Redmayne, 'Boyhood' tipped for wins at UK Academy Awards

LONDON: (AP) - Real-life friends and awards-season rivals Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch are going head-to-head at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, an event that aims to rival the Oscars for glamour, if not for weather.

The air was chilly but the sun shone as the stars walked the red carpet outside London s Royal Opera House. The awards ceremony is British cinema s glitziest event, and an important stop for Hollywood awards hopefuls.

Julianne Moore, Steve Carell, Michael Keaton, Amy Adams and Reese Witherspoon were among the American actors expected.

British stars on the red carpet included actors Jack O Connell, Kristin Scott Thomas and Rosamund Pike, soccer star David Beckham and, getting some of the loudest cheers, scientist Stephen Hawking, subject of nominated biopic "The Theory of Everything."

Redmayne and Cumberbatch are both best-actor nominees for playing scientific heroes Redmayne as Hawking, and Cumberbatch as code-cracking mathematician Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game."

Redmayne beat Cumberbatch to a Golden Globe last month, and bookmakers have made him the strong favorite to take a BAFTA. The pair will face off again at Hollywood s Academy Awards on Feb. 22.

Redmayne said the film s success had been "mind-blowing," but insisted he hadn t been changed by the awards-season whirlwind.

"It s all so wonderful and glamorous, but it s all a lot of smoke and mirrors as well," he said.

Sunday s prizes, known as BAFTAs, have a strong record of anticipating Oscars success. British talent has been especially well represented in Hollywood this year, led by multiple awards nominations for "The Theory of Everything" and "The Imitation Game."

"Britain has had a great year across the board across writers, producers, actors and directors," Cumberbatch said at pre-BAFTA reception Saturday hosted by Prince William and his wife Kate at Kensington Palace. "It s a very, very good time."

Bookmakers say Richard Linklater s "Boyhood" a coming-of-age story filmed over 12 years is the favorite to take the best-picture prize and secure its place as an Oscars front-runner.

"The Grand Budapest Hotel," Wes Anderson s candy-colored comedy about a chaotic central European hostelry, leads the race with 11 nominations, including best picture and best director.

"The Theory of Everything," directed by James Marsh, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu s showbiz satire "Birdman" each have 10 nominations, while Morten Tyldum s "The Imitation Game" has nine. "Boyhood" and Damien Chazelle s drumming drama "Whiplash" have with five nominations apiece.

The best-picture nominees are "Birdman,"   Boyhood,"   The Grand Budapest Hotel,"   The Imitation Game" and "The Theory of Everything."

The best-actor contest pits Redmayne and Cumberbatch against Ralph Fiennes for "Grand Budapest Hotel," Michael Keaton for "Birdman" and Jake Gyllenhaal for "Nightcrawler."

Best-actress contenders are bookies  favorite Julianne Moore for "Still Alice," Felicity Jones for "The Theory of Everything," Amy Adams for "Big Eyes," Reese Witherspoon for "Wild" and Rosamund Pike for "Gone Girl."

Pike, nominated for playing chillingly perfect Amy in David Fincher s thriller, said her nomination "means that the character has stayed in people s heads, and that is the biggest compliment of all."

She said she would be delighted to win, but was prepared to lose.

"As an actor you are trained to come to terms with disappointment," she said.

Awards organizers say acclaimed civil rights drama "Selma," which stars British actor David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr., was overlooked because it arrived in Britain too late for the 6,500 academy members to see it. The film s tally of just two Oscar nominations helped spark a debate about Hollywood s lack of diversity.

The British academy also overlooked Mike Leigh s artist biopic "Mr. Turner" in the major categories, despite critical praise and a Cannes best-actor prize for star Timothy Spall.

But Leigh has not been forgotten. He is due to receive a lifetime honor, the British Academy Fellowship, for a body of films blending social realism and sly humor.