The Best Films of 2014 – the Half-Way Point

Looking at any annual film schedule, its evident that the first half of the year can never quite live up to the second and 2014 is no exception. This year really did get off to a rotten start with 47 Ronin, The Legend of Hercules and I Frankenstein dragging their heals at the box-office but this did pave a way for others; The Wolf of Wall Street and Ride Along both enjoyed three consecutive weeks at the top of the UK and US box-office respectively. Following that came some genuine surprises. Wes Anderson’s ensemble comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel reached 1st and 3rd in the UK and US against all odds and The Lego Movie, one of the most poorly marketed films in recent years, was an unexpected treat and certainly and future cult classic.

The biblical format seemed to increase in popularity around Easter with the low-key Christian dramas Heaven is For Real, Son of God and God’s Not Dead taking nearly thirty times their micro-budgets but these religious flicks aren’t proving successful outside of America, besides Aronofsky’s star-driven epic Noah. The “Katniss-effect” of The Hunger Games has evidently given studios the faith to put stronger female characters into the fray of action and adventure with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent and Shailene Woodley’s Divergent winning out over Johnny Depp’s Transcendence or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Sabotage financially. Edge of Tomorrow even managed it to the extent of Tom Cruise needing saving from Emily Blunt’s ultimate warrior.

In the last six months, certain individuals are lighting up the box-office left, right and centre. Former comedian Kevin Hart has lead a trio of success, Ride Along, About Last Night and Think Like a Man Too, while the Jump Street quartet (director Phil Lord and Chris Miller/stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) have a cinematic Midas-touch. It’s evident that Lego’s Chris Pratt can do no wrong and, with Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy coming soon, he’s well on his way to man-of-the-year status. The biggest winners of the year have to be Marvel. Even though their heroes are divided across Sony, Fox and Disney, Stan Lee’s creations of Spider-Man, Captain America (kind-of) and the X-Men are currently the three biggest films of the year so far and they’ll only continue to grow bigger.

Below you can find the international box-office top ten followed by our own personal picks of the year so far as well as the ten to look for in the rest of 2014:

International Box-office Top 10:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Director: Anthony and Joe Russo – Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones – Box-office: $710.8 million
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper – $703.3 million
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till – $700 million
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville – $531.8 million
5. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche – $478.7 million
6. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am – $469.4 million
7. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders – $467.2 million
8. Noah – Darren Aronofsky – Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins – $356.2 million
9. 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Lena Headey, Jack O’Connell, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham – $331.1 million
10. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong – $298.8 million

Tuorhoth’s Top 10:

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till
2. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche
3. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones
5. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong
6. The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini – Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst
7. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Justin Chadwick – Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
8. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Kenneth Branagh – Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, Gemma Chan
9. RoboCop – Jose Padilha – Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Jackie Earle Haley, Aimee Garcia, Michael K Williams, Samuel L Jackson
10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper

Top 10 Anticipated:

1. Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Topher Grace, Casey Affleck, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Matt Damon
2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee
3. Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Rosamund Pike
4. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong
5. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, John C Reilly
6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, James Franco, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit McPhee
7. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Sam Clafin, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Natalie Dormer, Philip Seymour, Hoffman
8. Fury – David Ayer – Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Jason Isaacs, Michael Pena, Shia LeBeouf
9. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
10. The Judge – David Dobkin – Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Farmiga

Tuorhoth returns with the latest on Hobbit 3, Justice League, Avengers 2, Star Trek 3, Spider-Man, Jungle Book and more!

We’re sad to say that we’ve been away on a week of huge movie news, which we’re now dubbing MEGA-NEWS. We’ve got the scoop on pretty much every major movie coming our way in the next couple of years, and beyond, besides an official casting for Star Wars: Episode VII but we’re not completely in the dark with Star Trek Into Darkness’ JJ Abrams’ sequel to the world’s biggest movie franchise.

There’s a huge amount of spin offs to Star Wars in various medias. TV shows like Clone Wars and (now) Rebels, video games such as Battlefront, Knights of the Old Republic and the hugely successful Force Unleashed saga and numerous comic books and graphic novels have revived the series through some difficult times. However, some the most renowned SW side stories are from the novels such as Timothy Zahn’s work (above) and Darth Plagueis. Some of these books are light fan-fiction but most of it is genuine, George Lucas-approved canon to the main films. Despite this, we now know that the storytelling works of Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan (Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) and Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) are not to take off from the novels.

