Why last night's Baftas was so dull Most of the major categories had obvious frontrunners and the vast majority of them were black and white and French all over. Those that didn't (Best Supporting Actress, arguably Best Director and Best Cinematography) seemed to settle on the least controversial option available, which tended to be the one linked to The Artist anyway. Harvey Weinstein, the driving force behind that film's awards run and the shrewdest campaigner in the business, has struck again. Is it the best film of the last 12 months? In my view, absolutely - but it would be nice if someone had the nerve to suggest otherwise. Does Jean Dujardin give the best leading male performance of the year? Well, I'm not going to stop banging the drum for Brad Pitt in Moneyball just yet, but it's become a bit of a feeble one-man patter on the bongos compared to the 64-piece timpani ensemble that's now backing the French actor's effortlessly charming turn as the silent movie star George Valentin. Incidentally, Dujardin's victory is significantly more appealing because comic performances rarely triumph at Bafta over more sombre fare, so his win in this category is an event worth celebrating in itself. The few upsets weren't particularly upsetting, although Gary Oldman might be justifiably feeling a little snubbed this morning, as might the incredibly talented animators at Aardman, whose superb Arthur Christmas - the best-reviewed and most popular animated film of the year - inexplicably lost out to Gore Verbinski's expensive-looking hipster bait Rango. But even Bafta's decision to plump for Pedro Almodóvar's luxuriantly nightmarish The Skin I Live In over the critically-fancied A Separation in the Film Not In The English Language category was significantly less controversial than the BBC's relegation of the award to its who-cares closing montage, bundled in with the likes of Best Short Animation and Best Makeup and Hair. That said, there was one moment in last night's broadcast that caught me completely off-guard, and it was as unexpectedly funny and moving as anything I've ever seen at any awards ceremony. After winning Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Peter Straughan began his speech by saying "I'd just like to thank The Artist for not being adapted from a book," before dedicating the award to his co-writer and late wife, Bridget O'Connor, who died before the film was completed. "She wrote all the good bits, I made the coffee," he said. In a night of forced grins and rehearsed gushing, it was a rare flash of real emotion. Even though Dujardin and The Artist's director, Michel Hazanavicius, are getting lots of practice in delivering charming acceptance speeches at the Baftas and elsewhere, something tells me this one won't be topped.