There were many delights to be found in UK cinemas in 2011 both in wide release and at the wide variety of festivals that still thrive here. I watched a great many films in 2011 and there were a large number that impressed me and below are some of my favourites.

I have divided the films into released and unreleased categories, thereby allowing me to include films seen at festivals that have have not (yet) been released in the UK. Some of these films are still without a distributor (including my number one film) and therefore may never be eligible for inclusion in a ‘released top ten list’.

Released Top Ten

1. 13 Assassins (Takashi Miike)
“Who would have thought the age of war would be like this? It’s magnificent.”

Having followed Takashi Miike’s career for a number of years there has been plenty of variety, from fantastical kid’s films to graphically violent experimentation, but across the near seventy films of his that I have seen nothing prepared me for 13 Assassins. An extraordinarily well crafted remake of Eiichi Kudo’s film of the same name, 13 Assassins is the most restrained and classically made film in Miike’s filmography. The restraint is in the form though rather than content and the final forty minute battle sequence in 13 Assassins is the greatest cinematic spectacle of 2011. There’s more to the film though than just this bravura sequence and the preceding character development, clever plotting and the subtle riffs on this neglected genre make 13 Assassins a rewarding and unique experience.[Read my full review here]
13 Assassins in available to buy on Blu-ray and DVD.

2. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan)
Something of a cause celebre amongst film critics (prompting #teammargaret to trend on Twitter), Kenneth Lonergan’s much delayed follow-up to his quiet wonder You Can Count On Me arrived in the UK on the wave of ardent support from across the pond but little in the way of fanfare from Fox Searchlight UK. Essentially dumped by Fox following court cases and many, many arguments Margret opened on just one screen in the UK. I attended the film’s ‘premiere screening’ there along with a number of other enthusiastic critics and the film quickly found a number of new fans and has since opened a little wider. The film is really quite extraordinary and it is unfortunate that its beauty is blemished somewhat by the post-production and release woes it went through. Much like its lead character Lisa, played by a never better Anna Paquin, the film is bold and difficult, complex and emotional. Margaret is the kind of grown-up drama that seems unfortunately out of fashion in Hollywood right now, brimming with ideas and emotions it is without doubt a rare treat.

3. Tabloid (Errol Morris)
The story of Joyce McKinney and her “Manacled Mormon” lover is a tabloid story like no other and in investigating the story through a series of lengthy interviews Errol Morris peels back the layers of the story revealing a mess of conflicting points of view and complicated ideas surrounding truth. A fascinating and thought provoking documentary is something we have come to expect from Morris but with Tabloid he has made a documentary that is as joyously entertaining as it is intellectually stimulating. [Read my full review here]
Tabloid is available to buy on DVD.

4. The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)
Michel Hazanavicius’ tale of one Hollywood star’s difficult transition from silents to sound cinema and his relationship with an up and coming actress has been collecting enthusiastic fans ever since it first screened at Cannes in May and it’s easy to see why. Whilst the film is not exactly heady it is an absolute joy. It’s hard to think of a film experience I had in 2011 that was quite as enjoyable as the one hundred minutes spent in the company of The Artist. [Read my full review here]

5. The Woman (Lucky McKee)
From the most enjoyable one hundred minutes spent in a cinema to the most unsettling one hundred. Lucky McKee and Jack Ketchum’s The Woman is an exceptionally difficult film to watch and the despicable patriarch, Chris Cleek (Sean Bridges), at its center is the most unpleasant character I saw on film in 2011. The feral titular Woman, played with raw intensity by Pollyanna McIntosh, is captured by Cleek and introduced to his very dis-functional family, leading to some deeply unpleasant abuses. The Woman is cruel and nasty and deeply disturbing. A powerful and unsurprisingly divisive film. [Read my full review here]
The Woman is available to buy on Blu-ray or DVD.

6. Never Let Me Go (Mark Romanek)
Beautifully directed by Romanek, Never Let Me Go is a carefully considered film full of fascinating ideas. Kazuo Ishiguro and Alex Garland’s script focuses complex ideas about human existence through the filter of a deceptively simple science fiction framework and Romanek’s delicate and thoughtful touch made for a very rewarding film.
Never Let Me Go is available to buy on Blu-ray or DVD.

7. Poetry (Chang-dong Lee)
A remarkable performance from Yoon Jeong-hee as the elderly Mija and compelling storytelling from writer/director Chang-dong Lee has helped Poetry quietly sweep up prizes over the past two years, it’s UK and US releases were a little tardy, and with good reason. Probably one of the most neglected films on this top ten, Poetry will undoubtedly slowly find its audience over the coming years.
Poetry is available to buy on Blu-ray or DVD.

8. Attack the Block (Joe Cornish)
Joe Cornish’s debut feature was an absolute delight, a South London scif-fi film filled with plenty of memorably entertaining action sequences and the occasional touching character moment. A cast of newcomers and a witty script helped make it one of the must see films of 2011.
Attack the Block is available to buy on Blu-ray or DVD.

9. True Grit (Joel & Ethan Coen)
The Coen Brother’s new interpretation of Charles Portis’ True Grit was an elegant and exhilerating western that proved once again that they seem capable of turning their hands to almost any genre. It was probably always destined for greatness though with a stellar cast and crew ensemble of Roger Deakins lensing, Carter Burwell scoring and performances from Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and a highly impressive debut from Hailee Steinfield.
True Grit is available to buy on Blu-ray or DVD.

10. Cold Fish (Shion Sono)
The second in Shion Sono’s hate trilogy, Cold Fish is Sono’s most accomplished film to date, Guilty of Romance included. Raw, brutal and strangely cathartic, Cold Fish saw Sono working out familiar thematic obsessions but all with a formal restraint not seen in his previous work. I’ve been a fan of Sono’s for some time but have always had many reservations about his films, Cold Fish solidified his talents in my mind and cemented him as one of the most exciting filmmakers working in Japan today. [Read my full review here]
Cold Fish is available to buy on Blu-ray or DVD.

Honourable mentions:

• Melancholia – Depressing brilliance from the Danish troublemaker and a career best performance from Kirsten Dunst.
• The Clock – Christian Marclay proving that experimentation in filmmaking is far from dead.
• Sucker Punch – Textually dense and chronically misunderstood. [Read my impassioned argument as to why here]
• All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace – Challenging and thought provoking, two things rare on television in 2011. A slight cheat I know but Adam Curtis is without doubt a highly talented filmmaker.
• Miss Bala – Technically impressive and emotionally and politically resonant. Miss Bala also contained one of the year’s most thrilling action scenes, making exquisite use of one of the slowest moving cameras framing it. [Read my full review here]

Click here to view my top 10 unreleased movies

Deadline are reporting that the Coen Brothers have chosen a lead actor for their next production, which looks at the lives of a couple of singers during the early folk music scene in New York’s Greenwich Village in the 60’s (not the most mainstream of topics, but after the success of True Grit, they can probably do whatever they like).

Drive’s Oscar Isaac is the lucky guy (apparently a whole host of Hollywood actors have been hustling for the part) and he’ll be playing a part which is loosely based on a real-life artist from that period in the interestingly-titled Inside Llewyn Davis which begins production early next year in the Big Apple.

Nice to see Isaac nabbing a potentially star-making role. The Guatemalan-born actor is currently filming the next Bourne instalment (which should see his profile raised even further) and he really stood out in what was essentially a miner role in Nicolas Winding Refn’s film, bringing a humanity and warmth to what could have been an unsympathetic, one-note character.