Producer and writer Simon Kinberg informs us that “For the movies, the canon is the canon, and the canon is the six films that exist. It’s all about honouring the movies and telling a new story.” We still don’t know of a single cast member or title but that’s set to change as, all going well, filming finally begins this May. Star Wars: Episode VII – December 18th 2015

The life of technological visionary Steve Jobs has once, unsuccessfully, been told on screen with Ashton Kutcher in the lead role. Sony’s alternative to this has been in their minds for a long time and it seemed quite promising when it appeared that David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Seven, The Social Network) was to direct with Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Hustle, The Prestige) starring.

It’s now apparent that Sony are negotiating with Danny Boyle for the directing job. Boyle, the British writer and director behind Trainspotting, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Trance, Shallow Grave and Slumdog Millionaire as well as the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony, is the second highly esteemed director Sony have approached after Fincher but the most exciting reveal of all of this is that Boyle may be reuniting with his star of The Beach, and five time Oscar nominee, Leonardo Di Caprio (The Wolf of Wall Street, Titanic, Inception, Django Unchained, The Departed) for the film.

Ray Fisher has only one on-screen acting role so far, 2008 short film The Good The Bad and The Confused, and yet he’s swiftly becoming one of the most talked about young stars in Hollywood. He came into competition for the male lead in Star Wars, which he may be unlikely to get, but has just landed the biggest role in his career: he’s been cast as DC comics hero Cyborg in Zack Snyder’s (300, Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead) Man of Steel sequel Batman vs Superman. Despite that unconfirmed title, it seems as if this’ll much more of a Justice League themed adventure than we’d thought at the 2013 Comic-Con announcement. Fisher joins Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Callan Mulvey, Gal Gadot, Tao Okamoto and Laurence Fishburne in the cast. Batman vs Superman – May 6th 2016

Disney and Warner Bros are in a highly heated race to get a new remake of The Jungle Book to are screens. The latter found a great choice of director in Ron Howard (Rush, Apollo 13) before his replacement set up Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings/King Kong star and The Hobbit’s second unit director) for the job. Meanwhile Disney is far ahead; Elf and Iron Man’s Jon Favreau is nailed in to direct and we know that Idris Elba (Pacific Rim, The Wire, Luther, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom) will voice Shere-Kahn but another two stars are part of a new rumour. 12 Years a Slave’s Oscar winning supporting star Lupita Nyong’o is up for the role of Rackcha, Mowgli’s adoptive wolf-mother, while Scarlett Johansson (four time Golden Globe nominee of The Avengers and Lost in Translation fame) could be putting an interesting spin on Kaa, the hypnotising and villainous snake whose charms put the heroes in peril. The Jungle Book – October 9th 2015

Celebrating their 300th issue and their 25th anniversary, Empire Magazine are giving some incredible coverage of upcoming films including Marvel’s sci-fi sequel The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Joss Whedon, writer of The Avengers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Serenity and Toy Story, had this to say about the various villains in the film. “I fiercely dislike the idea of just throwing in more people for the sake of doing that. But last time I had all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes versus one British character actor, and I needed more conflict.”

The chief villain is obviously the robotic Ultron and he may be Whedon’s highlight “I’m having a blast with Ultron,” Whedon said. “He’s not a creature of logic – he’s a robot who’s genuinely disturbed. We’re finding out what makes him menacing and at the same time endearing and funny and strange and unexpected, and everything a robot never is.” Star Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man) recently shared the very first on-set pic from the film (above) that also stars Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Samuel L Jackson, Cobie Smulders, James Spader, Thomas Kretschmann, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Jeremy Renner, Hayley Atwell, Don Cheadle and Paul Bettany. The Avengers: Age of Ultron – May 1st 2015

Taking off from indie sci-fi hit Safety Not Guaranteed, writer/director Colin Trevorrow, who’s hinted at further instalments, takes on a huge role with the lead gig on dinosaur action reboot Jurassic World which has finally revealed some pics from their island photography. These sneak peeks offer a more futuristic style than we’d initially expected. The Jurassic Park sequel stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, Katie McGrath, BD Wong Ty Simpkins, Jake Johnson, Judy Greer and Vincent D’Onofrio. Jurassic World – June 12th 2015.

Sadly, Star Trek and Fringe writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are going their seperate ways in order to focus on the bigger directing projects that have attracted them both. Kurtzman is the current candidate to direct Spider-Man spin-off Venom but Orci has expressed his desire to become the director of Star Trek 3.

