Analysis: Great day for Brits - but beware the cowboys

"The British are coming!" It took 29 years, but if this year's Academy Awards shortlist is anything to go by, Colin Welland's infamous proclamation may finally be coming true.

The King's Speech leads the pack with 12 nominations, but there was recognition, too, for Danny Boyle (127 Hours), Christopher Nolan (Inception), Christian Bale (The Fighter), Mike Leigh (Another Year), the elusive street artist Banksy (for his hilarious "documentary" Exit Through The Gift Shop) and - even closer to home - the Edinburgh-set and produced The Illusionist. Even though Sylvain Chomet's love letter to the Scottish capital is up against the heartbreaking Toy Story 3 (the favourite), a win is not out of the question.

Expanded last year to include ten nominations, this year's Best Film field is the strongest for years, with small movies such as Winter's Bone worthy challengers to heavy hitters such as True Grit. It's also heartening to see that, The King's Speech aside, none of best picture nominees are traditional Oscar bait. The likes of Black Swan, The Social Network and Inception are genuinely edgy, boundary-pushing films.

Elsewhere, the acting choices are unusually solid, the only point of contention being the potentially embarrassing conflict of interest arising from the nomination of this year's Oscar host James Franco for 127 Hours.

The biggest upset may come in the form of True Grit star Jeff Bridges, who is Colin Firth's biggest rival. Bridges is Hollywood royalty, he's great in the film (a far bigger hit in the US than The King's Speech) and he's playing a role that won John Wayne an Oscar. Americans love the Royal Family, but they love cowboys more.