To celebrate the release of True Grit on DVD & Blu-ray June 13th, Paramount Home Entertainment have given us five copies of the movie to give away on DVD as well as the official soundtrack and the paperback book to accompany the film. You can pre-order your copy of the film here or scroll down to win a copy.

True Grit is a powerful story of vengeance and valour set in an unforgiving and unpredictable frontier where justice is simple and mercy is rare. Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), is determined to avenge her father’s blood by capturing Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), the man who shot and killed him for two pieces of gold. Just fourteen, she enlists the help of Rooster Cogburn (Academy Award® Winner Jeff Bridges), a one-eyed, trigger-happy U.S. Marshall with an affinity for drinking and hardened Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Academy Award Winner Matt Damon) to track the fleeing Chaney. Despite their differences, their ruthless determination leads them on a perilous adventure that can only have one outcome: retribution.

To be in with a chance of winning one of five copies of the movie and the other merchandise, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who plays the character Rooster Cogburn in the 2010 version of True Grit?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 13th June at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

The Terminator franchise is in the hands of producer Megan Ellison, who’s Annapurna Films fought it out with Lionsgate in a deal which has Fast & Furious 5’s Justin Lin onboard to direct and Arnold Schwarzenegger back in the starring role.

Ellison is the daughter of US business magnate Larry Ellison, and she’s decided to put some of daddy’s cash to good use and fund a number of interesting upcoming features, including the hunt for Osama Bin Laden project, which reteams The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow and that film’s screenwriter, Mark Boal. It was also reported last week that she sold worldwide rights to The Weinstein Company for Paul Thomas Anderson’s next feature, which stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix.

She appears to be putting her weight behind some prestige pictures, which don’t necessarily sit within (with the recent exception of the ‘Bin Laden’ feature) the mainstream or appeal to a large audience (she came through for Anderson after he’d seen his pet project stall many time, with studios unwilling to put their money behind it).

It remains to be seen if she’ll insist on the same level of commitment to quality over The Terminator series, but anything that’s produced by Annapurna Films (she was an executive producer on the recent True Grit too), has to be an marked improvement on ‘Salvation’ right?!?

News via Deadline

Academy Award-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is attached to Sleeping Beauty.

Penned by Lindsay Devlin, the revisionist spec is being shopped around to various studios as we speak.

Sleeping Beauty is a classic fairy tale which involves a beautiful princess, enchantment and a handsome prince.

Devlin’s version will be told from Sleeping Beauty’s point-of-view as she enters the dream world and has to find her way out.

Source: Deadline

Here’s some news which may take a particularly large leap of imagination for some to fathom. Josh Brolin is developing a new version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Warner Bros. which he intends to both produce and star in.

Husband and wife team, Kieran and Michele Mulroney (they penned the upcoming Sherlock Holmes sequel) are on script duties here, and Tim Burton is being mentioned as a possible director for the project.

Wonder if Brolin’s recent turn as loathsome killer Tom Chaney in True Grit has instilled in the actor that another attempt at “going ugly” could result in an equally favourable outcome again?

News courtesy of Variety

Internal industry politics and sentiment are always a decisive factor in the Oscar beauty contest, and must always be accounted for (despite the assertions by many that Mickey Rourke would win for The Wrestler a few years ago, I was certain he wouldn’t as he pissed a lot of people off in the early years of his stardom). After a stretch of some years in which darker films have received a lot of accolades (The Hurt Locker, No Country For Old Men, and The Departed), my guess is that the AMPAS voters will go lighter, making for a more predictable Academy Awards shows.

With no further blather then (keeping my speech SHORT!), here’s how I think it will play out on Sunday evening for the top awards (note that these are my predictions, not a consensus of the HeyUGuys contributors):

Writing (Original Screenplay): One would hope the Academy voters would be generous enough to give it to Christopher Nolan’s challenging and demanding script for Inception, but I think that the film is too cerebral (and thus confusing) for many of them. I admire Inception, and what it represents (a studio spending a huge amount of money on an art house heist movie), but don’t love it as it felt it was too coldly mechanical much of the time. I think this is one of several major awards that are going to go to The King’s Speech.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Aaron Sorkin’s superb script for The Social Network, an adaptation of Ben Mezzrich’s ‘The Accidental Billionaires’, is a shoe in; if it wasn’t in the running I would think the Coen’s sublime adaptation of Charles Portis’ ‘True Grit’ would grab the brass ring (‘Fill your hand you son-of-a-bitch!’).

Actress in a Supporting Role: It’s Melissa Leo’s to lose. She is nominated for her turn as a vile matriarch in The Fighter, but Leo’s statuette will also be the Academy’s acknowledgment of all great work she has done previously (including her Best Actress nominated turn in 2009′s Frozen River). Jacki Weaver delivers a performance of almost Shakespearean majesty as another evil mutha in Animal Kingdom, and I’d vote for her, but I don’t think many actual voters will have watched this very downbeat Australian crime drama; if they have cued up their screeners she could be a dark horse surprise however, as she is truly amazing.

Actor in a Supporting Role: I would absolutely love to see John Hawkes win for his hillbilly hard-ass Teardrop in Winter’s Bone; his chilling roadside standoff with lawman Garrett Dillahunt, conducted entirely via a wing mirror, is one of the most heart-stoppingly intense scenes I watched in the past year. However, I think sentimentality will rule the day here as well, and Geoffrey Rush will win for The King’s Speech. And I think Andrew Garfield should have been nominated for The Social Network rather than Mark Ruffalo for the lightweight The Kids Are All Right.

Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman for The Black Swan. The Academy often favors performances that involve a lot of overt heavy lifting, and her fragile ballerina who suffers a mental breakdown is the heaviest by far of the nominated performances in this category. My vote is for Jennifer Lawrence as the determined teenage detective Bree in Winter’s Bone, but alas, it’s not to be.

Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth for The King’s Speech, of course; Firth’s emotionally strangled upper class Englishman, his stock in trade, is unstoppable this year. I wish Jesse Eisenberg would nab it for his riveting portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in the best American film of 2010, but he won’t. Javier Bardem was tremendous and heartbreaking in Biutiful, but this isn’t a heartbreaking and downbeat year for Oscar.

Directing: David Fincher for The Social Network. The Academy will acknowledge Fincher, arguably the greatest director of his generation, for his work on this masterful film and his influential earlier works like Seven, Fight Club and Zodiac.

Foreign Language Film: Bardem’s excellent work will be acknowledged here: Biutiful will take it.

Documentary Feature: Banksy’s the man: Exit Through the Gift Shop. The lefties could surprise me though; Matt Damon may rally the troops and Inside Job could take it, but I’m doubtful.

Animated Feature Film: Three words (ok, two words and a number): Toy Story 3.

Best Picture: The King’s Speech. I enjoyed this film as much as anyone else, but never shook off the feeling that I was watching a BBC drama that had been elevated to the level of a theatrical feature. There’s really nothing much that’s cinematic about it, unlike Inception orThe Black Swan or The Social Network or the lovely to look at True Grit (here’s hoping Roger Deakins nabs the Cinematography award).  But, as America struggles to find its way forward and out of its social, political and economic morass, a film about overcoming severe personal adversity, starring a stuttering royal and his eccentric ‘advisor’ set in the quaint England of the not too distant past, is just the sort of feel good fare that voters will embrace as an escapist antidote.