Several directors, including Rupert Wyatt and Joe Cornish, had previously been rumoured after JJ Abrams opted out in favour of Star Wars. Should he get the job, it’d be the Mexican’s directorial debut while Kurtzman does have a shot-calling credit on indie drama People Like Us. Star Trek 3 – 2016

The Bourne Identity’s Doug Liman is the man behind the new Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible, Minority Report, Top Gun) sci-fi action Edge of Tomorrow. It sees a soldier forced to constantly relive a battle again and again until its success and unveiled a new poster today. With the impressive supporting cast of Emily Blunt (The Adjustment Bureau, Looper), Bill Paxton (Aliens, Agents of SHIELD) and Lara Pulver (Da Vinci’s Demons, Sherlock), it could surprise us but it’s set to be another throwaway Cruise flick that treads too closely to other films (in Oblivion’s case Moon and in this case Source Code). Edge of Tomorrow – May 30th.

There have already been some intriguing castings for Joe Wright’s (Hanna, Atonement, Pride and Prejudice) reboot of Disney animation Peter Pan. Unknown star Levi Miller will play a younger version of the titular role while Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy, Inside Llewyn Davis, Death Sentence) plays Pan’s adversary Hook, who currently serves under the flag of Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman – X-Men, Les Miserables, The Prestige). Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, Side Effects) will play American-Indian chief’s daughter Tiger Lily. Now an additional Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia, Les Miserables), Kathy Burke (Nil By Mouth, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Nonso Anozie (Ender’s Game, The Grey) have officially joined the ensemble. Pan – July 17th 2015.

We were as thrilled as any when it was revealed that the five remaining members of Monty Python, the legendary British comedy sextet behind Life of Brian, The Flying Circus, The Meaning of Life and The Holy Grail, would be bravely running away onto the O2 stage for their final reunion but were as equally disappointed when the tickets sold out in an incredible 43 seconds. However, there may be a new way for the millions of fans missing out to enjoy the return of Mesrs Cleese, Jones, Gilliam, Idle and Palin. It’s been announced that 1500 screens (including 450 in the UK) across the globe will be presenting the show’s closing night as part of a worldwide live cinema event. Monty Python Live – June 20th.

One of the Spider-Man franchises biggest icons is one who is neither a superhero nor supervillain but Peter Parker’s chain-smoking, media-dictating Daily Bugle boss John Jonah Jameson Junior, portrayed excellently by JK Simmons in Sam Raimi’s original trilogy. However, he’s yet to appear in Marc Webb’s recent reiteration The Amazing Spider-Man. Webb, flanked by Amazing Spider-Man 2’s stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx and Dane DeHaan, spoke out about the possibility of JJJ’s return for future films at a Google+ fan Q&A.

“I like the idea very much of him coming up in the next film. It was more easy to accept a new Spider-Man than someone who could outdo J.K. Simmons in that role. He is so iconic. That’s something we’ve really talked about. Obviously I love that character because he poses such an interesting dilemma for Spider-Man. The answer is I don’t know, but I think you can expect to see him in the future.” The Amazing Spider-Man 3 – June 10th 2016. The Amazing Spider-Man 4 – 2018.

The final part of Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy trilogy, and Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit is approaching fast but a report from TheOneRing hinted at a potential title change from There and Back Again to Into the Fire. Neither sounded quite as previous subtitles such as An Unexpected Journey or The Desolation of Smaug. It then took us by surprise to hear that the title as officially change to The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. The Oscar winning writer/director Jackson himself stepped out to say this.

“Our journey to make The Hobbit Trilogy has been in some ways like Bilbo’s own, with hidden paths revealing their secrets to us as we’ve gone along. “There and Back Again” felt like the right name for the second of a two film telling of the quest to reclaim Erebor, when Bilbo’s arrival there, and departure, were both contained within the second film. But with three movies, it suddenly felt misplaced—after all, Bilbo has already arrived “there” in the “Desolation of Smaug”.

“When we did the premiere trip late last year, I had a quiet conversation with the studio about the idea of revisiting the title. We decided to keep an open mind until a cut of the film was ready to look at. We reached that point last week, and after viewing the movie, we all agreed there is now one title that feels completely appropriate.”

Without trying to give too much away for the Tolkien-illiterate, The Battle of the Five Armies is a defining moment in Middle-Earth history and so I think it get’s a well deserved place on the titles. It’s been hinted that There and Back Again hasn’t been completely ditched and will appear on the various boxsets for the films so The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will be the three films that make up our The Hobbit: There and Back Again trilogy.

