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Hollywood A-list hits London for Oscar warm-up
London, Feb 21: The great and good of Hollywood, making light of terror alerts in London, fly in this weekend for a glitzy awards ceremony that offers a valuable pointer to next month`s Oscar winners.
London, Feb 21: The great and good of Hollywood, making light of terror alerts in London, fly in this weekend for a glitzy awards ceremony that offers a valuable pointer to next month's Oscar winners.
"Just about everybody is coming," said a spokesman for Britain's BAFTA film awards. "We have every Best Actress and Best Actor nominee apart from Jack Nicholson."
Rock tearaway Kelly Osbourne pulled out of performing this month at one of Britain's top music awards because she feared a terror attack while she was in London.
Tinseltown's top stars had no such qualms as Britain bolstered security amid intelligence-led fears that al Qaeda may launch an attack on London.
Nicolas Cage, Daniel Day-Lewis and Martin Scorsese are flying in for Sunday's awards. They will be joined by Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore, the three stars of the critically acclaimed movie "The Hours."
The timing of the British Academy of Film and Television Awards was switched last year, helping the show to take center stage as an Oscars warm-up.
"The international film industry obviously places the BAFTAS in extremely high regard," the spokesman said.
The battle for this year's awards has turned into a tale of two American cities as "Chicago" and "Gangs of New York" picked up 12 nominations each.
Both are up for the prestigious best film award along with British film "The Hours," Lord of the Rings sequel "The Two Towers" and "The Pianist."
"The Hours," a downbeat film about three women grappling with depression, alienation and the search for love, picked up 11 nominations, including one for best film.
Michael Caine was nominated for best actor for his role in "The Quiet American," an adaptation of Graham Greene's novel, while Jack Nicholson's name is put forward for his performance in "About Schmidt," a story of a man's search for meaning in the twilight years of his life.
Last year's awards ceremony hit the headlines when actor Russell Crowe angrily confronted the television producer of the awards after a large chunk of his best-actor acceptance speech was cut out of the broadcast.
The New Zealand-born star, who shoved and cursed Malcolm Gerrie at a party afterwards, later apologized.
Crowe had carried off the BAFTA prize for best actor for his role as a schizophrenic mathematician in "A Beautiful Mind."
Bureau Report
Rock tearaway Kelly Osbourne pulled out of performing this month at one of Britain's top music awards because she feared a terror attack while she was in London.
Tinseltown's top stars had no such qualms as Britain bolstered security amid intelligence-led fears that al Qaeda may launch an attack on London.
Nicolas Cage, Daniel Day-Lewis and Martin Scorsese are flying in for Sunday's awards. They will be joined by Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore, the three stars of the critically acclaimed movie "The Hours."
The timing of the British Academy of Film and Television Awards was switched last year, helping the show to take center stage as an Oscars warm-up.
"The international film industry obviously places the BAFTAS in extremely high regard," the spokesman said.
The battle for this year's awards has turned into a tale of two American cities as "Chicago" and "Gangs of New York" picked up 12 nominations each.
Both are up for the prestigious best film award along with British film "The Hours," Lord of the Rings sequel "The Two Towers" and "The Pianist."
"The Hours," a downbeat film about three women grappling with depression, alienation and the search for love, picked up 11 nominations, including one for best film.
Michael Caine was nominated for best actor for his role in "The Quiet American," an adaptation of Graham Greene's novel, while Jack Nicholson's name is put forward for his performance in "About Schmidt," a story of a man's search for meaning in the twilight years of his life.
Last year's awards ceremony hit the headlines when actor Russell Crowe angrily confronted the television producer of the awards after a large chunk of his best-actor acceptance speech was cut out of the broadcast.
The New Zealand-born star, who shoved and cursed Malcolm Gerrie at a party afterwards, later apologized.
Crowe had carried off the BAFTA prize for best actor for his role as a schizophrenic mathematician in "A Beautiful Mind."
Bureau Report