Feel free to return to this article on Monday and thumb your nose at me for every one I got wrong…if I do get any wrong. As for me, the Oscars are on far too late but I’ll be up early Monday morning with my tea and toast to watch a recording of the show before I look at email or any broadcast television.

Hailee Steinfeld has been cast in romantic-thriller Forgotten, an adaptation of based Cat Patrick’s novel of the same name.

Steinfeld, who made her acting debut in the Academy Award-nominated True Grit, will play the lead female role.

London Lane’s memory is erased at 4:33 every night. The following morning, all she can remember are events from her future. After meeting a new boy at school, London becomes frustrated that she can’t seem to find him in her memory of things to come.

Forgotten is being built around Steinfeld by Paramount Pictures, and as of yet doesn’t have a director or screenwriter.

Source: Deadline

HeyUGuys were proud to be invited to the red carpet at the 2011 BAFTA Awards by Orange tonight in London’s Covent Garden tonight to see some great films celebrated and to take a moment to appreciate the wealth of talent making the films honoured tonight.

The King’s Speech lived up to the high expectations it came with, and to see Chris Morris’s Four Lions take home the award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer was a highlight. The stars were out in force and we have some images from tonight’s red carpet. These are the first pics we can bring you but be assured that more will follow.

If you missed the awards you can catch up our liveblogging here.

The awards have begun – scroll down for all the updates.

The 64th British Academy Film Awards sponsored by Orange are getting underway in London tonight and we’ll be updating you live from the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden which plays host to the awards, as well as bringing you photos of the red carpet arrivals.

I’ll be updating you on each award as it is announced, let me know what you think in the comments below or by following us on Twitter at heyuguysblog, though we won’t be revealing who won on the twitter feed (for those waiting to play along at home – the BBC are showing the ceremony around 9), so keep hitting refresh to see all the updates right here.

LATEST UPDATE HERE…

21.23 -Sir Christopher Lee’s gracious and warm acceptance speech is the perfect way to end the ceremony tonight. It was an excellent year for The King’s Speech and to have Chris Morris celebrated was something I didn’t expect but was wonderful to see. Ok – some great speeches, some bizarre autocue problems but it was a great night. We’ll have our pictures from the red carpet up soon and then all the fun of the afterparty which is kicking off in a short while.

Thanks to all those who came along and joined us for the fun – hope you enjoyed our coverage. Same time next year?

21.13 – Final award tonight and one very richly deserved. Tim Burton is on stage to present the BAFTA Fellowship to Sir Christopher Lee.

News that Sir Christopher Lee was to be awarded the BAFTA Fellowship was met with a huge wave of endorsement from the public. The man is a icon of cinema, one of the few men whose life and career is known all over the world, and each of you will have your favourite role of his. I had the pleasure of hearing him read Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky as part of the promotion for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and it was a moment I will never forget.

As he takes to the stage I’ve collected a few videos for you to enjoy – the last one in particular is a treat…

For starters here’s the trailer for The Wicker Man – if you’ve not seen it buy it now…

Here’s some of his Dracula,

Christopher Lee sings!

And here’s the man giving out some very good advice re: Timewarping,

21.11 – So pleased for The King’s Speech – let’s hope it gets people out in their droves to see it again. It’s a worthy winner tonight and the reception for the awards it has won tonight, though unsurprising, was genuine and warm. I spoke with Tom Hooper about the film here, so take a look when you have time for the story behind the film.

21.08 – And the award goes to The King’s Speech crowning what is a great night for Tom Hooper and his team. Sorry about the ‘crowning’ bit there – just preempting the morning’s front pages.

21.07 – The only man who could is on stage to present the BAFTA for Best Film – Mr. Samuel. L. Jackson.

Nominees

•    BLACK SWAN Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin
•    INCEPTION Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan
•    THE KING’S SPEECH Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin
•    THE SOCIAL NETWORK Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Céan Chaffin
•    TRUE GRIT Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Many have already called this award for The King’s Speech and it’s an incredibly strong year with perhaps only The Social Network able to interrupt The King’s Speech, but the best thing is that you get to enjoy them all and if the wisdom of crowds is worth anything and the Oscar will end up going to The Social Network then this could be where the two awards divide and Tom Hooper’s film is given the nod. Time’s up – let’s see who wins…

21.03 Colin Firth wins it. As Radiohead have it – No Surprises but the audience cheered for this award more than any other. I think it’s about time to set some sort of campaign for Sir Colin Firth right here. Despite the fact that the result was never in any real doubt it is still gratifying to see Colin Firth up there on stage, he is charming and graceful. Bravo.

21.01 – Amy Adams is presenting the BAFTA for Leading Actor

Nominees

•    JAVIER BARDEM Biutiful
•    JEFF BRIDGES True Grit
•    JESSE EISENBERG The Social Network
•    COLIN FIRTH The King’s Speech
•    JAMES FRANCO 127 Hours

The Colin Firth award for Best Actor will surely go to The King’s Speech. It’s almost a foregone conclusion for the actor to follow up his win last year for A Single Man with the award tonight. It’s a strong line up though with James Franco and Jesse Eisenberg doing amazing work in their respective films. Will we be surprised?

20.59 – The award goes to Natalie Portman for Black Swan. Darren Aronofsky is on stage to collect the award and he is saying some very nice things about her, which is just as well because her performance is stunning.

20.56 – Gerard Butler presents the Leading Actress award, THIS IS BAFTA!

Nominees

•    ANNETTE BENING The Kids Are All Right
•    JULIANNE MOORE The Kids Are All Right
•    NATALIE PORTMAN Black Swan
•    NOOMI RAPACE The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
•    HAILEE STEINFELD True Grit

Many people, though not the UK marketers for True Grit it seems, have Hailee Steinfeld’s name on their lips, and there’s no doubt she’s in great company here. The popular opinion is that Natalie Portman will run away with the award which would be fine with me, as I thought her performance was a career best. Though I can’t argue with the two nominations for The Kids Are All Right it would be nice to have five separate films from which to draw Best Actress, perhaps Made in Dagenham could have been given the nod this time? Anyhoo, time for the envelope to be neatly parted and the chosen name to hit the air.

20.54 – David Fincher wins for The Social Network! Good call – and we get to see Andrew Garfield and Jesse Eisenberg on stage to collect the award.

20.51 – The Sir David Lean award for Best Director, Tilda Swinton graces us with her presence. Hard one to call this award…

Nominees

•    127 HOURS Danny Boyle
•    BLACK SWAN Darren Aronofsky
•    INCEPTION Christopher Nolan
•    THE KING’S SPEECH Tom Hooper
•    THE SOCIAL NETWORK David Fincher

I loved Tom Hooper’s work on The King’s Speech but I think this will be David Fincher’s year. The Social Network had so much going for it with an amazing script and a fantastic ensemble cast but holding it all together was Fincher whose assured direction made this one of the films of the decade. Christopher Nolan is also getting a lot of love for Inception and Danny Boyle may repeat the success of Slumdog Millionaire with another win. Oh, and Darren Aronofsky did wonderful things with Black Swan. So, hey – we’re all winners!

20.50 – Time to look at The Social Network. It is a fantastic film, but will it best The King’s Speech?

20.48 – The BAFTA is awarded to True Grit – the only film I’ve not seen. There were cheers here in the press room so I’m guessing it’s great.

20.47 – Cinematography awards time.