Battle of the Five Armies will star Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Ian Holm, Sylvester McCoy, Aidan Turner, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Mikael Persbrandt, Billy Connolly, Graham McTavish, Hugo Weaving and Christopher Lee. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – December 12th

12 Years triumphs at People’s Choice Awards and new Amazing Spider-Man 2 posters

After director Steve McQueen and star Michael Fassbender were snubbed for both Hunger and Shame, they’re finally getting award recognition for 12 Years a Slave, which won Best Film at the Golden Globes and People’s Choice and shone out at the Academy Award nominations. Here’s the full list

Best Picture

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

Saving Mr Banks

Best Actor

Matthew MacConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Robert Redford – All is Lost

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Judi Dench – Philomena

Brie Larson – Short Term 12

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks

Best Supporting Actor

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Philllips

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Best Supporting Actress

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Scarlett Johansson – Her

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

June Squibb – Blue Jasmine

Oprah Winfrey – The Butler

Best Young Actor/Actress

Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue is the Warmest Colour

Asa Butterfield – Ender’s Game

Liam James – The Way Way Back

Sophie Nelisse – The Book Thief

Tye Sheridan – Mud

Best Acting Ensemble

American Hustle

August: Osage County

The Butler

Nebraska

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Spike Jonze – Her

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

David O’Russell – American Hustle

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay

Spike Jonze – Her

Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell – American Hustle

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine

Joel and Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Tracy Letts – August: Osage County

Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight

Billy Ray – Captain Phillips

Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope – Philomena

Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Cinematography

Emmannuel Lubezki – Gravity

Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis

Phedon Papamichael – Nebraska

Roger Deakins – Prisoners

Sean Bobbit – 12 Years a Slave

Best Art Direction

The Great Gatsby

Gravity

Her

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

12 Years a Slave

Best Editing

Gravity

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Rush

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Costume Design

The Great Gatsby

American Hustle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Saving Mr Banks

12 Years a Slave

Best Hair and Make-up

American Hustle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Butler

Rush

12 Years a Slave

Best Visual Effects

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Animated Feature

Frozen

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Monsters University

The Wind Rises

Best Action Movie

Lone Survivor

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Iron Man 3

Rush

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Actor in an Action Movie

Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor

Henry Cavill – Man of Steel

Robert Downey Jr – Iron Man 3

Brad Pitt – World War Z

Best Comedy

American Hustle

Enough Said

The Heat

This is the End

The Way Way Back

The World’s End

Best Actor in a Comedy

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Christian Bale – American Hustle

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Simon Pegg – The World’s End

Sam Rockwell – The Way Way Back

Best Actress in a Comedy

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Sandra Bullock – The Heat

Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha

Julia Louis Dreyfus – Enough Said

Melissa McCarthy – The Heat

Best Sci-fi Horror Movie

Gravity

The Conjuring

Star Trek Into Darkness

Iron Man 3

Best Foreign Language Film

Blue is the Warmest Colour

The Great Beauty

The Hunt

The Past

Best Documentary Feature

20 Feet From Stardom

The Act of Killing

Blackfish

Stories We Tell

Tim’s Vermeer

Best Song

Let it Go – Frozen

Atlas – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Happy – Despicable Me 2

Ordinary Love – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Please Mr Kennedy – Inside Llewyn Davis

Young and Beautiful – The Great Gatsby

Best Score

Stephen Price – Gravity

William Butler, Owen Pallett – Her

Thomas Newman – Saving Mr Banks

Hans Zimmer – 12 Years a Slave

Gravity has won the most awards with an impressive six wins but it’s 12 Years a Slave’s day as it picked up Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. American Hustle gained four wins while Frozen, The Great Gatsby, Blue is the Warmest Colour and Lone Survivor got two. I’m not going to do in depth analysis but I’m stilled surprised Her is being praised as an “original” and “fresh” premise as it has exactly the same plot as a Big Bang Theory episode where a lonely Raj (Kunal Nayyar) falls in love with his I-Phone’s Siri. I’m probably not the first to say it but I haven’t heard anyone else pick up on it.

The only other major piece of news is the stunning new poster for Marvel and Sony’s superhero sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Marc Webb directs and Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Dane DeHaan and Chris Cooper star but today’s focus is the hopefully terrifying new villain Electro, played by Ray, Collateral and Django Unchained’s Jamie Foxx.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th

The 2014 Academy Awards nominations are in!

After the tense but unfocused Argo triumphed over the brilliant Les Miserables, Lincoln and Beasts of the Southern Wild at the last Oscars, I’m not sure that the Academy Award Best Picture is the best judge of what really is the best film of the year but it’s certainly the most prestigious honour any movie can receive. This year features plenty of strong contenders but some stars have seen some shocking snubs.

