BAFTA Announces 2011 Film Award Nominees

After the sham of (and ridiculous hand-wringing response to) the Golden Globes, there's nothing like a slightly more legitimate awards ceremony to cleanse the palate. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced the nominees for the 2011 Orange British Academy Film Awards this morning. Hit the jump for the full list of nominees and some brief thoughts.

There's nothing too controversial on the list, although there are a few surprises. It's great to see some less-praised roles get some loving here, including Noomi Rapace in Girl with Dragon Tattoo, and Pete Postlethwaite in The Town. Jeff Bridges landed a nomination for best actor in True Grit, foreshadowing what may be an Oscar nomination in the same category a few weeks from now. The "Outstanding Debut By a British writer, director, or producer" is full of awesomeness from the likes of Gareth Edwards, Chris Morris, and Banksy (although how is that awards acceptance speech going to happen, assuming Exit Through the Gift Shop wins?). Finally, I'm relieved and glad to see John Powell receive a nomination for his phenomenal work on the score of How to Train Your Dragon. In my opinion, the man deserves the Oscar, but I'm doubtful as to whether he'll even be nominated.

The 2011 BAFTA Film Award nominees are as follows. What are your thoughts?

Best film

Black Swan

True Grit

Inception

The King's Speech

The Social Network

Best director

Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan

David Fincher – The Social Network

Tom Hooper – The King's Speech

Christopher Nolan – Inception

Danny Boyle – 127 Hours

Best actor

Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network

Colin Firth – The King's Speech

James Franco – 127 Hours

Javier Bardem – Biutiful

Jeff Bridges – True Grit

Best actress

Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right

Julianne Moore – The Kids Are All Right

Noomi Rapace – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Natalie Portman – Black Swan

Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit

Best supporting actor

Christian Bale – The Fighter

Pete Postlethwaite – The Town

Andrew Garfield – The Social Network

Mark Ruffalo – The Kids Are All Right

Geoffrey Rush – The King's Speech

Best supporting actress

Amy Adams – The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter – The King's Speech

Barbara Hershey – Black Swan

Lesley Manville – Another Year

Miranda Richardson – Made in Dagenham

Outstanding British film

127 Hours

Another Year

Four Lions

The King's Speech

Made in Dagenham

Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer

The Arbor – Clio Bernard (director), Tracy O'Riordan (producer)

Exit Through The Gift Shop – Banksy (director), Jaimie D'Cruz (producer)

Four Lions – Chris Morris (director/writer)

Monster – Gareth Edwards (director/writer)

Best foreign language film

Biutiful – Mexico/Spain

The Secret in Their Eyes – Argentina

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Sweden

I Am Love – Italy

Of Gods and Men – France

Best animated feature filmToy Story 3

How To Train Your Dragon

Despicable Me

Best original screenplay

Black Swan – Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin

The Fighter – Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson

Inception – Christopher Nolan

The Kids are All Right – Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg

The King's Speech – David Seidler

Best adapted screenplay

127 Hours – Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel

The Social Network – Aaron Sorkin

Toy Story 3 – Michael Arndt

True Grit – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Best original score127 Hours – AR Rahman

Alice in Wonderland – Danny Elfman

How To Train Your Dragon – John Powell

Inception – Hans Zimmer

The King's Speech – Alexandre Desplat

Cinematography127 Hours

Black Swan

Inception

The King's Speech

True Grit

Editing127 Hours

Black Swan

Inception

The King's Speech

The Social Network

Production design

Alice in Wonderland

Black Swan

Inception

The King's Speech

True Grit

Costume designAlice in Wonderland

Black Swan

The King's Speech

Made in Dagenham

True Grit

Sound127 Hours

Black Swan

Inception

The King's Speech

True Grit

Special Visual EffectsAlice in Wonderland

Black Swan

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part I

Inception

Toy Story 3

Make-up and hairAlice in Wonderland

Black Swan

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part I

The King's Speech

Made in Dagenham

Short animationThe Eagleman Stag

Matter Fisher

Thursday

Short film

Connect

Lin

Rite

Turning

Until The River Runs Red

Rising Star Award (voted for by the public)Gemma Arterton

Andrew Garfield

Tom Hardy

Aaron Johnson

Emma Stone