Nominees

•    127 HOURS Anthony Dod Mantle, Enrique Chediak
•    BLACK SWAN Matthew Libatique
•    INCEPTION Wally Pfister
•    THE KING’S SPEECH Danny Cohen
•    TRUE GRIT Roger Deakins

Danny Cohen did great things in The King’s Speech given the static nature of the action, and I loved Matthew Libatique’s work on Aronofskys Black Swan, and I’ve still not seen True Grit which is unforgivable I know, as Roger Deakins’ work is stunning and I’ve heard that his work with The Coens film was some of his best. I’m all ears for the announcement…

20.45 – Sorkin’s awards haul continues and with good reason as The Social Network wins. I’m a big fan of Sorkin’s work and he’s giving a great and gracious speech. This award was well deserved – I’m guessing the Oscar is next.

20.42 – Julianne Moore is great – and on stage to present the BAFTA for Adapted Screenplay

Nominees

•    127 HOURS Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
•    THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel
•    THE SOCIAL NETWORK Aaron Sorkin
•    TOY STORY 3 Michael Arndt
•    TRUE GRIT Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Aaron Sorkin has already won a ton of awards for his adaptation of Ben Mezrich’s The Accidental Billionaires, and rightly so. Fans of his work on The West Wing will have warmed instantly with the rapid fire dialogue bursting with wit and life. Michael Arndt’s  work on Toy Story 3 is also worthy of mention, as it managed to blend seamlessly with the world Pixar created with the first two films, never pandering to fans or dumbing down, instead delivering a script that is as funny and heartwarming as any this year. But I reckon this will be Sorkin’s night.

20.39 – Tom Hardy wins it, but isn’t around to bask in the spotlight. Hardy is clearly a very well loved star – his work in Inception would have inspired people to seek out his other roles. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Dark Knight Rises are in his future, so we’ll be watching.

20.35 – A Single Man director Tom Ford is on stage, sharp as a razor, for the Orange Wednesday Rising Star Award

Nominees

•    GEMMA ARTERTON
•    ANDREW GARFIELD
•    TOM HARDY
•    AARON JOHNSON
•    EMMA STONE

Though the definition of Rising Star may be a little unclear, as most of the nominees have already risen in my most humble opinion, my feeling is that Tom Hardy has a lot of love out there amongst the fans, who were the ones voting here. Aaron Johnson’s Kick-Ass and Nowhere Boy were impressive and a lot of fun, but I reckon only Andrew Garfield and Hardy have the momentum which will carry them through. Last year Kristen Stewart won, and before that Noel Clarke picked up the award so it’ll be interesting to see who joins them in this select group of winners.

20.34 – On a personal aside here Toy Story 3 is on constant repeat in my house as my two year old has discovered the film, so I can honestly say that even after 214 viewing it’s still a great film.

20.33 – Even Neve Campbell’s announcement of Toy Story 3 had a weary sigh of resignation to it. But who cares – it’s Toy Story 3. And it’s all kinds of awesome. Pixar have never been better and it’s great to see them leading the way in animated films, especially if they push their competitors to do some amazing work too.

20.31 – Back to the awards – Nicholas Hoult and Neve Campbell say Hi! This is the Best Animated Film award…

Nominees

•    DESPICABLE ME Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin
•    HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
•    TOY STORY 3 Lee Unkrich

This is an obvious one – with Lee Unkrich’s film certain to walk away with the award. Closing off one of the most beloved and critically successful cinematic trilogies the third Toy Story film had more heart and charm than the entire output of the other animation studios, and caused grown men to tear up in their millions. New toys!

20.29 – The looooooong Harry Potter love in gives way to a look at another Best Film nominee – Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. It’s an amazing film.

20.18 – The wonderful Stephen Fry bounds on stage to talk all things Harry Potter for the Outstanding British Contribution award.

What more to say that Harry Potter and The Great British Institution? Casting a spell over audiences for almost a decade,as well as giving writers a slightly feckless cauldron of lazy metaphors to use on these occasions, but with the final film coming our way in a few months its time to look back over the years of magic the various directors and wealth of British talent have given cinema goers.

Everyone loves them some Potter don’t they? Here’s one of the 14,237,102 Harry Potter related videos on the interwebosphere to remind you of why it’s great.

20.14 – The King’s Speech wins the Bafta for Original Screenplay. David Seidler takes the stage and is charming the pants off the crowd. He picked out ‘Captain Tom Hooper’ and is giving a fantastic speech. Which is just right as he wrote it and he’s got a BAFTA and everything.

20.11 – An Education’s team of Rosamund Pike and Dominic Cooper take the stage to present the Original Screenplay award.

Nominees

•    BLACK SWAN Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz, John McLaughlin
•    THE FIGHTER Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
•    INCEPTION Christopher Nolan
•    THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg
•    THE KING’S SPEECH David Seidler

This is a hard one to call. I was a big fan of Black Swan, and would happily choose it over Inception and The Fighter, but I think David Seidler’s work with The King’s Speech may get the nod tonight. His script gave the trio of Hooper, Rush and Firth great scope to play with the ideas of paternal and regal duty and the complications of fear and family. I had a great time with it so I’m hoping it gets a look in.

20.07 – Geoffrey Rush wins it – success of The King’s Speech continues. Loved his work and the chemistry he had with Colin Firth was amazing to watch.

20.05- Jessica Alba is on stage now. So is the attention of everyone in the room. Best Supporting Actor is why she be there.

Nominees

•    CHRISTIAN BALE The Fighter
•    ANDREW GARFIELD The Social Network
•    PETE POSTLETHWAITE The Town
•    MARK RUFFALO The Kids Are All Right
•    GEOFFREY RUSH The King’s Speech

I would love to see Pete Postlethwaite’s performance in The Town surprise people here tonight. He made a cliched role truly terrifying and elevated Ben Affleck’s film  along with the work of Jeremy Renner. Geoffrey Rush made a great team with Colin Firth and had a lot to do with the success of Tom Hooper’s film. Andrew Garfield was rightly praised in The Social Network, which when combined with his turn in Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go points to an amazing year for the actor, but I feel this will be Christian Bale’s night.

20.04 -Tom Hooper is on stage. Lovely man who told me that he wanted to do a Bond film. Hmm. Colin Firth as villain? I’m game.

20.02 – Very, very happy about Chris Morris’s win in the previous category. Reminded of Duncan Jones’ win last year. Great, great talents both.

20.01 – The BAFTA goes to The King’s Speech. No, we’re not shocked either. But it is a brilliant film. Step up Mr Hooper.

19.59 – Why, hello Emma Watson. Present us an award for Outstanding British Film won’t you?

Nominees

•    127 HOURS Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, Christian Colson, John Smithson
•    ANOTHER YEAR Mike Leigh, Georgina Lowe
•    FOUR LIONS Chris Morris, Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Mark Herbert, Derrin Schlesinger
•    THE KING’S SPEECH Tom Hooper, David Seidler, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin
•    MADE IN DAGENHAM Nigel Cole, William Ivory, Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley

If The King’s Speech is the obvious choice for Best Film I wonder if the Academy will divert votes to another of the films on the list. As I’ve said I’d love to see Chris Morris take it home for Four Lions, but I loved Mike Leigh’s Another Year, one of his finest. Good to see Made in Dagenham making the cut here too alongside Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours which has a far better chance of winning Best Actor for James Franco than for this film, but hey – what do I know. Let’s find out…

19.55 YES! Chris Morris wins it for Four Lions. Morris isn’t here tonight but here’s a video of him collecting another award so this will have to do.