Best Picture

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

David O’Russell – American Hustle

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Alexander Payne – Nebraska

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay

Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell – American Hustle

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack – Dallas Buyers Club

Spike Jonze – Her

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Billy Ray – Captain Phillips

Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope – Philomena

Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater – Before Midnight

Best Actor

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Matthew MacConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Judi Dench – Philomena

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

June Squibb – Nebraska

Best Animated Film

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Ernest & Celestine

Frozen

The Wind Rises

Best Original Score

Philomena – Alexander Desplat

The Book Thief – John Williams

Gravity – Stephen Price

Saving Mr Banks – Thomas Newman

Her – William Butler, Owen Pallett

Best Original Song

Alone Yet Not Alone – Alone Yet Not Alone

Happy – Despicable Me 2

Let it Go – Frozen

The Moon Song – Her

Ordinary Love – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Best Cinematography

The Grandmaster – Phillipe Le Sourd

Gravity – Emmanuel Lubezki

Inside Llewyn Davis – Bruno Delbonnel

Nebraska – Phedon Papamichael

Prisoners – Roger Deakins

Best Editing

American Hustle

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Best Production Design

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Her

Gravity

The Great Gatsby

Best Costume Design

American Hustle – Michael Wilkinson

The Great Gatsby – Catherine Martin

The Invisible Woman – Michael O’Connor

The Grandmaster – William Chang Suk Ping

12 Years a Slave – Patricia Norris

Best Make-Up

Dallas Buyers Club

Jackass: Bad Grandpa

The Lone Ranger

Best Sound Editing

All is Lost

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Lone Survivor

Best Sound Mixing

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Inside Llewyn Davis

Lone Survivor

Best Visual Effects

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Star Trek Into Darkness

The Lone Ranger

Best Foreign Language Film

Broken Circle Breakdown – Belgium

The Great Beauty – Italy

The Hunt – Denmark

The Missing Picture – Cambodia

Omar – Palestine

Best Animated Short

Feral

Get a Horse

Mr Hublot

Possessions

Room on the Broom

Best Documentary

The Act of Killing

Cutie and the Boxer

Dirty Wars

The Square

20 Feet From Stardom

Best Documentary Short

Cavedigger

Facing Fear

Karama Has No Walls

The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life

Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall

Best Live-Action Short

Aquel No Era Yo

Just Before Losing Everything

Helium

Do I Have to Take Care of Everything

The Voorman

The unsurprising leaders are 12 Years a Slave, eight nominations, Gravity, ten honours, and American Hustle, also ten nominations. Both Dallas Buyers Club and The Wolf of Wall Street gained five, Captain Phillips and Nebraska scored an impressive six while Her and Philomena followed up with four. Blue Jasmine got three while, with its two star actresses, August: Osage County scraped into the shortlists with two, as did animations Frozen and Despicable Me 2 and documentary The Act of Killing and martial-arts based The Grandmaster. In the more technical areas, Captain Phillips and Gravity made a big impact while The Great Gatsby, The Lone Ranger, Lone Survivor and Inside Llewyn Davis got two, The Hobbit:The Desolation of Smaug got three and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Jackass: Bad Grandpa, The Book Thief, All is Lost and The Invisible Woman pushed their way in with just one nomination each.

There are some shocking snubs. Blue is the Warmest Colour is the most obvious one. I thought that this Palme D’Or was bound to not only win Best Foreign Language Film but also pick up nominations for Best Leading Actress, Best Director and Best Picture but didn’t even get one honour. Captain Phillips’ Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass were respectively left out of Best Actor and Best Director. Saving Mr Banks, All is Lost, Prisoners and Inside Llewyn Davis were left of some of the awards they were favoured for while the hugely popular The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Rush were completely bereft of recognition. Saving Mr Banks was one of the most loved efforts of the year and yet only finds itself with one nomination; Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrel and director John Lee Hancock were all snubbed. I also think that Lone Survivor and The Book Thief will be disappointed with their small hoards.

In terms of potential winners, Gravity will no doubt win the most awards but 12 Years a Slave may just beat off the main competition from Gravity and American Hustle to win Best Picture. I think the winners of the “big five” will be Alfonso Cuaron (director of Gravity), Leonardo Di Caprio (actor of The Wolf of Wall Street), Cate Blanchett (actress of Blue Jasmine), Michael Fassbender (supporting actor of 12 Years a Slave) and Jennifer Lawrence (supporting actress of American Hustle).

The show itself will be on ABC in America or Sky Movies in the UK on March 2nd and will be hosted by Ellen Degeneres.

The 86th Academy Awards – March 2nd on ABC and Sky Movies

Golden Globes winners plus Fassbender, Weaving and more for Star Wars 7

It’s over a month it’ll we reach what I consider to be the main events of the award season, the Oscars, Academy Awards, and BAFTA, British Academy of Film and Television Awards, but the Golden Globes possibly give the most accurate early insight into who’s leading the way to bringing home Best Picture. The show, hosted by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, was held on Sunday and heralded these results.

