Interstellar and Kingsman win big at the Empire Awards

BAFTA chose Boyhood, Golden Globes elected the latter and The Grand Budapest Hotel, Oscars voted for Birdman while our own pick was Guardians of the Galaxy. Empire, a ceremony that brilliantly mashes together the arthouse and the mainstream, has just revealed its recipients. Previous winners of Best Film have included Seven, The Matrix, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Dark Knight, Avatar, Inception, Skyfall and Gravity. For a bit of background on the honorary awards, Hero marks a current contribution to cinema (Simon Pegg, Daniel Radcliffe, Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, Jude Law), the Icon/Legend celebrates a lifespan of great work (Brian Cox, Ewan MacGregor, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Gary Oldman, Hugh Jackman) and Inspiration is for a modern master filmmaker (Monty Python, Aardman, Pixar, Michael Mann, Ray Harreyhausen, Guillermo Del Toro, Sam Mendes, Ron Howard, Kenneth Branagh, Edgar Wright, Stephen Frears, Spike Lee, Paul Greengrass).

Best Film:

Interstellar
Boyhood
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
The Imitation Game

Best British Film:

Kingsman: The Secret Service
Paddington
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Under the Skin

Best Director:

Christopher Nolan – Interstellar
Matt Reeves – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game
Peter Jackson – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor:

Andy Serkis – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Eddie Redmanye – The Theory of Everything
Richard Armitage – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Best Actress:

Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina
Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game

Best Male Newcomer:

Taron Egerton – Kingsman: The Secret Service
Dan Stevens – The Guest
Daniel Huttlestone – Into the Woods
Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
Jack O’Connell – Unbroken

Best Female Newcomer:

Karen Gillan – Oculus and Guardians of the Galaxy
Carrie Coon – Gone Girl
Essie Davis – The Babadook
Gugu Mbatha Raw – Belle
Sophie Cookson – Kingsman: The Secret Service

Best Comedy:

Paddington
22 Jump Street
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Inbetweeners 2
The Lego Movie

Best Horror:

The Babadook
Annabelle
Oculus
The Guest
Under the Skin

Best Sci-fi/Fantasy:

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Best Thriller:

The Imitation Game
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Gone Girl
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Locke

Empire Legend:

Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Schindler’s List, Skyfall)

Empire Hero:

Game of Thrones (Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harrington, Lena Headey, Charles Dance, Natalie Dormer, Sean Bean)

Empire Inspiration:

Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight trilogy, The Following, Inception, Insomnia, Interstellar, Memento, The Prestige)

Here’s a few images from the night itself, hosted by James Nesbitt. Guests include: Henry Cavill (Man of Steel), Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace), Jessica Chastain (The Help), Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead), James McAvoy (Atonement), Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Reece Shearsmith (A Field in England) and Matt Berry (The IT Crowd).

Avengers 2 poster, Blomkamp directing new Alien and Boyhood, Kingsman, Interstellar and Imitation Game rule Empire Awards

Neill Blomkamp has been busy giving sci-fi and the South African film industry a good name with the Best Picture nominated District 9, the Matt Damon-starring Elysium and his new thriller Chappie but he was secretly developing ideas for a new Alien film. When the bold concept art was released it showcased a brilliant insight of the project he’d envisioned and the acclaim it received has sparked some level of interest. The Johannesburg-born filmmaker’s Alien instalment has been officially commissioned in addition to Ridley Scott’s Prometheus sequel. Details such as a release date or cast are yet to be confirmed but we might see appearance from Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley (Maleficent, Powers) or a return for Sigourney Weaver (Avatar, The Cabin in the Woods) AKA Ripley.

Birdman, Boyhood, Still Alice and Whiplash took centre stage at the Oscars, BAFTAs and Golden Globes in the past few months but the Empire Awards are set to amalgamate the mainstream and the arthouse in their public-voted awards. Previous winners include The Bourne Ultimatum, Men in Black Seven, Skyfall, Inception and Gravity. Click here for the voting while you can admire all of the nominees below.