19.52 – Kevin Spacey turns up on stage doing a Bill Clinton impression to introduce the award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

Nominees

•    THE ARBOR Clio Barnard (Director), Tracy O’Riordan (Producer)
•    EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP Banksy (Director), Jaimie D’Cruz (Producer)
•    FOUR LIONS Chris Morris (Director/Writer)
•    MONSTERS Gareth Edwards (Director/Writer)
•    SKELETONS Nick Whitfield (Director/Writer)

For me Chris Morris’s amazing debut Four Lions was a highlight of last year, making good on the years of groundbreaking work on television with his move to the big screen. The Arbor was a very interesting film, which for me lost its narrative strand before picking it up towards the film’s end but with Gareth Edwards’ Monsters and Banksy’s stunning Exit Through the Gift Shop up for the award this is perhaps the strongest category this year and a testament to the talent working in the UK. (I’ve not seen Skeletons, but heard from Bleeding Cool’s Brendon Connelly that it’s great so let’s see if Nick Whitfield upsets the bafta cart). Awards time…

19.47 -Blimey. Helena Bonham Cater wins it. She was great – no doubt about it, I thought it would have been Amy Adams and Lesley Manville. Bonham Carter is a class act. Best speech of the night so far, do tune into the BBC broadcast to see it. I’d love to see Pin-headed Queen. Very pleased to see Tom Hooper’s film getting this award.

19.45 – Everyone say Hello to James McAvoy as he takes the stage to introduce the Best Supporting Actress award

Nominees

•    AMY ADAMS The Fighter
•    HELENA BONHAM CARTER The King’s Speech
•    BARBARA HERSHEY Black Swan
•    LESLEY MANVILLE Another Year
•    MIRANDA RICHARDSON Made in Dagenham

My money is on Lesley Manville’s staggering performance in Mike Leigh’s Another Year, which was painful and truly affecting – while Barbara Hershey in Black Swan didn’t go fully down the Piper Laurie/Carrie avenue, her performance was one of the best she’s given. Lot of love for Amy Adams in The Fighter, and David O. Russell’s film had some amazing work from the actors, with Christian Bale looking certain to pick up the corresponding award in the Best Supporting Actor category. Or will this be the first award which goes to The King’s Speech? Time to find out…

19.43 -Bit of a breather in the slew of awarding here with a look at The Coens True Grit. All the HeyUGuys coverage here. Love the Coens and you should to.

19.39 – The award goes to Inception. Ok. Obvious choice really. There was some great, great work with the Escheresque landscapes doing a lot. Still reminded me of Heavenly Creatures a touch though – that bit where the garden flourishes before their eyes.

19.38 – Special Effects awards time everyone.

Nominees

•    ALICE IN WONDERLAND Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Sean Phillips, Carey Villegas
•    BLACK SWAN Dan Schrecker
•    HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 Tim Burke, John Richardson, Nicolas Ait’Hadi, Christian Manz
•    INCEPTION Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Peter Bebb
•    TOY STORY 3 Guido Quaroni, Micheal Fong, David Ryu

It may seem that the more subtle work of Dan Schrecker will be overlooked in favour of Inception or Alice, the former of which certainly played into the anticipation for the film – you’ll remember the first time you saw that famous shot of Paris folding over. The work on Harry Potter was as good as it has ever been but perhaps didn’t offer anything particularly new.

19.36 -Inception won it. Of course it did. Not happy with the plucking of Black Swan so far tonight…

19.35 – Minnie Driver and Sam Claflin take the stage to present the Production Design award.

Nominees

•    ALICE IN WONDERLAND Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara
•    BLACK SWAN Thérèse DePrez, Tora Peterson
•    INCEPTION Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat
•    THE KING’S SPEECH Eve Stewart, Judy Farr
•    TRUE GRIT Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh

We’re seeing these five films crop up a lot in the design stakes and for my money I loved the work done on The King’s Speech and Black Swan, but I fear they may be overlooked in the wake of Inception.

19.33 – Colleen Atwood wins it. Two for Alice in Wonderland. The costume design was pretty fantastic, such a shame that the film slightly soured my enthusiasm to return to it.

19.32 – Costume Design award time Cloth fans.

Nominees

•    ALICE IN WONDERLAND Colleen Atwood
•    BLACK SWAN Amy Westcott
•    THE KING’S SPEECH Jenny Beavan
•    MADE IN DAGENHAM Louise Stjernsward
•    TRUE GRIT Mary Zophres

It’s times like this I wish we had Clothes on Film on hand to talk knowledgeably about the costume design for the five films here. Black Swan’s muted tones gave the film a great look and in total opposition to the legendary Colleen Atwood’s work for Tim Burton’s Alice.

19.31 -The award is dedicated to (amongst other) Noomi Rapace who is in the audience. ‘Hugs to all of you.’ I’m feeling it.

19.28 – It’s Lisbeth Salander’s night – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo conquers the BAFTAs. Is David Fincher remaking this film in 3D? I guess Dr Kermode would know.

19.26 -Mark Kermode takes the stage to introduce the award for Film Not in the English Language

Nominees

•    BIUTIFUL Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik, Fernando Bovaira
•    THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Søren Stærmose, Niels Arden Oplev
•    I AM LOVE Luca Guadagnino, Francesco Melzi D’Eril, Marco Morabito, Massimiliano Violante
•    OF GODS AND MEN Xavier Beauvois
•    THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES Mariela Besuievsky, Juan José Campanella

Of Gods and Men and I Am Love are in with a good chance here, but The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo juggernaut may be making it’s stop at the Royal Opera House tonight. Biutiful has garnered some decent press but Javier Bardem seems to have be the cause of most of that and he’s up for Best Actor here. Time for the gold mask to get handed over…

19.23 – The BAFTA goes to Alice in Wonderland. Cant argue. The clip they played, of course, contained Helena Bonham Carter. Colleen Atwood got a shout out, and she may win her own for Best Costume Design.

19.22 – The awards are coming thick and fast here – Make Up and Hair now.

Nominees

•    ALICE IN WONDERLAND Valli O’Reilly, Paul Gooch
•    BLACK SWAN Judy Chin, Geordie Sheffer
•    HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
•    THE KING’S SPEECH Frances Hannon
•    MADE IN DAGENHAM Lizzie Yianni Georgiou

Black Swan has all the show, while The King’s Speech and Made in Dagenham have the period element to get right. Alice in Wonderland’s vibrant oddness may have caught some of the voter’s attention, but I still can’t warm to Johnny Depp’s psychotic ice-cream sellers pallor, but hey Helena Bonham Carter’s barnet was great fun, so let’s see…

19.21 – The award goes to The Social Network.

19.20 – Next award – Editing.

Nominees

•    127 HOURS Jon Harris
•    BLACK SWAN Andrew Weisblum
•    INCEPTION Lee Smith
•    THE KING’S SPEECH Tariq Anwar
•    THE SOCIAL NETWORK Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

There’s a good chance Andrew Weisblum will take this for Black Swan, I was blown away by the work done on Aronofsky’s film, though Christopher Nolan’s man of choice Lee Smith may be walking away with it, despite some negative reaction from certain knowledgeable UK bloggers… Fun fact – Lee Smith was the Editor on Robocop 2.

19.19 – Inception wins Best Sound. Hmmm. It’s clear the Academy does not agree with me.

