Friday morning's British Academy Film Awards nominations show the predicted BAFTA love for home-grown movies like 'The Imitation Game' and 'The Theory of Everything', but were even more notable for who was missing from the shortlists.

Timothy Spall in Mr Turner
Timothy Spall - snubbed by the academy?

The most obvious snub was for Mike Leigh's acclaimed biographical drama 'Mr Turner', for which Timothy Spall won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. But the film only has a handful of technical nods (for cinematography, production design, costumes and make-up/hair), with nothing for Spall or Leigh, and most surprisingly no British Film nomination.

More: Read The Review For 'Mr. Turner'

The question is whether this reflects an actual snub (Bafta is notoriously unpredictable regarding Leigh's films) or a split in the voting since Bafta members opted for far more mainstream movies in the main categories.

More: Mike Leigh's 'Mr Turner' Gets 5-Star Reviews At Cannes 2014 [Trailer]

The other surprises are for British performers in high-profile American films. 'Selma' features four British stars (David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo and Tim Roth), and yet it didn't get a single nomination. It was a similar story at the London Critics' Circle Film Awards, which announced its nominations last month. Since the film is highly acclaimed, and appears on everyone's Best of 2014 lists, the answer seems to be painfully simple: the distributor neglected to send screener discs to voters. This omission may be corrected in next week's Oscar nominations, as Academy Awards voters apparently did receive screeners.

More: 'Mr Turner' Gives Timothy Spall The Role He Deserves In Artist Biopic

Other notable films missing from the Bafta list include 'Unbroken' (starring another Brit Jack O'Connell) and 'Into the Woods' (made in Britain with home-grown stars including Emily Blunt, James Corden, Daniel Huttlestone and Tracey Ullman). Frankly, they probably missed out on nominations due to the strength of the contenders.

More: Will Mike Leigh's "Masterpiece" 'Mr Turner' Land Timothy Spall His First Oscar?