'All Quiet on the Western Front' leads BAFTA contest but rivals are everywhere

Three years after BAFTA began a radical overhaul of its nomination-stage voting system , this year's list of nominees isn't quite as rogue as it has been over the past two years, which has seen many high-profile favorites kick off in favor of homegrown underdogs and homegrown underdogs. art and testing. But while things approximate the general shape of the awards race as shaped by the American forerunners, there's still room for quirks and surprises – including a prominent foreign-language juggernaut that few would have seen coming a few weeks ago. Here's how the top categories rocked ahead of the February 19 ceremony.

• BEST MOVIE

BAFTA voters have largely rejected Hollywood giants, including the blockbuster "Top Gun: Maverick" and Steven Spielberg's Golden Globe champion "The Fabelmans", as Germany led the way.

Edward Berger's brawny and technically stunning World War I epic "All Quiet on the Western Front" led all contenders with 14 nominations - the most for any film since 2011's "The King's Speech". It's a rich reward for Netflix's slow but steady campaign for the film, but competition for victory is fierce. As the only British film in the field, Martin McDonagh's Irish folk parable "The Banshees of Inisherin" is set to win the prize, as is McDonagh's "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" in 2018; "Banshees" has 10 names, just like A24's hyper offbeat indie hit "Everything Everywhere All at Once." BAFTA's more artistic contingent may gravitate towards Todd Field's dark and ambiguous moral drama “Tár,” with five names; that leaves Baz Luhrmann's fluorescent biopic "Elvis," with nine, an underdog as the only oldschool Hollywood studio film in the bunch.

• DIRECTOR

Over the past two years, BAFTA's revised jury-assisted voting system in this category has produced nominating fields that were at least 50% female; this year, eyebrows were raised when, despite a long parity list, only one woman made the final six. Given that her leading actor “The Woman King” only has two nominations, Gina Prince-Bythewood can be considered a long shot; ditto Korean author Park Chan-wook, a demanding selection for his elegant romantic noir "Decision to Leave". Expect a close race between the four nominees with the best matching movie deals: Berger and "Everything Everywhere" duo Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert deliver the most flash and directorial glare, but the precise control of tone and the performance of McDonagh and Field will also bring them many votes. .

• LEAD ACTRESS

Like the Oscars, this seems to be mostly a race between eight-time nominee Cate Blanchett, who is considering her third BAFTA for her monumental turn as a disgraced maestro in “Tár,” and veteran genre icon Michelle Yeoh, a former “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” nominee, for emotionally grounding the swirling chaos of “Everything Everywhere ". The nomination is probably the only accolade for Viola Davis' formidable "Woman King," Danielle Deadwyler's bereaved mother and activist in "Till," and Ana de Armas' tormented Marilyn Monroe in "Blonde"; a home advantage likely secured Emma Thompson the nomination for her funny and touching turn as a sexually frustrated schoolteacher in "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande," which went under-recognized across the pond.

• MAIN ACTOR

Whether "The Banshees of Inisherin" wins the race to the top or not, it's hard not to see Colin Farrell as a frontrunner here for his deft tragicomic turn as a desperate, befriended farmer. He's one of three Irishmen on the pitch, joined by the scorching Paul Mescal - earning the biggest name on the pitch overall for critics' darling 'Aftersun', a title many had hoped to see in the top film run — and surprise nominee Daryl McCormack, Thompson's seductive flick in "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande." However, the remaining three names all have a better chance of upsetting Farrell: returning star Brendan Fraser,...