19.18 – Best Sound!

Nominees

•    127 HOURS Glenn Freemantle, Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Steven C Laneri, Douglas Cameron
•    BLACK SWAN Ken Ishii, Craig Henighan, Dominick Tavella
•    INCEPTION Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A Rizzo, Ed Novick
•    THE KING’S SPEECH John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Paul Hamblin
•    TRUE GRIT Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter F Kurland, Douglas Axtell

It may seem that The King’s Speech has a good chance of picking this one up – given that this aspect is of such import in the story, Colin Firth’s glottal impotence is so fascinating. Black Swan’s seductive, tenebrous tones did much to evoke an incredibly ominous atmosphere so that’s my pick. Let’s see if the Academy agrees with me…

19.16 – Best Short Animation goes to Michael Please for The Eagleman Stag. He takes the stage. Says ‘Crikey.’ Love it.

19.15 – Wright and Kondeatis look so chuffed to be there. Good for them.

19.13 – Winner for Best Short Film is Until the River Runs Red – Paul Wright, Poss Kondeatis. I was right about that name then.

19.12 -Next two awards are Best Short Film and Best Short Animation.

Short Film

Nominees

•    CONNECT Samuel Abrahams, Beau Gordon
•    LIN Piers Thompson, Simon Hessel
•    RITE Michael Pearce, Ross McKenzie
•    TURNING Karni Arieli, Saul Freed, Alison Sterling, Kat Armour-Brown
•    UNTIL THE RIVER RUNS RED Paul Wright, Poss Kondeatis

Showing a level of ignorance unbecoming to a film website writer I’ve not seen the nominees for this award so I’ll pick a name from the hat and say Until the River Runs Red because of the name. Yeah, I know…

Short Animation

Nominees

•    THE EAGLEMAN STAG Michael Please
•    MATTER FISHER David Prosser
•    THURSDAY Matthias Hoegg

Continuing my epic failure to see the nominees for this category I will say that I love that these categories exist to be shined upon by Bafta’s big spotlight – stars of the future right here. Just wonder if these will make it to the live broadcast, or will the Beeb deem them superfluous?

19.10 – Much deserved award there – Desplat makes a very gracious speech – Colin Firth is the man’s lucky charm.

19.09 – The award goes to – The King’s Speech.

19.07 – First Award is Best Music – Sir Paul McCartney takes the stage.

Best Music

Nominees

•    127 HOURS AR Rahman
•    ALICE IN WONDERLAND Danny Elfman
•    HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON John Powell
•    INCEPTION Hans Zimmer
•    THE KING’S SPEECH Alexandre Desplat

It’s clear that there’s a lot of love for Hans Zimmer’s imposing score for Inception, though personally I enjoyed AR Rahman’s work with 127 Hours. I interviewed The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper and we spoke about the collaboration between him and Alexandre Despalt and how the composer sought to use the music in conjunction with the silences to really get the most out of Colin Firth’s performance and it worked wonders. John Powell’s How to Train Your Dragon was also lauded so it’s anyone’s guess…

19.05 – Just a few moments of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World in the opening montage reminds me to watch that film again.

19.02 – Jonathan Ross makes the obligatory ‘give his right arm’ joke for 127 Hours. Class act.

18.59 – After the Orange Gulliver’s Travels advert a man is breakdancing onstage to The Nutcracker Suite. We’re off!

18.57 – Almost there…

18.51 – Not long now until the ceremony begins. Our man Dave has taken his seat and can see this…

18.23 – Arrivals on the red carpet are slowing and the ceremony is not too far away – keep hitting refresh for all the awards as they happen…

It has been a very strong year for film and British film in particular with debuts from Chris Morris, Gareth Edwards and Banksy offering audiences something exciting and original. The main films in contention are Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech, David Fincher’s The Social Network and Darren Aronofsky’s sublime psychological thriller Black Swan, but there are many more films looking to be honoured tonight.

Will this be the year for The King’s Speech, with Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush all being nominated for the acting awards, with Tom Hooper up for Best Director, or will Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours repeat the success of Slumdog Millionaire for the director?

We’re currently at the BAFTA awards in London and while we’re waiting for the red carpet to busy itself with nominees and the flashstorm of the paparazzi I wanted to show you these lovely works of art which are part of the BAFTA brochure for this year’s ceremony.

The five Best Film nominees are all given this amazing treatment with The King’s Speech piece standing out particularly. I can’t find out who designed these, though I’ll endeavour to update the post when the awards are over but for now here are the five pictures which set the tone for the night perfectly. You can check out the whole brochure here.

I’ll be updating live from the awards tonight so look out for the post when it goes up and keep your finger on the refresh button to learn all the news as it happens.

In the meantime, images are below so get clicking…

True Grit hit  UK cinemas yesterday and here we have an interview with the legend himself, Jeff Bridges! On Friday, we placed the interview with Hailee Steinfeld which you can see here. Both interviews are conducted by our fabulous friends at Upbeat.

True Grit stars Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, Hailee Steinfeld and have a read of the synopsis below for more info.

Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross’s (Hailee Steinfeld) father has been shot in cold blood by the coward Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she is determined to bring him to justice. Enlisting the help of a trigger-happy, drunken U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), she sets out with him — over his objections — to hunt down Chaney. Her father’s blood demands that she pursue the criminal into Indian territory and find him before a Texas Ranger named LeBoeuf (Matt Damon) catches him and brings him back to Texas for the murder of another man.

You can check out our review of the movie here. If you’ve seen the movie, let us know what you think in the comments section below.

True Grit hits UK cinemas today and we’re rather excited about it! So excited in fact that we have an interview with both Hailee Steinfeld & Jeff Bridges from the movie. I’ve placed the Hailee Steinfeld interview below and the Jeff Bridges one should hit tomorrow at some point. Both interviews are conducted by our fabulous friends at Upbeat.

True Grit stars Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, Hailee Steinfeld and have a read of the synopsis below for more info.

Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross’s (Hailee Steinfeld) father has been shot in cold blood by the coward Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she is determined to bring him to justice. Enlisting the help of a trigger-happy, drunken U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), she sets out with him — over his objections — to hunt down Chaney. Her father’s blood demands that she pursue the criminal into Indian territory and find him before a Texas Ranger named LeBoeuf (Matt Damon) catches him and brings him back to Texas for the murder of another man.

You can check out our review of the movie here and keep your eyes peeled for our Jeff Bridges interview tomorrow.

Tonight saw the fall of the 31st Critics’ Circle Film Awards, which was held for the first time at London’s BFI Southbank. Our full report will be online later today with all the red carpet gossip and winner’s reactions. Want to see Danny Boyle advertising Moët, hear about Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming HBO series, or find out whether Colin Firth has a favourite party trick? Then don’t miss out!

To whet your appetite in the meantime, though, we can now give you a full list of all the night’s winners. It was The Social Network and The King’s Speech which came out on top, grabbing four and three awards respectively, with Another Year, NEDs and Monsters also scooping rewards for their British talents.

The list below shows winners in red whilst blue text indicates the “Runners Up” as ruled by the critics board, so you can know who came close.

BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH FILM-MAKER

• Banksy- Exit Through the Gift Shop
• Clio Barnard – The Arbor **Runner Up**
• J Blakeson – The Disappearance of Alice Creed
• Gareth Edwards – Monsters **Winner**
• Chris Morris – Four Lions

YOUNG BRITISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR

• Jessica Barden – Tamara Drewe **Runner Up**
• Conor McCarron – NEDs **Winner**
• Will Poulter – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• Saoirse Ronan – The Way Back
• Thomas Turgoose – The Scouting Book For Boys

BRITISH ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Helena Bonham Carter – Alice in Wonderland
• Christine Bottomley – The Arbor
• Minnie Driver – Barney’s Version
• Rosamund Pike – Made in Dagenham **Runner Up**
• Olivia Williams – The Ghost **Winner**

BRITISH ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• David Bradley – Another Year **Runner Up**
• Pierce Brosnan – The Ghost
• Andrew Garfield – The Social Network **Winner**
• Tom Hardy – Inception
• Peter Wight – Another Year

BRITISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR

• Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
• Lesley Manville – Another Year **Winner**
• Rosamund Pike – Barney’s Version
• Ruth Sheen – Another Year
• Tilda Swinton – I Am Love **Runner Up**

BRITISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR

• Riz Ahmed – Four Lions
• Christian Bale – The Fighter **Winner**
• Jim Broadbent – Another Year **Runner Up**
• Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
• Andrew Garfield – Never Let Me Go

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR

• Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right **Winner**
• Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
• Natalie Portman – Black Swan **Runner Up**
• Noomi Rapace – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit

ACTOR OF THE YEAR

• Jeff Bridges – True Grit
• Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
• Colin Firth – The King’s Speech **Winner**
• Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine
• Edgar Ramirez – Carlos **Runner Up**

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR

• Dogtooth
• I Am Love **Runner Up**
• Of Gods and Men **Winner**
• The Secret in Their Eyes
• Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR

• Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg – The Kids Are All Right
• Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – True Grit
• Chris Morris, Sam Bain, Simon Blackwell & Jesse Armstrong – Four Lions
• David Seidler – The King’s Speech **Runner Up**
• Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network **Winner**

BRITISH DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

• Clio Barnard – The Arbor
• Danny Boyle – 127 Hours
• Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech **Winner**
• Mike Leigh – Another Year **Runner Up**
• Christopher Nolan – Inception

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

• Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan **Runner Up*
• Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – True Grit
• David Fincher – The Social Network **Winner**
• Christopher Nolan – Inception
• Apichatpong Weerasethakul – Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

BRITISH FILM OF THE YEAR (THE ATTENBOROUGH AWARD)

• 127 Hours
• The Arbor
• Another Year **Runner Up**
• The King’s Speech **Winner**
• Monsters

FILM OF THE YEAR

• Black Swan
• The Kids Are All Right
• The King’s Speech **Runner Up**
• The Social Network **Winner**
• Toy Story 3

And finally, the Critics’ Circle named their TOP 10 FILMS OF 2010 as follows:

1. The Social Network
2. The King’s Speech
3. Black Swan
4. Toy Story 3
5. The Kids Are All Right
6. Another Year
7. True Grit
8. Inception
9. I Am Love
10. Winter’s Bone

And that just about wraps it up for the night’s accolades. Let us know what you think of the winners and don’t forget to check back later on for our full report of the evening’s event, complete with pictures and words from the guests themselves.

File this under S for Speculation for now, but the good folks over at Empire today received the potential scoop that Joel and Ethan Coen may have plans to make a “full-on horror film.” It’s an intriguing prospect, but with the Coens is anything ever that (Blood) simple?

Let’s weigh up the evidence.

Empire’s article states that, having popped into the magazine’s office to discuss the brothers’ latest Oscar nominated hit, True Grit, Ethan Coen was asked about what other projects he and Joel had up their collective sleeve. Questioned as to whether the duo would ever consider turning their hand to the horror genre, Ethan reportedly replied; “Funny you should ask, yes, we’re working on a couple of scripts now, one of which it would be fair to call a full-on horror movie. Frances McDormand is the monster.”

Judging by the fact that Frances is not only very pleasant, but also Joel’s wife, it’s safe to assume that the latter part of Ethan’s statement is a joke. But without being present to hear any pauses or tonal shifts, can we be so quick to write off the beginning of his response as well? Empire don’t think so, stating that “they believe him on the first part.”

If the suggestion proves an honest one, then there’s no guarantee that horror would be the brothers’ next move. However, Empire did find out which projects definitely won’t be. “Gambit [a remake of the 1966 Michael Caine title] was just a writing job,” Ethan told them, “it seems like the movie is going to get made but not by us.” And what about Old Fink, the Barton Fink sequel? “John Turturro is not old enough yet. And the whole thing may be more a thought experiment than a movie,” Ethan confided.

“We don’t really know what we’re doing yet; we’re working on a couple of scripts,” the writer-director concluded, which – as luck would have it – brings us right back to his statement about that potential horror project. Are there scares on the horizon of Coenville? With the brothers often filling their films with a unique combination of laughs, violence and human despair the idea definitely has legs… and perhaps they’ll be severed ones.

Source: Empire Online.

Playing paternal figures in Tron Legacy and True Grit must have proved to be a positive working experience for Jeff Bridges – he has now signed up for a similar role in The Seventh Son.

Taken from the first novel in The Wardstone Chronicles (Published in the United States as The Last Apprentice) The Seventh Son is a dark fantasy series of books written by British author Joseph Delaney and centres on a young farmboy named Tom, a seventh son of a seventh son, who has acquired many supernatural gifts, including the ability to see ghosts and ward off witches.

Bridges will play the mentor-type role of The Spook, an 18th Century equivalent and Peter Venkman and Co., whose mission in life is to despatch ghosts and goblins.

Just Jared are reporting that makers Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures are currently looking at Alex Pettyfer for the role of Tom, with Oscar-nominated Jennifer Lawrence being eyed up for another leading part.

If I’m being honest here, I’ll start this by saying that I went into True Grit with absolutely no bias to the original film.  Full Disclosure: I’ve never read the book, I’ve never seen the original film, and really, I’m not a fan of the Coen Bros. films.  I know, that last part can be seen as cinematic sacrilege but there you have it.  I watched the trailers and thought it looked good, so I went.  I like Westerns, although I’m not well versed in them but I like Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin.  Those three names combined with that particular genre is what drew me in.

The story of True Grit is simple enough.  It’s a tale that can pretty much be plugged into any genre, but sits comfortably in the embrace of the Western drama.  Young Mattie Ross, charged with the task of tending to her recently murdered father’s affairs takes it upon herself to catch his killer, Tom Chaney and avenge her father’s death.  With the assistance of curmudgeonly U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn and Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, the trio set out in search of the Ned Pepper Gang to find Chaney and bring him to justice.

Sounds pretty straightforward here in terms of basic plot right?  It is.  What sets this film apart are the characters.  I really would like to wax poetic about Hailee Steinfeld.  I could use every age old cliche in the book talking about this girl but I’m not going to.  I will simply say that Hailee Steinfeld is a revelation.  After having to endure the performances of one note actresses (I’m looking at you Jennifer Aniston) Steinfeld, even with her limited CV shows that she can not only handle but also out shine her A list co-stars.

Mattie is a plucky yet fiercely determined 14 year old.  She doesn’t suffer fools lightly and she won’t stand to be taken advantage of.  She proves this when she negotiates with a seasoned businessman and brings him, quite effectively, to his proverbial knees.  Steinfeld has a gift for dialog and has the ability to deliver the long stretches of Old West language without so much as a pause.  The set of her jaw and furrow of her brow also add to her character’s age, but also makes her seem a bit beyond her years.  She’s a little spit fire and will gladly put anyone in their place that tries to get in her way.