Best Film:

The Imitation Game
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Boyhood

Best Director:

Peter Jackson – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Matt Reeves – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Christopher Nolan – Interstellar
Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

Best Actress:

Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow
Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina

Jameson Best Actor:

Andy Serkis – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Richard Armitage – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Best British Film:

The Imitation Game
Paddington
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Under the Skin
The Theory of Everything

Best Thriller:

The Imitation Game
Gone Girl
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Locke

Best Comedy:

The Inbetweeners 2
Paddington
The Lego Movie
22 Jump Street
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Horror:

The Guest
Oculus
The Babadook
Annabelle
Under the Skin

Best Sci-fi/Fantasy:

Guardians of the Galaxy
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Interstellar

Best Female Newcomer:

Carrie Coon (Gone Girl)
Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Essie Davis (The Babadook)
Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Secret Service)
Gugu Mbatha Raw (Belle, Beyond the Lights, Jupiter Ascending)

Best Male Newcomer:

Jack O’Connell (Unbroken, ’71, Starred Up)
Dan Stevens (The Guest, A Walk Among the Tombstones)
Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Testament of Youth)
Ellar Coltrane (Boyhood)
Daniel Huttlestone (Into the Woods)

Here’s the leaderboard:

The Imitation Game – 6
Dawn of the Planet if the Apes, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Kingsman: The Secret Service – 4
Boyhood, Gone Girl, Interstellar, The Theory of Everything – 3
The Babadook, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Guest, Oculus, Paddington, Under the Skin, X-Men: Days of Future Past – 2

Finally today, we have the first major poster of The Avengers: Age of Ultron, tipped to be the biggest blockbuster of 2015. Joss Whedon (Serenity, Toy Story, The Cabin in the Woods) directs the cast of Robert Downey Jr (The Judge), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation), Chris Hemsworth (Rush), Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Jeremy Renner (American Hustle), Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), Don Cheadle (Crash), James Spader (The Blacklist), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Aaron Taylor Johnson (Kick-Ass), Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist), Stellan Skarsgard (Good Will Hunting), Andy Serkis (The Hobbit) and Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind).

The Avengers: Age of Ultron – April 23rd

Alien 5 – 2017?

68th British Academy Film Awards Live

Welcome to our BAFTA hub for 2015. Tonight is the biggest night of the British film calender as the esteemed academy elects its triumphant films, directors and stars. Keep on refreshing the page for the latest updates.

If you’re not preoccupied before the ceremony, try out our prediction game. Rank the nominees for Best Film, Director, Actor/Actress, Supporting Actor/Actress, Cinematography, British Film and Rising Star from 1-5. If your number one pick is correct you receive five points, number two gets four, number three gets three and so on. Comment your score from a maximum of 59. Unsure where to start? Try our own predictions as a primer. Get the full nominations list here.

The red carpet lineup is amassing: Benedict Cumberbatch! Eddie Redmayne! Keira Knightley! Steve Carell! Ralph Fiennes! Ethan Hawke! Mike Leigh! Jack O’Connell! Michael Keaton! Mark Strong!

Here we go!

Stephen Fry begins his annual interrogation of the esteemed audience members. Rosamund Pike! Julie Walters! Edward Norton!

Outstanding British Film:

The Theory of Everything
Pride
Under the Skin
The Imitation Game
’71
Paddington

Beckham awards the first win of the night. Does that put Theory in the front seat for Best Film?

Special Visual Effects:

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Guardians of the Galaxy

It missed out on the main categories but it made up here. Jones and Hawking’s humour shining through again.

Supporting Actor:

Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Edward Norton – Birdman
Ethawn Hawke – Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
JK Simmons – Whiplash

Witherspoon on her way to Leading Actress as she awards J Jonah Jameson a BAFTA.

Next two British greats award a third.

Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema:

BBC Films (Revolutionary Road, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Jane Eyre, Made in Deganham, Notes on a Scandal, Billy Elliott, Coriolanus, Pride, An Education, Quartet, In the Loop, Philomena, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa)

The Butler’s Cuba Gooding Jr dishes out the second acting category.

Supporting Actress:

Rene Russo – Nightcrawler
Emma Stone – Birdman
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Imelda Staunton – Pride

A rising star and Bilbo himself award Birdman’s first win.

Cinematography:

Mr Turner (Dick Pope)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Robert Yeoman)
Interstellar (Hoyte Van Hoytema)
Ida (Lukasz Zal)
Birdman (Emmanuel Lubezki)

The ever sharply suited Loki and MI6 Head celebrate a great career beginning.

British Debut:

’71
Northern Soul
Lilting
Kajaki
Pride

A fitting tribute to a true great, Lord Richard Attenborough, from Prince William and Robert Downey Jr.

Best Actress favourite Julianne Moore arrives.

Best Original Screenplay:

Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro Gonalez Inarritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolas Giacobone, Armando Bo -Birdman
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler

Two JJ Abrams collaborators on stage. Shared universe? It’s all a conspiracy!

