Mickey, In Bruges and the glory of Bafta (mostly)!

It was with trepidation, as always, that i watched the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday night. Would my votes count and those i voted for win? Would there be the usual unexpected blatent jingoism award? Would the never less than than massively irritating Jonathan Ross annoy be as much as ever? Would any of my favourites get completed screwed over? These feelings of dread weren't helped by an excruciating red-carpet preamble hosted by the ditzy talentless Claudia Winkelman who embarrassed herself, the BBC and the British in general at every turn with her simpering childishness. But never mind. Red carpets are made for the talentless amongst TV hosts to faun, so maybe she did a good job!

Anyway, awards wise i have to say i was generally pretty happy. The over-rated but still enjoyable Slumdog Millionaire was the unsurprising big winner. In years to come i'll never be able to recall what won this year, hell with the ceremony about to start chatting with a friend who was over i was talking about the best picture Oscar noms, got through 4 and blanked on the 5th, then realised it was Slumdog - i'm forgetting it already. But in a mediocre year it was the best of the 5 pictures nominated and deserved its wins from that perspective without doubt.

Highlights of the night were In Bruges winning best original screenplay - which i love and was the one thing that really surprised me. What a great choice. Love it!

I hadn't bothered to read who was getting the fellowship this year so loved that it was the brilliant Terry Gilliam. Okay, so the cynic in me says attention fell on the maverick genius because he has Heath Ledger's final film coming out this year but with great films like Holy Grail, Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, Time Bandits and his masterpiece Brazil on his track record this is hugely deserved, even if he didn't seem altogether sure of it.

I was beside myself that Man On Wire got best British film. I've never undertood this category. How is it that in a year when a British film (nominated in this category) wins best film, such as Slumdog this year or Atonement, it can lose Best British Film? Still Man On Wire is the one i would have voted for if i had a vote in this category so i'm pleased. Only goes to highlight once again though that BAFTA sorely needs a Best Documentary Category.

I was very pleased Penelope Cruz won for her hilarious and brilliantly unhinged turn in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I voted for her so maybe my vote counted. I also voted for Slumdog for best pictures and Ledger for supporting actor. The Kate Winslet i voted for lost to the other Kate Winslet, but i don't begrudge her the win. I think Kristin Scott Thomas does though, bow the venom in her stare when Winslet was on stage! Man, if looks could kill KST would be in custody right now!

Of course the biggest highlight of the night, in so many ways, was Mickey Rourke's win. I had feared stuffy older BAFTA members and women would not appreciate his astonishing turn in Darren Aronofsky's sublime The Wrestler, but praise be he won! Again, maybe my vote counted. I am a big fan of Rourke. I was during his Diner/Pope of Greenwich Village/Angel Heart 80s heyday and i refound him with Man On Fire and Sin City - in fact my won problem with The Wrestler rethoric is that everyone paints it as his comeback. No, Sin City was his comeback. In 2005 he was all anyone talked about regarding the performances in Sin City. Not the more famous Bruce Willis or Clive Owen, not even the scantily-clad Jessica Alba, Jaime King and Rosario Dawson. No, it was Mickey Rourke's fantastic portrayal as Marv that stood out and in 2005 everyone, critics and moviegoers said so. How come everyone had forgotten this in 3 short years. Anyway, Mickey is great and proved it once again with the best acceptance speech in the history of time. It said what it needed to say without being sentimental, no it was resolutely Mickey! The great thing about Mickey Rourke is he is who he is and he does hide that or try to curtail it to fit in with what people would like. He is politically incorrect and thank god for that. Finally a movie star you can believe not some bland, false idol. I just hope the Oscars don't screw him over.

Of course the night wasn't without a couple of disappointments. Waltz With Bashir losing out in both animation and foreign film categories was a massive shame. Don't get me wrong, i like both WALL-E and I've Loved You So Long, but neither is as good a film as Waltz With Bashir and shouldn't have beaten it. I've Loved You So Long only one because of Kristin Scott Thomas. She was amazing in it and being a British actress, this was of course one all voting members would have watched. I suspect were it possible to poll such things we'd find far more BAFTA members watched this than any of the other foreign language nominees, which is a shame. Waltz was robbed. I think that given KST's involvement this was the blatant jingoism award for this year - Slumdog doesn't count as it deserved its awards.

Anyway, onwards to the Academy Awards on Feb 22. Will they follow similar lines? I'm fairly sure where WALL-E, Slumdog Millionaore and Heath Ledger are concerned they will, as for the rest - hmmm, we'll see!