Thursday 2nd January 2003: London Film Critics Nominations

And so, the awards season begins. We've already heard this years Golden Globe nominations (to see the full list go here), of which will be presented on Sunday 19th January. Now it's time for the London Film Critics nods to outstanding acheivement in film.

Britain's own Mike Leigh leads the field with five nominations for All Or Nothing, which gets nods for Best Film Of The Year, Best British Director (Leigh), Best Actress for Lesley Manville, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Ruth Sheen and Best British Screenwriter, again for Mike Leigh. The Road To Perdition and Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen got three nominations and Philip Noyce got a Best Director nomination for both The Quiet American and Rabbit Proof Fence.

Michael Caine is up for a Best Actor award for his role in The Quiet American. He will have tough comeptition from Al Pacino (Insomnia) and Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt), who are also up for the Best Actor gong. Hugh Grant is nominated in the Best British Actor category for About A Boy along with Chiwetel Ejiofor for Dirty Pretty Things and Raplh Fiennes for his role in Spider.

In the Best British Actress Category, Miranda Richardson is up for her role in Spider alongside Samantha Morton for Morven Callar and the aforementioned Lesley Manville for All Or Nothing. Halle Berry scores a nod in the Best Actress category for her excellent turn in Monsters Ball. She is up against Kerry Armstrong for Lantana and Stockard Channing for The Business of Strangers.

Here are the nominations in full.

British Film Of The Year
All Or Nothing
About a Boy
Sweet Sixteen

Film Of The Year
The Road to Perdition
Lantana
About Schmidt
Donnie Darko
Bowling for Columbine

Director
Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her)
Phillip Noyce (The Quiet American/ Rabbit Proof Fence)
Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings)

British Director
Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition)
Christopher Nolan (Insomnia)
Mike Leigh (All Or Nothing)

Actor
Michael Caine (The Quiet American)
Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt)
Al Pacino (Insomnia)

British Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dirty Pretty Things)
Hugh Grant (About a Boy)
Ralph Fiennes (Spider)

Actress
Halle Berry (Monster's Ball)
Kerry Armstrong (Lantana)
Stockard Channing (The Business of Strangers)

British Actress
Samantha Morton (Morven Callar)
Lesley Manville (All Or Nothing)
Miranda Richardson (Spider)

British Actor In A Supporting Role
Jude Law (Road to Perdition)
Kenneth Branagh (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind)

British Actress In A Supporting Role
Ruth Sheen (All or Nothing)
Emily Watson (Red Dragon)
Shirley Henderson (24 Hour Party People)

Foreign Language Film
Talk to Her
Y Tu Mama Tambien
The Son's Room

British Newcomer Of The Year
Keira Knightley (Bend it Like Beckham)
Martin Compston (Sweet Sixteen)
Asif Kapadia (The Warrior)

British Screenwriter
Paul Laverty (Sweet Sixteen)
Mike Leigh (All or Nothing)
Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things)

Foreign Language Film
Talk to Her
Y Tu Mama Tambien
The Son's Room

The awards will be dished out on the 12th February and are held in association with the NSPCC.

-- Paul.