You know what, I completely forgot this was coming today. Call it that Friday feeling. Anyway, today The British Academy of Film & Television Arts released their long-list, an epic tease for the nominations to come. As is their practice, any mention with an asterisk by it is a favoured choice by that particular branch. Predominantly these choices make their way onto the short list but it’s not always the case.

In summation My Week With Marilyn and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy predictably lead the tally with 16 mentions a piece. Close behind is The Iron Lady with 14 mentions, The Artist, Midnight in Paris, War Horse and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo with 13 mentions, Hugo and The Help with 12, Drive and Harry Potter with 11, We Need to Talk About Kevin and Ides of March with 10, Moneyball with 8 and The Descendants with 7.

The top 15 for Best Film contains all of the above  with the curious exception of Harry Potter which is swapped out for Senna. I’d imagine they feel they shot their wad a little early in giving the Special Achievement prize to the Harry Potter films last year and are trying to make amends. From my conversations with various BAFTA members, many seem to feel that it’s been a weak year for film outside of the UK, our own industry having supplied a wealth of interesting products that aren’t going to get the attention they deserve. I know one member in particular who couldn’t sit through either Marilyn or Descendants and found The Artist severely slight and underwhelming.

As Guy Lodge over at InContention has so eloquently put… it’s a pretty embarrassing longlist. Par for the course really. Shackles should be raised at Steve McQueen and Joe Walker’s omissions from Directing and Editing for Shame. Regardless of personal attachments or entertainment value, who can honestly put their hands on their hearts and say half of that list was a greater achievement in Directing? J. Edgar? Come on. I’m not too burnt on Kill List missing British Film, it’s been a very strong year for out industry after all… but even I’ll admit it’s more deserving than one or two on there. More depressing is the lack of Weekend ANYWHERE on this list. The lack of recognition for Andrew Haigh, Chris New or Tom Cullen is definitely embarrassing, especially as it’s hard to shake the feeling our country’s not as progressive as perhaps we’d like to think it is. They could try and sneak it into the Debut Feature category for it’s Producer Tristan Goligher who’s last feature didn’t secure a distributor but it’ll still feel like too little, too late.

As always the longlist is full of curious choices and obvious gap-filling. Most tellingly, the Supporting Actress field is slim picking indeed. While The Help ladies stand a good chance of making it in, don’t be surprised if Melissa McCarthy surprisingly fails to progress past the longlist stage when votes open to the majority. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of the less talked about, yet still deserving British names here push through to the short list, perhaps Emily Watson (War Horse), Alexandra Roach (Iron Lady) or most likely Kathy Burke (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy). It’s what they tend to do when the category is weak… they stick to their own. I’d be surprised if Olivia Colman doesn’t get the nomination in lead for Tyrannosaur with BAFTA, in the same way Andy Serkis was recognised for Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll.

My biggest hunch? Nicolas Winding Refn will win Best Director for Drive. BAFTA like to split their Picture/Director wins and the latter category favours the auteurs. Unless it’s for The Tree of Life in which case that film obviously directed itself. Makes sense really, the visual effects in Midnight in Paris were much more accomplished.

As always, the most interesting category is Best British Film and expect the short-list to be one of the the strongest categories of the night along with Debut Feature. Expect Arthur Christmas to make this list and Attack the Block to make the latter.

Anyway I could go on about pleasant and not-so-pleasant surprises all day (including Antonio Banderas, The Guard and Life in a Day in the former and VANESSA REDGRAVE in the latter) but surely you just want to read the list… so here goes. The BAFTA nominations will be announced on Tuesday the 17th January. No rest for the wicked:

Best Film

The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
The Iron Lady
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
My Week with Marilyn
Senna
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Leading Actor

Antonio Banderas (Robert Ledgard) – The Skin I Live In
Brad Pitt (Billy Beane) – Moneyball*
Brendan Gleeson (Gerry Boyle) – The Guard
Daniel Craig (Mikael Blomkvist) – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Eddie Redmayne (Colin Clark) – My Week with Marilyn
Gary Oldman (George Smiley) – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
George Clooney (Matt King) – The Descendants*
Jean Dujardin (George Valentin) – The Artist*
Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar Hoover) – J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender (Brandon) – Shame*
Owen Wilson (Gil) – Midnight in Paris
Peter Mullan (Joseph) – Tyrannosaur
Ralph Fiennes (Caius Martius Coriolanus) – Coriolanus
Ryan Gosling (Driver) – Drive
Ryan Gosling (Stephen Meyers) – The Ides of March