Best Motion Picture – Drama:

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Gravity

Philomena

Rush

Best Actress – Drama

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Judi Dench – Philomena

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks

Kate Winslet – Labor Day

Best Actor – Drama

Matthew MacConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Idris Elba – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Robert Redford – All is Lost

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

American Hustle

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis

Joaquin Phoenix – Her

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Julie Delpy – Before Midnight

Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha

Julia Louis Dreyfus – Enough Said

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Best Supporting Actor

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

June Squibb – Nebraska

Best Screenplay

Spike Jonze – Her

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

Jeff Pope, Steve Coogan – Philomena

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell – American Hustle

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

Alexander Payne – Nebraska

David O’Russell – American Hustle

Best Animated Feature

Frozen

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Best Foreign Language Film

The Great Beauty

Blue is the Warmest Colour

The Hunt

The Wind Rises

Best Original Score

All is Lost

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Gravity

The Book Thief

12 Years a Slave

Best Original Song

“Ordinary Love” – Mandela Long Walk to Freedom

“Atlas” – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

“Let it Go” – Frozen

“Please Mr Kennedy” – Inside Llewyn Davis

“Sweeter Than Fiction” – One Chance

American Hustle leads the way with three wins but it’s Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity and 12 Years a Slave that’ll be remembered for last night’s success. The victories Alfonso Cuaron, Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett, Leonardo Di Caprio and Matthew MacConaughey were expected but there’s some real surprises with Spike Jonze, Amy Adams and Jared Leto picking up Globes.

I’ll give a quick review on the TV results. As expected, the final season of Breaking Bad won Best Drama and Best Actor, for Bryan Cranston, while Robin Wright won the Globe for Best Actress with Netflix’s House of Cards. In comedy, brand new cop show Brooklyn Nine-Nine caused an upset for the bookies as it starred taking Best Comedy and Best Actor (Adam Sandberg) in a Comedy from favourites such as The Big Bang Theory, Arrested Development, Girls and Modern Family. Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra won both Best Mini-Series or TV Movie and Best Actor in a Mini-Series for Michael Douglas while Elizabeth Moss (Top of the Lake) won the corresponding Best Actress award. Jacqueline Bisset (Dancing on the Edge) and Jon Voight (Ray Donovan) respectively won Best Supporting Actress and Actor.

Star Wars: Episode VII, as you know, is an upcoming sci-fi reboot of George Lucas’ classic ’77 – ’83 trilogy that gained an poor name thanks to Lucas’ failed prequel ’99 – ’05 trilogy. JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8, Lost, Felicity) will direct the new instalment that’s seen a number of intriguing cast rumours.

Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Day Lewis, and Chiwetel Ejiofor have gone round the rumour mill while Soarise Ronan, Jack O’Connell, Michael B Jordan and Sullivan Stapleton are confirmed to have had auditions. The Episode VII producers took a tour of Britain with open auditions across about five or six cities to find fresh face and old Star Wars favourites Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Warwick Davis, Samuel L Jackson and Anthony Daniels are rumoured to reprise their roles.

Now, four fresh entrants to the series are in contention but, before you accuse this as a wild guess, consider that the closer we get to the film’s release, the more accurate the rumours’ll be. The latest batch of potential Star Warriors are Michael Fassbender, Hugo Weaving, Jesse Plemons and Adam Driver.

The Irish/Germanic Fassbender is probably the most known of the four. He’s equally spread between mainstream and award worthy performances after leading box-office success with Prometheus, Inglorious, X-Men: First Class and 300 and winning the critics in the more art-house Shame, Hunger and 12 Years a Slave, for which he’s tipped for Oscar success. I’m not sure if Fassbender will sign on as he’s already doing X-Men: Days of Future Past, Frank, Untitled Terrence Malick project, Assassin’s Creed, MacBeth and Prometheus 2 already lined up.

The other three are much more likely candidates. Hugo Weaving (The Matrix’s Mr Smith, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit’s Elrond, Captain America’s Red Skull, V for Vendetta, Cloud Atlas’ Mrs Noakes), Adam Driver (Frances Ha, Lincoln, Inside Llewyn Davis and Girls’ Adam Sackler) and Jesse Plemons (Breaking Bad’s Todd, Friday Night Lights, Battleship, Paul) are the other three stars rumoured for Star Wars. Casting venerable stars such as Weaving is fine as long as they don’t waste them on pointless politician roles, see Terence Stamp as Chancellor Valorum. There was a rumour that a casting call went out for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s daughter or granddaughter but that may just be fiction.