Foreign Language:

Leviathan
The Lunchbox
Two Days, One Night
Ida
Trash

He’s semi-bald! Future Lex Luthor Jesse Eisenberg and Noomi Rapace turn up.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl
Anthony McCarten – The Theory of Everything
Graham Moore – The Imitation Game
Jason Dean Hall – American Sniper
Paul King – Paddington

We taking a minute off to honour the In Memoriam section.

X-Men’s James McAvoy arrives – we forgot he was Scottish again.

EE Rising Star:

Gugu Mbatha Raw
Miles Teller
Shailene Woodley
Jack O’Connell
Margot Robbie

Your new one to watch is Jack O’Connell, one of the many protogee’s of E4’s Skins who’s starred in the acclaimed likes of Starred Up, Unbroken and ’71.

Brick is back.

Director:

Alejandro Gonzale Inarritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
James Marsh – The Theory of Everything
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Only God Forgive’s Kristen Scott Thomas compliments her opposite number.

Leading Actor:

Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Another crossover in the work: Superman V Captain America!

Leading Actress:

Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Amy Adams – Big Eyes
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon – Wild
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

That was a surprise: Tom Cruise!

Film:

The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Boyhood
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Fellowship:

Mike Leigh (Mr Turner, Life is Sweet, High Hopes, Career Girls, Abigail’s Party, All or Nothing, Topsy Turvy, Secrets and Lies, Naked, Vera Drake, Happy Go Lucky, Another Year)

Here comes the quickfire awards.

Original Music:

Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Documentary:

Citizenfour

Makeup and Hair:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Production Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

British Short Film:

Boogaloo and Graham

British Short Animation:

The Bigger Picture

Editing:

Whiplash

Sound:

Whiplash

Animated Film:

The Lego Movie

Costume Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

We managed 53/59 so comment how you did. Here’s the winners leaderboard.

The Grand Budapest Hotel – 5
Boyhood, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash – 3
Ida, Interstellar, The Lego Movie, Pride, Citizenfour, Still Alice, Birdman – 1

Theory of Everything and Grand Budapest Hotel lead in 2015 BAFTA nominations

Last year, out of conning flick American Hustle, action thriller Captain Phillips, space-set disaster Gravity, biopic 12 Years a Slave and bittersweet comedy Philomena, Gravity took the most awards with six (including Best Director and Best British Film) but 12 Years a Slave’s victory on Best Film and Best Leading Actor was a more prestigious win.

We’re now prepped to meet the contenders of the 68th British Academy Awards. The Hobbit star Stephen Fry will host the ceremony on the 8th of February.

Best Film:

Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything

Outstanding British Film:

’71
Paddington
Pride
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Under the Skin

Best Film Not in the English Language:

Ida
Leviathan
The Lunchbox
Trash
Two Days, One Night

Best Animated Film:

Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
The Lego Movie

Best Director:

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
James Marsh – The Theory of Everything

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer:

Stephen Beresford, David Livingstone – Pride
Gregory Burke, Yann Demange – ’71
Elaine Constantine – Northern Soul
Paul Katis, Andrew de Lotbiniere – Kajaki
Hong Khaou – Lilting

Best Actor:

Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Best Actress:

Amy Adams – Big Eyes
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Supporting Actor:

Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
JK Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress:

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Rene Russo – Nightcrawler
Imelda Staunton – Pride
Emma Stone – Birdman

Best Original Screenplay:

Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bo – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Jason Dean Hall – American Sniper
Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl
Paul King, Hamish McColl – Paddington
Anthony McCarten – The Theory of Everything
Graham Moore – The Imitation Game

Best Cinematography:

Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman
Dick Pope – Mr Turner
Hoyte Van Hoytema – Interstellar
Robert Yeoman – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Lukasz Zal, Ryzsard Lenczewski – Ida

Best Original Music:

Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Johann Johannsson – The Theory of Everything
Mica Levi – Under the Skin
Antonio Sanchez – Birdman
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar

Best Sound:

American Sniper
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

Best Production Design:

Big Eyes
Interstellar
Mr Turner
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game

Best Special Visual Effects:

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Best Costume Design:

Into the Woods
Mr Turner
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything

Best Makeup and Hair:

Guardians of the Galaxy
Into the Woods
Mr Turner
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Theory of Everything

Best Editing:

Birdman
Nightcrawler
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best Short Film:

Boogaloo and Graham
Emotional Fusebox
Slap
The Karman Line
Three Brothers

Best Short Animation:

Monkey Love Experiments
My Dad
The Bigger Picture

EE Rising Star Award:

Gugu Mbatha Raw – Belle, Beyond the Lights
Jack O’Connell – Starred Up, Unbroken, 300: Rise of an Empire, ’71
Margot Robbie – Suite Francaise, The Wolf of Wall Street
Miles Teller – Divergent, That Awkward Moment, Whiplash
Shailene Woodley – Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars

Perhaps there is a leaning towards the obvious candidates but there are a few shocks about. While Birdman, Boyhood and Whiplash lead the way, Oscar favourites such as Gone Girl, Foxcatcher, American Sniper, Big Eyes and Into the Woods may have slipped behind but Selma, Unbroken and A Most Violent Year are completely exempt of a mention. Mr Turner is the other major snub, losing out the expected nods Best Actor (Timothy Spall), Director (Mike Leigh) and British Film. The surprisingly prolific appearances of Nightcrawler, Interstellar, Under the Skin and Paddington shake things up.

Here’s the current leaders:

The Grand Budapest Hotel – 11 nominations
Birdman, The Theory of Everything – 10 nominations
The Imitation Game – 9 nominations
Boyhood, Whiplash – 5 nominations
Interstellar, Mr Turner, Nightcrawler – 4 nominations
Pride – 3 nominations
’71, American Sniper, Big Eyes, Foxcatcher, Gone Girl, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ida, Into the Woods, Paddington, Under the Skin – 2 nominations

Awards special – Boyhood leads in LA and Boston while Pride scores at British Independant, new directors shortlist for Ready Player One

Films such as Gone Girl, Birdman, Whiplash and The Grand Budapest Hotel have received great acclaim but Boyhood is evidently the Oscar frontrunner. It had beaten off competition at the New York Critics’ Circle but its real test for gaining awards season traction will be at the upcoming accolade distributors. The results are in from both the LA and Boston Critics Awards and Boyhood has triumphed. Here’s the winners in full. Firstly, Los Angeles:

Best Picture:

Boyhood

Best Director:

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor:

Tom Hardy – Locke

Best Actress:

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Best Supporting Actor:

JK Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress:

Agata Kulesza – Ida

Best Screenplay:

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Foreign Language Film:

Ida

Best Documentary:

Citizenfour

Best Cinematography:

Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman

Best Animation:

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Editing:

Sandra Adair – Boyhood

Best New Filmmaker:

Ava DuVernay – Selma

And in Boston:

Best Picture:

Boyhood

Best Director:

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor:

Michael Keaton – Birdman

Best Actress:

Marion Cotillard – Two Days One Night

Best Supporting Actor:

JK Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress:

Emma Stone – Birdman

Best Ensemble Cast:

Boyhood

Best Screenplay (tie):

Birdman/Boyhood

Best Documentary:

Citizenfour

Best Animation:

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Foreign Language Film:

Two Days One Night

Best Editing:

Sandra Adair – Boyhood

Best Cinematography:

Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman

Best New Filmmaker:

Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler

If the snubbing of British acts here frustrates you then you might prefer these victors at the British Independent Film Awards. The pack was lead by mining/gay rights drama Pride, followed quickly by army thriller ’71 and Nick Cave’s semi-biopic 20,000 Days on Earth.

Best British Independent Film:

Pride

Best Director:

Yann Demange – ’71

Best Actress:

Gugu Mbatha Raw – Belle

Best Actor:

Brendan Gleeson – Calvary

Best Supporting Actress:

Imelda Staunton – Pride

Best Supporting Actor:

Andrew Scott – Pride

Best Screenplay:

Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan – Frank

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director):

Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard – 20,000 Days on Earth

Best Documentary:

Next Goal Wins

Best International Independent Film:

Boyhood

The Raindance Award:

Luna

The Richard Harris Award:

Emma Thompson

The Variety Award:

Benedict Cumberbatch

Warner Bros set their hopes high when they revealed that Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar) was in consideration for the sci-fi project Ready Player One. Their vision seems no less ambitious when the rest of their directing shortlist. Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong, Heavenly Creatures), Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim VS The World, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End, Shaun of the Dead), Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Layer Cake, Stardust) and Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Contact, Cast Away, Back to the Future). Jackson, Nolan and Wright are more innovative filmmakers and would rather advance their own projects but the material seems appropriate for either Vaughn or Zemeckis.

Ready Player One – 2017?