Film News: A Close Race for Best Picture Award

Over the last year, we’ve seen a number of films released that have broken box office records, set new heights for action onscreen and found new ways of captivating the audience. Film makers have broken the boundaries of what was previously not possible and writers have kept the upper hand by creating storylines that truly have been impossible to guess.

Recent months have seen the release of mindbender Inception, the captivating The Kings Speech, and the underdog smash hit that was The Social Network. All three films excelled in their respective genres, with Christopher Nolan intelligently pulling us into a dream within a dream within a dream, Jesse Eisenberg portraying antihero Mark Zuckerberg, which won the praise of critics and audiences and Colin Firth’s depiction of the ‘reluctant king’ George VI overcoming his battle with stammering, which won the hearts of audiences far and wide.

A fierce battle has already begun between these three films for the most prestigious prize this year, the Best Picture award. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts recently released its list of nominees for the forthcoming BAFTA awards next month with all three appearing on their nominations for Best Film. The trio of films have also swept the board across different categories also, with Colin Firth and Jesse Eisenberg both being nominated for Best Actor and Christopher Nolan, Tom Hooper and David Fincher all being nominated for the Best Director Category. It also looks set to be another successful year for British actors, actresses and filmmakers, with many being nominated in the highest categories for their roles in this year’s most popular films.

Many have high hopes for Britain to lead the way this year at the BAFTA and Academy Award ceremonies. This won’t be the first time Colin Firth has been nominated, but it will definitely bring a boost to his profile should he win an award. The same can be said for Jesse Eisenberg, as a new face to the movie sphere, winning an award for best actor will definitely increase his credibility amongst the casting directors in Hollywood.

It looks set to be a difficult decision for the judging panel to decide who should win these prestigious awards, as all three films have been produced with the highest of quality in mind and film reviewers and audiences alike have definitely noticed this. The Social Network saw a major boost to audience figures due to word of mouth promotion, whilst Inception was billed by film studios as 2010’s ‘must see film of the year’. The Kings Speech has benefitted from the enormous praise it’s received from the various industry figures admiring its style and content and of course, its lead actor. It’s hard to say who will be the clear leader this year, as the Golden Globes has already shown. Film news insiders predict that this could be an indication that this year, the judges will have to make a lot of incredibly tough decisions to make what they believe to be the best movie of 2010 win.