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Directing: Del Toro In Good Shape

The directing race also seems done this year. The BAFTAs me-tooed the DGA win and the Globe win, and it is very rare for someone to pull of that trifecta and lose. Ben Affleck did it, but he was not nominated for the Oscar. David Fincher won at BAFTA but lost to Tom Hooper. And the BAFTAs gave it to Richard Linklater the year of Boyhood/Birdman. Again, however, those did not have all the necessary wins. And if Three Billboards really is still the film to beat, the Academy cannot reward it in this race.

Picture: Is It Three Billboards After All?

The big surprise (?) of the night came when Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri won not just Outstanding British film, but Best Film as well. Not only is that combo a rare one for BAFTA (the last being in 1992), it raises fresh questions about whether the Oscars Internet universe is simply wrong that Three Billboards is divisive and cannot win. The movie has won the Globe, the SAG ensemble, and now the BAFTA. That’s pretty good--Birdman had those wins for example. Of course, Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu’s movie also had the PGA and DGA to go alone with it, and those went to The Shape of Water this year. In addition, BAFTA has been wrong about Best Picture three years in a row now, including picking Gravity, The Revenant, and last year La La Land, all of which lost the Best Picture Oscar.

We will also analyze the Best Picture race more closely next week, but suffice it to say that those dismissing this movie’s chances because of supposed Internet backlash or the lack of a Best Director nomination, are missing the fact that Three Billboards hits every single other note eventual winners do. Every single one. All of the other movies are missing at least one, and most of them several indicative precursors.

It is too close to call.

Full List of BAFTA Winners

Best Film: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best British Film: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Director: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Best Actress: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Actor: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Best Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Adapted Screenplay: James Ivory for Call Me By Your Name
Best Original Screenplay: Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Editing: Baby Driver
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049)
Best Sound: Dunkirk
Best Production Design: The Shape of Water
Best Special Visual Effects: Blade Runner 2049
Best Makeup and Hair: Darkest Hour
Best Original Music: The Shape of Water
Best Animated Film: Coco
Best Film Not in the English Language: The Handmaiden
Best Documentary: I Am Not Your Negro
Best British Short Film: Cowboy Dave
Best Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer: I Am Not a Witch
EE Rising Star Award: Daniel Kaluuya

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