The BAFTAs took place last night and pretty much every award went to the person we expected. La La Land won a bunch of them (including a deserving one for Emma Stone), and while plenty of films also took home some BAFTAs, others were, well, a bit disappointed.
To be fair, this is what you can expect from an awards show, but while it might have felt like a snub for some, the surprises of the night were actually quite pleasant:
Dev Patel’s big win
Nope, Dev is still freaking out
The biggest surprise of the night by far was Dev Patel winning as Best Supporting Actor over Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali. If we are being honest, Patel’s performance in Lion is more of a leading one, but sure, we are buying that he is a supporting player here if it gives him more chances of winning awards. So it makes sense that the BAFTAs chose to give this one to Patel’s poignant performance instead of Ali’s equally poignant but far smaller role in Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight.
Tom Holland is the UK’s Rising Star
Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can…
The EE Rising Star award usually goes to an actor or actress who has just made it big, whether it is for a great performance (Juno Temple) or for their appearance in a massive franchise (John Boyega). So it shouldn’t really be a surprise that the new Spider-Man and member of the Avengers, Tom Holland, took this one home. It was a prize that seemed like it was going to go to either Ruth Negga or Manchester by the Sea’s Lucas Hedges, but there is no denying Holland is going to be a household name before the year is over.
Unexpected animation
Kubo and the Two Strings
Best Animated Film sounded like an award that either Zootropolis or Moana would win, but the BATFAs surprised us by giving this title to Kubo and the Two Strings, a film that was truly deserving, even if it didn’t have the worldwide fame of the Disney movies.
Best debut by a British writer, director or producer
Winners Babak Anvari, Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill and Lucan Toh
This award was tricky, because anyone could win, but the horror film Under the Shadow was the best in the end, defeating the people behind Notes on Blindness.
Manchester by the Sea, the best original screenplay
Casey Affleck also won for Manchester by the Sea
The script for Manchester by the Sea is a masterpiece, but so is the one for Moonlight (the most mistreated film of the night), so it was a bit of a surprise that Kenneth Lonergan’s text won over Barry Jenkins’s drama or Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake, written by Jenkins himself and Paul Laverty, respectively.
But you know what? The show might have been a bit too long, and not as funny as we expected, but at least we got to see Mel Brooks again. Boy, that man still has the energy of his 30-year-old self!
Interesting to see how the Oscars go.
Totally OT- I don’t know if you’ve been there, I’m going to Barcelona in a few weeks and was wondering what some not to miss places are. Thanks.
Well, the Ramblas area is a must, and of course, the Sagrada Familia! And visit the La Boqueria market (and Camp Nou!) Make sure you eat somewhere by the sea, but beware the places that also have signs in English (those tend to be tourist traps!)