Star Wars: Episode VII – December 18th 2015

Weekend box-office – 5th to 11th of January 2014 – will Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones spook American Hustle and Frozen?

The PA franchise has proved a frustrating one for critics but is box-office dynamite for the studios with remarkably low budgets and comparatively huge grossing. However, the new instalment, titled The Marked Ones, has proved much more popular in America than in Britain with the current box-office results rolling in.

US

1. Frozen – Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee – $25.5 million
2. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones – Christopher Landon – $22.2 million
3. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Peter Jackson – $20.8 million
4. The Wolf of Wall Street – Martin Scorsese – $19.7 million
5. American Hustle – David O’Russell – $17.4 million

UK

1. American Hustle – David O’Russell – £3.5 million
2. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – £3.2 million
3. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee – £2.9 million
4. Last Vegas – Jon Turteltaub – £1.8 million
5. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones – Christopher Landon – £1.6 million

Anchorman 2 has sank to sixth place in both US and UK which slightly fluffs up my predictions from last week. I scored both 1/5 both sides of the Atlantic taking my running total to 58/100. Frozen was the big surprise of the week as it must be proving popular with repeat viewing for those who can’t get enough of Christmas, even in mid January. With its international haul coming in much later than in the US, Last Vegas has pushed itself a little further to pass the $100 million threshold.

US

1. Lone Survivor – Peter Berg
2. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
3. The Wolf of Wall Street – Martin Scorsese
4. The Legend of Hercules – Renny Harlin
5. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Peter Jackson

UK

1. 12 Years a Slave – Steve McQueen
2. Delivery Man – Ken Scott
3. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Peter Jackson
4. American Hustle – David O’Russell
5. The Railway Man – Jonathan Teplitzky

Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper in American Hustle, this week’s UK box office number one.

The character of Josh Gad in Frozen, this week’s US box office number one.

BAFTA Nominations for 2014 are in: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Gravity, Philomena and 12 Years a Slave lead the way

A couple of days ago, we brought you the scoop on the nominees for BAFTA’s Rising Star Award. Now the rest of the nominations have come in and there’s a couple of the usual surprises and snubs.

Best Film

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Gravity

Philomena

Outstanding British Film

Gravity

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Philomena

Rush

Saving Mr Banks

The Selfish Giant

Outstanding Debut For a British Writer, Director or Producer

Colin Carberry (Writer), Glenn Patterson (Writer) Good Vibrations

Kelly Marcel (Writer) Saving Mr. Banks

Kieran Evans (Director/Writer) Kelly + Victor

Paul Wright (Director/Writer), Polly Stokes (Producer) For Those in Peril

Scott Graham (Director/Writer) Shell

Best Director

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

David O’Russell – American Hustle

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay

Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell – American Hustle

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine

Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron – Gravity

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Richard LaGravense – Behind the Candelabra

Billy Ray – Captain Phillips

Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope – Philomena

Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Leading Actor

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Best Leading Actress

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks

Judi Dench – Philomena

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Matt Damon – Behind the Candelabra

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Oprah Winfrey – The Butler

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

Best Foreign Language Film

The Act of Killing

Blue is the Warmest Colour

The Great Beauty

Metro Manila

Wadjda

Best Documentry

The Act of Killing

The Armstrong Lie

Blackfish

Tim’s Vermeer

We Steal Secret: The Story of WikiLeaks

Best Animated Film

Despicable Me 2

Frozen

Monsters University

Best Original Music

12 Years a Slave – Hans Zimmer

The Book Thief – John Williams

Captain Phillips – Henry Jackman

Gravity – Stephen Price

Saving Mr Banks – Thomas Newman

Best Cinematography

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Gravity

Inside Llewyn Davis

Saving Mr Banks

Best Editing

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Gravity

Rush

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Production Design

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Behind the Candelabra

Gravity

The Great Gatsby

Best Costume Design

American Hustle

Behind the Candelabra

The Great Gatsby

The Invisible Woman

Saving Mr Banks

Best Make-up and Hair

American Hustle

Behind the Candelabra

The Butler

The Great Gatsby

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Best Sound

All is Lost

Captain Phillips

Gravity

Inside Llewyn Davis

Rush

Best Special Visual Effects

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best British Short Animation

Everything I Can See From Here

I am Tom Moody

Sleeping with the Fishes

Best British Short Film

Island Queen

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Orbit Ever After

Room 8

Sea View

The EE Rising Star Award

Dane DeHaan

George MacKay

Lupita Nyong’o

Will Poulter

Lea Seydoux

12 Years a Slave has an impressive haul with 9 nominations, as did American Hustle, but Gravity leads the way with 11. Captain Phillips scored 6 and Philomena, Saving Mr Banks, Behind the Candelabra, The Wolf of Wall Street, Blue Jasmine, Nebraska and Inside Llewyn Davis all made a great impression. Rush, The Great Gatsby, Gravity and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug all dominated the technical awards. Something I’m not convinced by is the nominees of the Best British Film award. Mandela, Philomena and The Selfish Giant are fair enough but is having a Brit on the producing credits really justifying Gravity (directed by a Mexican), Rush (directed by a Oklahoman) and Saving Mr Banks (directed by a Texan).