Leading Actress

Bérénice Bejo (Peppy Miller) – The Artist*
Carey Mulligan (Sissy) – Shame
Charlize Theron (Mavis Gary) – Young Adult
Emma Stone (Skeeter Phelan) – The Help
Helen Mirren (Rachel Singer) – The Debt
Jodie Foster (Penelope Longstreet) – Carnage
Kate Winslet (Nancy Cowan) – Carnage
Kristen Wiig (Annie) – Bridesmaids
Meryl Streep (Margaret Thatcher) – The Iron Lady*
Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre) – Jane Eyre
Michelle Williams (Marilyn Monroe) – My Week with Marilyn*
Olivia Colman (Hannah) – Tyrannosaur
Rooney Mara (Lisbeth Salander) – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Tilda Swinton (Eva) – We Need to Talk About Kevin*
Viola Davis (Aibileen Clark) – The Help*

Supporting Actor

Alan Rickman (Prof. Severus Snape) – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Albert Brooks (Bernie Rose) – Drive
Ben Kingsley (George Méliès) – Hugo
Benedict Cumberbatch (Peter Guillam) – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Christopher Plummer (Hal) – Beginners*
Colin Firth (Bill Haydon) – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Eddie Marsan (James) – Tyrannosaur*
Ezra Miller (Kevin – Teenager) – We Need to Talk About Kevin
George Clooney (Mike Morris) – The Ides of March
Jim Broadbent (Denis Thatcher) – The Iron Lady
John Hurt (Control) – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Jonah Hill (Peter Brand) – Moneyball*
Kenneth Branagh (Sir Laurence Olivier) – My Week with Marilyn*
Paul Giamatti (Tom Duffy) – The Ides of March
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Paul Zara) – The Ides of March*

Supporting Actress

Alexandra Roach (Young Margaret Thatcher) – The Iron Lady
Bryce Dallas Howard (Hilly Holbrook) – The Help*
Carey Mulligan (Irene) – Drive
Emily Watson (Rosie Narracott) – War Horse
Evan Rachel Wood (Molly Steams) – The Ides of March
Jessica Chastain (Celia Foote) – The Help*
Judi Dench (Dame Sybil Thorndike) – My Week with Marilyn*
Kathy Bates (Gertrude Stein) – Midnight in Paris
Kathy Burke (Connie Sachs) – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Marion Cotillard (Adriana) – Midnight in Paris
Melissa McCarthy (Megan) – Bridesmaids*
Octavia Spencer (Minny Jackson) – The Help*
Olivia Colman (Carol Thatcher) – The Iron Lady
Shailene Woodley (Alexandra King) – The Descendants
Zoe Wanamaker (Paula Strasberg) – My Week with Marilyn*

Director

The Artist*
The Descendants
Drive*
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo*
The Ides of March
The Iron Lady
J. Edgar
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
My Week with Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin*

Outstanding British Film

Arthur Christmas
Attack the Block
Coriolanus
The Guard
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
The Iron Lady
Jane Eyre
My Week with Marilyn
Senna
Shame
Submarine
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tyrannosaur
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Film Not in the English Language

Abel
As If I Am Not There
The Boy Mir – Ten Years in Afghanistan
Calvet
Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)
Incendies
Little White Lies
Pina
Post Mortem
Potiche
Le Quattro Volte
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
Tomboy
The Troll Hunter

Original Screenplay

50/50
Anonymous
Arthur Christmas
The Artist*
Beginners
Bridesmaids*
The Guard*
The Iron Lady
J. Edgar
Midnight in Paris*
Senna
Shame
Super 8
Tyrannosaur
Young Adult*

Adapted Screenplay

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Coriolanus
The Descendants*
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
The Help*
Hugo
The Ides of March*
Jane Eyre
Moneyball*
My Week with Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Cinematography

The Artist*
The Descendants
Drive*
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo*
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo*
The Ides of March
J. Edgar
Jane Eyre
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
The Tree of Life
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Editing

The Artist*
The Descendants
Drive*
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo*
The Ides of March
The Iron Lady
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
My Week with Marilyn
Senna*
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy*
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Production Design

Anonymous
The Artist*
Coriolanus
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2*
The Help
Hugo*
The Iron Lady
J. Edgar
Jane Eyre
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
War Horse*

Make Up & Hair

Anonymous
The Artist*
Bridesmaids
Coriolanus
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2*
The Help
Hugo*
The Iron Lady*
J. Edgar
Jane Eyre
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn*
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Costume Design

Anonymous*
The Artist*
Coriolanus
A Dangerous Method
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
The Help
Hugo*
The Iron Lady
J. Edgar
Jane Eyre*
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn*
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Sound

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn*
The Artist
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2*
Hugo*
The Iron Lady
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
My Week with Marilyn
Senna
Super 8
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
War Horse*
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Special Visual Effects

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn*
The Artist
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2*
Hugo*
Midnight in Paris
Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Rise of the Planet of the Apes*
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Super 8
Transformers: Dark of the Moon*
War Horse
X-Men: First Class

Original Music

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn*
The Artist*
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
The Help
Hugo*
The Ides of March
The Iron Lady
Jane Eyre
Moneyball
My Week with Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
War Horse*
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Documentary

George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Life in a Day
Pina
Project Nim
Senna

Animated Film

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn*
Arthur Christmas*
Gnomeo and Juliet
Puss in Boots
Rango*