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The wartime epic about lovers torn apart by a family
betrayal is hot favorite to land the Best Film prize -- but its
two stars could be in for yet another disappointment after
being passed over in the Hollywood nominations. For Daniel Day-Lewis, playing an oil prospector in "There
Will Be Blood," and veteran Julie Christie, acclaimed for her
portrayal of an Alzheimer's sufferer in "Away From Her," are
strongly fancied to scoop top BAFTA acting honors. Both are also leading contenders when the Oscars, whose
build-up has been overshadowed by a bitter writers' strike, are
handed out in Hollywood on February 24. Day-Lewis won a Best Actor Oscar in 1989 for his moving
performance as a cerebral palsy victim in "My Left Foot." He
famously stayed in character on set even when the cameras were
not rolling. Christie, one of the famous faces of the "Swinging
Sixties," won an Oscar in 1965 for playing a model who slept
her way to success in the London fashion scene. She also
appeared in the classic films "Doctor Zhivago" and "Don't Look
Now." "Atonement," a homegrown favorite with BAFTA's 6,500 voting
members, is up for Best Film against Ridley Scott's "American
Gangster," the Coen Brothers' acclaimed "No Country for Old
Men" as well as "The Lives of Others" and "There Will be
Blood." Organizers say the red carpet BAFTA show at London's Royal
Opera House has attracted an impressive array of American TV
networks, eager to generate some much needed show business hype
in the run-up to the Oscars. When the BAFTA nominations were announced in January, it
looked as if it might end up as the movie industry's one and
only big night of the year -- but Oscar night prospects now
look much more positive amid signs the writers' strike could be
resolved. The British box office, often dominated by a heavy diet of
Hollywood blockbusters, is in rude health. Cinema-goers in Britain and Ireland spent 904 million
pounds ($1.78 billion) in 2007, up eight percent on the
previous year. Seven of the top 20 films, led by "Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix," were British productions. That was up
from just three home-grown hits in 2006. (Additional reporting by Peter Griffiths) (editing by Paul Casciato) |
