods for Paddington 2, The Death Of Stalin, Lady Macbeth, and God’s Own Country.
None of those films picked up an award. Instead, all year’s big films won in all the categories they were expected to win in.
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By GlobalData2018 BAFTA awards winners
Best actor
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Best actress
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best supporting actress
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Best supporting actor
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best director
Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water
Best film
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Outstanding British film
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
EE Rising Star award (voted for by the public)
Daniel Kaluuya
Best original music
The Shape of Water
Best make up & hair
Darkest Hour
Best costume design
Phantom Thread
Best animated film
Coco
Best editing
Baby Driver
Best documentary
I Am Not Your Negro
Best British short animation
Poles Apart
Best British short film
Cowboy Dave
Best film not in the English language
The Handmaiden
Best adapted screenplay
Call Me by Your Name
Best production design
The Shape of Water
Best special visual effects
Blade Runner 2049
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
I Am Not a Witch – Rungano Nyoni (writer/director), Emily Morgan (producer)
Best sound
Dunkirk
Best original screenplay
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best cinematography
Blade Runner 2049
Outstanding British contribution to cinema
National Film and Television School
Bafta fellowship
Ridley Scott
What does this mean for the Oscars?
Due to there being a fair bit of crossover between the British and American Academies, there’s a lot that the Baftas can reveal about the likely Oscar winners.
Film fans should expect the Oscar winners list to be pretty much exactly the same.
Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actresses, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Director are thought to be locked into place now.
At the very least, expect the Bafta winners to be the Oscar winners.
Again, it’s unlikely anything but Phantom Thread and Coco will win Best Costumes and Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.
The screenplay awards are still basically up for grabs.
As are cinematography and editing, which provided the biggest surprises of the Bafta awards after wins by Bladerunner 2049 and Baby Driver.
They’re certainly deserving winners, but not ones which have really entered the Oscars conversation.
Now that Frances McDormand and Gary Oldman have picked up both Bafta and Golden Globes, they’re pretty much certain to win Best Actor and Actress at the Oscars.
That’s bad news for Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet who are nominated for Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name respectively.
Since it didn’t win a Single Bafta, it’s looking increasingly likely that Lady Bird will struggle to pick up any Oscars.
That’s not due to its quality — just that Lady Bird is arguably second best in each of those categories.
Still, it’s not all bad news.
Daniel Kaluuya’s Rising Star Bafta will provide some momentum for his Oscar campaign.
Certainly, it’s unlikely Kaluuya could topple Gary Oldman’s seemingly foregone Best Actor win but there’s no denying that Get Out has made history and exceeded expectations already.
Maybe it could upset the Oscars table one last time.