When Mattie meets up with Cogburn and talks him into helping her, he’s left a bit bewildered and isn’t quite sure what to make of her. Cogburn is a crotchety old man with a salty disposition, a love of whiskey and an itchy trigger finger.  He doesn’t think that Indian Territory is any place for a young girl but soon realizes that’s not a war he can win.  Jeff Bridges is, with out a doubt, one of the finest actors Hollywood has.  He brings 110% to every role and it’s really no different here.  His laid back demeanor is still present, even though Cogburn’s edge is razor sharp.  The term “cranky old man” is what comes to mind.  When I watched the trailer for this I was a bit concerned about the gruffness of Bridges voice.  It seemed a bit forced and I was concerned that would take me out of his performance.  I’m quite happy to report that once the film started I didn’t even really notice it.  This, once again, proves what a truly great actor he is.

LaBoeuf makes up the final third of the trio.  He’s a Texas Ranger who is also on the trail of Tom Chaney for shooting a Senator.  It’s an uneasy relationship LaBoeuf has with both Mattie and Cogburn.  He argues with Mattie about where Chaney will eventually be brought to justice and argues with Cogburn about pretty much everything else.  I do love Matt Damon and his performance as LaBoeuf was good.  I won’t say grand because I don’t think anyone can outshine Steinfeld here.  He played LaBoeuf just like the character needed him to.  He’s a bit of a square and very by the book, almost to the point of being accused of having a stick shoved up him bum.  I didn’t really have the warm and fuzzies for him until later in the film, but he showed his grit and came through in the end.

The one role that surprised me was that of Tom Chaney.  Josh Brolin is a great actor and I like him a lot.  However, I would have thought his screen time would have been a bit more extensive than it was.  Especially considering the whole movie is centered around the capture of this elusive man.  You get the impression by the description of Chaney that he’s either cunning and skillful, or lacking in the intelligence department.  It’s not until you finally meet the character that you know for sure but I’m not going to spoil it for you here.  I will just say I would have liked to have seen more of him.

This is a film that would best be viewed on the big screen simply because there are some amazingly beautiful shots that will be lost on a home theater system.  One scene involving Cogburn and LaBoeuf having a shooting contest is the one that really stands out.  I can really only think of one part that disappointed me and it was so blaring that it took me out of the film for a minute.  Had it happened earlier in the film, it wouldn’t have been an issue, but it happened at a critical time toward the end.

Loving this film as much as I did, I feel like I should go back through the Coen Brothers catalog to see if perhaps I have had a change of heart.  Maybe it’s their original material I don’t much care for and because this is based on established material, that’s why I like it.  That’s an article for another time however.

As an introduction to the story of True Grit I’ll say that I loved what Coen’s and company did.  It’s a great film and one I highly recommend.

****½ (4.5/5)

I’ve the past couple of days, there have been quite a few different featurette’s released on other movie sites for True Grit. You can see the costume featurette on Clothes on Film here, the featurette looking at the cinematography here, a look at the story here on Sky and now Paramount have chosen us to debut our very own featurette giving us a look at the score from the movie.

The score for True Grit was composed by veteran movie composer, Carter Burwell. He has a long relationship wokring with the Coen Brothers and has now scored a multitude of movies including The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, Fargo and has more recently worked on The Blind Side, The Twilight Saga to name but a few!

In this featurette, he talks about how he decided to use church music in the score, as well as talking us through how his music tells it’s own story but works seamlessly with the movie’s visuals. He also talks about how he learns from his musicians when they come to record. This featurette really is fascinating if you’re a fan of movie scores like I am and I think you’ll like this one.

True Grit stars Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, Hailee Steinfeld and have a read of the synopsis below for more info. We’ve had one trailer for the movie so far which you can see here and it’s scheduled foe release in the UK 11th February.

Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross’s (Hailee Steinfeld) father has been shot in cold blood by the coward Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she is determined to bring him to justice. Enlisting the help of a trigger-happy, drunken U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), she sets out with him — over his objections — to hunt down Chaney. Her father’s blood demands that she pursue the criminal into Indian territory and find him before a Texas Ranger named LeBoeuf (Matt Damon) catches him and brings him back to Texas for the murder of another man.

We’ve not had True Grit hit the cinema yet but from what we’re hearing about the movie, it’s going to be rather a good one to look out for (our review hits next week). With the Oscars just around the corner, all the studios are doing their best to promote their movies from all the angles they possibly can. Earlier today Nick posted the VFX from Black Swan which you can see here.

THR (via Collider) have released this new featurette which gives us a closer look at the cinematography by Roger Deakins from True Grit. I urge you to have a watch of it as it’s just fantastic.

True Grit stars Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, Hailee Steinfeld and have a read of the synopsis below for more info. We’ve had one trailer for the movie so far which you can see here and it’s scheduled foe release in the UK 11th February.

Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross’s (Hailee Steinfeld) father has been shot in cold blood by the coward Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she is determined to bring him to justice. Enlisting the help of a trigger-happy, drunken U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), she sets out with him — over his objections — to hunt down Chaney. Her father’s blood demands that she pursue the criminal into Indian territory and find him before a Texas Ranger named LeBoeuf (Matt Damon) catches him and brings him back to Texas for the murder of another man.

WE HAVE A PAIR OF TICKETS TO GIVEAWAY TO CELEBRATE A WEEK OF FREE BAFTA NOMINATED FILM SCREENINGS FOR ALL ORANGE CUSTOMERS

Based on the novel by Charles Portis, True Grit, tells the story of fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), whose father has been shot in cold blood by the coward Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and she is determined to bring him to justice. Enlisting the help of a trigger-happy, drunken U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), she sets out with him — over his objections — to hunt down Chaney. Her father’s blood demands that she pursue the criminal into Indian Territory and find him before a Texas Ranger named LeBouef (Matt Damon) catches him and brings him back to Texas for the murder of another man.  True Grit is released at cinemas nationwide on 11^th February.

The preview screening will take place at the exclusive BAFTA HQ on the evening of Monday 7^th February.

To win a pair of tickets just answer the following question using the form below:

Who plays the character, Rooster Cogburn in the Coen Brothers directed movie, True Grit?

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 4th February at 12.30 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

FURTHER INFORMATION ON BAFTA FREE FILM SCREENINGS FOR ORANGE CUSTOMERS:

All Orange customers who watch the Orange Wednesdays ‘Film of the Week’ on 2^nd February are invited to claim free tickets to exclusive screenings of BAFTA nominated films.

Film fans that flock to the cinema on 2 February to watch Hereafter with Orange Wednesdays will be sent a text with an SMS code allowing them to access an online box office.  Here they can book a pair of free tickets to a whole host of special screenings of BAFTA nominated films, including films starring Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award nominees Gemma Arterton, Andrew Garfield, Tom Hardy, Aaron Johnson and Emma Stone.

To add to this great offer Pizza Express will also be extending their Orange Wednesdays 2 for 1 pizza offer to include free dough balls on 2 February.

The free BAFTA screenings will take place nationwide between Sunday 6 February and Friday 11 February, at Apollo and Cineworld cinemas nationwide.

There will then also be a special preview screening of True Grit at BAFTA HQ, London on the 7 February 2011.

For more information on the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award and to vote, visit www.orange.co.uk/bafta.

The Orange British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday 13 February