BAFTAs Shoot Self In Foot

The BAFTAs -- the British Oscars, basically -- have mucked it up royally. In the last few years, they moved their ceremony to take place before the Oscars so it wouldn't be overshadowed by the Academy Awards and might be seen as a player by influencing it (and giving a boost to British films in the process). All well and good. But now they've changed the dates a movie must open in the UK to be eligible. And they did it so movies coming out this year will be penalized for thinking the old rules applied. The result? movies like "Letters From Iwo Jima" won't be eligible until the 2008 BAFTAs. That means the awards will be seen as hopelessly out of date (will they give an award to "Iwo Jima" almost one year after it might have won an Oscar?) and have far less impact on the Oscar race, thus undoing all their careful work of the last few years. Well done.