Oh BAFTA...

Really?  Is this woman beautiful?  Yes.  Is this woman a great actress? No.  I don't think so. I mean, she had like, 8 or 9 lines in Slumdog Millionaire. Well, she did smile, and frown. She did look worried. Oh, and she did dance in that great curtain call at the end...and, uh, she is really pretty. And honestly, why am I picking on her? It's not her fault that the British Academy of Film and Television Awards nominations are kind of stupid and did not require a lot of thought. So, they chose Slumdog Millionaire for practically everything...including Freida Pinto...a model, for Best Supporting Actress over any number of brilliant performances including Viola Davis' jaw dropping performance in Doubt, and Rosemary Dewitt's seamless turn in Rachel Getting Married.  

This Slumdog snowball is not gonna stop.  It's gonna take the film playing India to have it judged just for it's merits alone, and I think the answer will probably...it's okay.  We've seen better.

I guess the bottom line is...do I really care that much what the BAFTAs have to say?  Not anymore.  

Here are the major film noms from BAFTA

BEST FILM
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Kathleen Kennedy / Frank Marshall / Ceán Chaffin
FROST/NIXON Tim Bevan / Eric Fellner / Brian Grazer / Ron Howard
MILK Dan Jinks / Bruce Cohen
THE READER Anthony Minghella / Sydney Pollack / Donna Gigliotti / Redmond Morris
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Christian Colso

DIRECTOR
CHANGELING Clint Eastwood
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON David Fincher
FROST/NIXON Ron Howard
THE READER Stephen Daldry
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Danny Boyle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BURN AFTER READING Joel Coen / Ethan Coen
CHANGELING J. Michael Straczynski
I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG Philippe Claudel
IN BRUGES Martin McDonagh
MILK Dustin Lance Black

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Eric Roth
FROST/NIXON Peter Morgan
THE READER David Hare
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Justin Haythe
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Simon Beaufoy

ANIMATED FILM
PERSEPOLIS Marjane Satrapi / Vincent Parannaud
WALL•E Andrew Stanton
WALTZ WITH BASHIR Ari Folman

LEADING ACTOR
FRANK LANGELLA Frost/Nixon
DEV PATEL Slumdog Millionaire
SEAN PENN Milk
BRAD PITT The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
MICKEY ROURKE The Wrestler

LEADING ACTRESS
ANGELINA JOLIE Changeling
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS I’ve Loved You So Long
MERYL STREEP Doubt
KATE WINSLET The Reader
KATE WINSLET Revolutionary Road

SUPPORTING ACTOR
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. Tropic Thunder
BRENDAN GLEESON In Bruges
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN Doubt
HEATH LEDGER The Dark Knight
BRAD PITT Burn After Reading

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS Doubt
PENÉLOPE CRUZ Vicky Cristina Barcelona
FREIDA PINTO Slumdog Millionaire
TILDA SWINTON Burn After Reading
MARISA TOMEI The Wrestler

MUSIC
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Alexandre Desplat
THE DARK KNIGHT Hans Zimmer / James Newton Howard
MAMMA MIA! Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvaeus
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE A. R. Rahman
WALL•E Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY
CHANGELING Tom Stern
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Claudio Miranda
THE DARK KNIGHT Wally Pfister
THE READER Chris Menges / Roger Deakins
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Anthony Dod Mantle

EDITING
CHANGELING Joel Cox / Gary D. Roach
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Kirk Baxter / Angus Wall
THE DARK KNIGHT Lee Smith
FROST/NIXON Mike Hill / Dan Hanley
IN BRUGES Jon Gregory
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Chris Dickens

PRODUCTION DESIGN
CHANGELING James J. Murakami / Gary Fettis
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Donald Graham Burt / Victor J. Zolfo
THE DARK KNIGHT Nathan Crowley / Peter Lando
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Kristi Zea / Debra Schutt
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Mark Digby / Michelle Day