BAFTAs 2020: 10 Ups & 5 Downs
Downs...
5. The Safe, Predictable Winners
The biggest ding against this year's BAFTAs ceremony was that, aside from one or two unexpected wins, it was a majorly safe and predictable awards show.
BAFTA's typical Brit-skewing bias ensured that no film but 1917 had a chance of coming out on top in many major categories, scooping seven wins including Best Film, Outstanding British Film, and Best Director.
Elsewhere the acting awards were doled out exactly as expected: Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Renee Zellweger and Laura Dern continued to cement their respective, unwavering paths to the Oscar podium.
This felt like a missed opportunity for the BAFTAs to differentiate themselves as more than a mere also-ran "precursor" to the Oscars.
How fantastic would it have been to see Parasite win Best Film, or pretty much anyone but Renee Zellweger win Best Actress?
Instead, most of the awards here felt like unadventurous foregone conclusions. As terrific as 1917 is, wouldn't it have been nice to spread the love a little?