Globes favor 'Social Network,' BAFTA likes 'King's Speech'

By Sarah Sluis

The Golden Globes have come and gone, and in their wake they've rewarded The Social Network with the highest honor, Best Motion Picture - Drama. But the race is far from over. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), whose ceremony is held closer to the Academy Awards, announced their nominations, and The King's Speech is the frontrunner with fourteen nominations.

So, as it stands, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association rewarded the Citizen Kane-inspired close-up of the American entrepreneurial spirit, and the BAFTAs are giving a pat on the back to their former king who cured his stutter. Will the Academy Awards be about the movie, or a statement about the kind of film that should win? If it's the latter, I think The Social Network has an excellent chance, given its all-American anti-hero and embrace of the Internet. Or the statement could be more traditional: The Academy is known for being a bit of an Anglophile, and British films win in significant numbers. There's also the fact that The King's Speech has the backing of The Weinstein Co., which has a history of successfully securing both Oscar nods and wins. With The King's Speech the frontrunner for BAFTA and The Social Network the winner of the Golden Globes, I think the Best Picture race has narrowed to those two (with The Fighter the underdog, just like Micky).

Best Director:

The BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Directors Guild of America matched four out of five nominees for Best Director: Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), David Fincher (The Social Network) and Christopher Nolan (Inception). Of these four, only Fincher has been previously nominated in the directing category (Benjamin Button). With The Social Network playing so strongly in the awards season, I wouldn't be surprised if Fincher grabs the Best Director prize. Also, his 2007 film Zodiac, which was snubbed entirely during awards season, now turns up on a lot of retrospective "top ten of the decade" lists, and Academy Awards are often given based on the body of work. Aronofsky and Nolan, who have both directed fine films, could also win using this logic, but their lack of nominations makes me think the Academy wouldn't mind having them wait a bit longer. As a counterpoint to that argument, Tom Hooper is a relatively fresh face on the directing scene, whose main credentials are the stunning HBO miniseries "John Adams" and the Brit-focused movie The Damned United (he's also a prolific director on British television). The DGA (Directors Guild of America) will announce their pick for Best Director on Jan. 29, and after that this category will be a near-lock, given the DGA award's correlation with the Oscar for Best Director.

The Academy Awards countdown: 39 days.