BAFTA Nominees 2013: Skyfall and The Hobbit Make the British Nominations Cut

Previously I wrote an article where I gave my predictions for who would be up for the top prizes at the 2013 BAFTAs. The problem with predictions is sometimes you can get it right, and sometimes you get it disastrously wrong. This time around I suppose it's safe to say I was roughly in between with predictions when the shortlist was announced.

The general consensus from British entertainment reporters is that this year's awards is quite wide open in terms of who will win. The shortlist even courted controversy given that five of the films nominated for the best film award three haven't been released in the UK yet. Here are the biggest BAFTA nominees of 2012.

Lincoln

Despite being a more open contest, Lincoln is tipped to do quite well. With British-Irish method actor Daniel Day-Lewis attached as the titular character it was no surprise that the film would be nominated, but the real surprise was not just that the film has not even been released in the UK yet (it's not out until January 25), but also the fact that the film's director Steven Spielberg wasn't even nominated.

Number of nominations: 11

Les Miserables

It was hardly surprising that the musical would receive a pram full of nominations. Notching up a comfortable nine nominations in the big categories of best film and outstanding British film, the technical categories, and also the design categories. It also received nominations for Best Leading Actor Hugh Jackman and Best Supporting Actress Anne Hathaway.

The biggest surprise however was that Tom Hooper didn't get nominated for Best Director. 

Number of nominations: 9

Life of Pi

Life of Pi could be the first 3D picture to win best film. Critics were surprised that Ang Lee's adaptation of Yann Martel's novel was nominated for nine categories (excluding Suraj Sharma who is nominated for the Rising Star Award), which includes many of the technical categories along with Best Film and Best Director for Ang Lee.

Lee has always done quite well at the BAFTAs with Best Film and Best Director accolades for Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Brokeback Mountain. The only time he walked away empty handed was his last film Lust, Caution.

Number of nominations: 9

Zero Dark Thirty

British actress Jessica Chastain was nominated for her role in Kathryn Bigelow's film based on the lead up to the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. But like Lincoln it was also the surprise entrant as it hasn't been released in the UK yet either.

Kathryn Bigelow surprised critics when she scooped the Best Film Award for The Hurt Locker beating ex-husband James Cameron's Avatar. In 2010 The Hurt Locker won six out of eight awards it was nominated for including best director and best original screenplay, so there's a chance that Zero Dark Thirty could be the surprise of the evening.

Number of nominations: 5

Skyfall

As expected Skyfall was nominated for the technical categories including cinematography, production design, sound, editing, and music.

It also received a surprise nomination for Judi Dench's M as Best Supporting Actress, and Javier Bardem's villain as Best Supporting Actor.

Skyfall however did fall short of making Bond history after it missed out on a nod for Best Film. Some were hoping that Skyfall would be nominated for best film, making it the first ever Bond film to be nominated in that category. Instead it received a nomination for Outstanding British film.

Number of nominations: 8

There were high hopes for Tolkeins' prequel to the Lord Of the Rings saga but unfortunately Peter Jackson's adaptation couldn't quite match up to the success of the Rings trilogy. With only three nominations for make-up & hair, special visual effects and sound, what we have learnt is that sometimes splitting a book up into more than one film isn't such a good idea.

Number of nominations: 3