Milk
On the awards circuit in recent weeks the best Picture gong has gone to a string of movies, including Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, The Wrestler and Wall-E leaving this category wide open as to who will scoop the Bafta and ultimately the Oscar.
So FemaleFirst rounds off it's look at the Bafta nominations by peering at the Best Picture category a little more closely.
Milk
Despite being a major critical success Milk has not done as well from an awards point of view, being snubbed at the Golden Globes except from a Best Actor nomination for Penn.
His life changed history. His courage changed lives. In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America.
His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans.
Milk charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk's life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk and his lover Scott Smith relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighbourhood.
With his beloved Castro neighbourhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for change.
With vitalizing support from Scott and from new friends like young activist Cleve Jones, Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics. Bolstering his public profile with humour, Milk's actions speak even louder than his gift-of-gab words.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leads the pack when it comes to the Oscars with thirteen nominations but, much like Milk, the film has been overshadowed by the award success of Slumdog Millionaire.
"I was born under unusual circumstances." And so begins "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time.
We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man's life can be.
Frost/Nixon
Despite a sting of historical inaccuracies throughout the film Frost/Nixon has still remained popular with the critics and has always featured in the award nomination of late.
However it has failed to take home any major silverware but it will battle it out for the Best Picture Oscar later this month.
For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency.
Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Likewise, Frost's team harboured doubts about their boss' ability to hold his own.
But as cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted. Would Nixon evade questions of his role in one of the nation's greatest disgraces? Or would Frost confound critics and bravely demand accountability from the man who'd built a career out of stonewalling?
Over the course of their encounter, each man would reveal his own insecurities, ego and reserves of dignity, ultimately setting aside posturing in a stunning display of unvarnished truth
The Reader
Despite causing all kinds of controversy when it was released Holocaust drama The Reader, much like Frost/Nixon, has featured heavily in the nominations.
But it has been Kate Winslet that has been taken home the gongs for her performance.
When he falls ill on his way home from school, 15 year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. The two begin an unexpected and passionate affair only for Hanna to suddenly and inexplicably disappear.
Eight years later, Michael, now a young law student observing Nazi war trials, meets his former lover again, under very different circumstances. Hanna is on trial for a hideous crime, and as she refuses to defend herself, Michael gradually realizes his boyhood love may be guarding a secret she considers to be more shameful than murder.
Slumdog Millionaire
Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire remains the darling of the awards circuit enjoying further success earlier in the week at the London Film Critics Circle Awards, and is the favourite to scoop a handful of Bafta this weekend.
Dominating the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild can the British film do the same at the Oscars later this month?
The story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"
But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost.
Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Intrigued by Jamal's story, the jaded Police Inspector begins to wonder what a young man with no apparent desire for riches is really doing on this game show?
When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out...
The winners are announced on the 8th February
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
On the awards circuit in recent weeks the best Picture gong has gone to a string of movies, including Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, The Wrestler and Wall-E leaving this category wide open as to who will scoop the Bafta and ultimately the Oscar.
So FemaleFirst rounds off it's look at the Bafta nominations by peering at the Best Picture category a little more closely.
Milk
Despite being a major critical success Milk has not done as well from an awards point of view, being snubbed at the Golden Globes except from a Best Actor nomination for Penn.
His life changed history. His courage changed lives. In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America.
His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans.
Milk charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk's life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk and his lover Scott Smith relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighbourhood.
With his beloved Castro neighbourhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for change.
With vitalizing support from Scott and from new friends like young activist Cleve Jones, Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics. Bolstering his public profile with humour, Milk's actions speak even louder than his gift-of-gab words.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leads the pack when it comes to the Oscars with thirteen nominations but, much like Milk, the film has been overshadowed by the award success of Slumdog Millionaire.
"I was born under unusual circumstances." And so begins "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time.
We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man's life can be.
Frost/Nixon
Despite a sting of historical inaccuracies throughout the film Frost/Nixon has still remained popular with the critics and has always featured in the award nomination of late.
However it has failed to take home any major silverware but it will battle it out for the Best Picture Oscar later this month.
For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency.
Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Likewise, Frost's team harboured doubts about their boss' ability to hold his own.
But as cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted. Would Nixon evade questions of his role in one of the nation's greatest disgraces? Or would Frost confound critics and bravely demand accountability from the man who'd built a career out of stonewalling?
Over the course of their encounter, each man would reveal his own insecurities, ego and reserves of dignity, ultimately setting aside posturing in a stunning display of unvarnished truth
The Reader
Despite causing all kinds of controversy when it was released Holocaust drama The Reader, much like Frost/Nixon, has featured heavily in the nominations.
But it has been Kate Winslet that has been taken home the gongs for her performance.
Tagged in Baftas