As for who will win, Best Film I’d narrow it down to 12 Years, American Hustle and Captain Phillips. Sandra Bullock (Gravity) may just pip Emma Thompson (Saving Mr Banks) to Best Leading Actress while I reckon Tom Hanks has Best Actor in the bag. Oprah Winfrey and Daniel Bruhl seem  like the most likely to respectively win Best Supporting Actress and Actor.

Alfonso Cuaron is my favourite for Best Director and I also predict American Hustle to win Best Original Screenplay and either The Wolf of Wall Street or Philomena for Best Adapted. I’d bet on Frozen for Best Animated Film but Gravity would probably win the most awards on the night but it’ll miss out on the main award of Best Film.

The event itself is on February 16th and here, on Tuorhoth Movies, we hope to be bringing live as-it-happens news updates so stay tuned. By for now!

New pics from X-Men: DOFP, Exodus, Captain America 2, Gone Girl, Dawn of Planet of Apes and Spider-Man 2 plus Gal Gadot on Wonder Woman

We’re still unsure if Gal Gadot will play a major role in the yet untitled superhero showdown of Batman vs. Superman. The Israelian star of Fast and Furious has already been confirmed to be playing Wonder Woman but we’re not sure of how much screen time she’ll get with Ben Affleck (Batman), Henry Cavill (Superman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Laurence Fishburne (Perry White), Joaquin Phoenix (Lex Luthor?) and Jason Momoa (Hawkman?) already beefing up the cast. After initial controversy over the casting due to Gadot not having Wonder Woman’s exaggerated size and posture, she said this: “I represent the Wonder Woman of the new world,” she told the Israeli press, “If I really go ‘by the book’, it’d be problematic.”

Batman vs. Superman’s Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot

Finally, we’ve got a huge compilation behind the scenes pics and fresh new stills courtesy of Empire’s new 2014 preview extravaganza. Gone Girl. Directed by David Fincher (The Social Network, Fight Club, Se7en, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and adapted from the Gillian Flynn novel, the crime thriller has built an impressive cast including Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris and Rosamund Pike.

Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl

We move swiftly on to Jamie Foxx as the new Spider-Man villain Electro in Marc Webb’s Marvel sci-fi superhero sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Andrew Garfield, Paul Giamatti, Emma Stone, Sally Field and Dane DeHaan.

Jamie Foxx in The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Another Marvel project but on Disney’s side of things now. It’s Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the second character to be referenced in the title, played by Sebastian Stan, is today’s focus. Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Robert Redford, Samuel L Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Emily Van Camp, Dominic Cooper, Toby Jones, Hayley Attwell and Frank Grillo also star.

Sebastian Stan in Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Legendary British director Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Prometheus, Kingdom of Heaven, American Gangsters, Black Hawk Down) puts his spin on the Bible with epic Exodus. Starring Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Indira Varma, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro and Ben Kingsley. The film seems to be going for huge practical sets as oppose the the more modern, generic use of CG, perhaps in homage to Ben-Hur and Cleopatra.

Christian Bale in Exodus.

Andy Serkis leads the way for the cast of dark fantasy sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as he strides round a picturesque lake in his trademark mo-cap suit, donned by Serkis previously in The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves directs additional cast members such as Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Judy Greer.

Andy Serkis on set of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

We finish with a behind the scenes peaks at X-Men: Days of Future Past, with director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects) hanging out with the 70s mutants, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Michael Fassbender and Hugh Jackman, on a 70s car in front of a suspiciously modern greenscreen.

Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Bryan Singer, Hugh Jackman and Nicholas Hoult on set for X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Batman vs. Superman – July 17th 2015

Gone Girl – October 3rd 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier – March 28th 2014

Exodus – December 12th 2014

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – July 17th 2014

X-Men: Days of Future Past – May 22nd 2014

Ridley Scott on his upcoming projects: Blade Runner 2, Prometheus 2 and The Forever War

Ridley Scott is one of Britain’s most distinguished and successful directors. He’s famed for Gladiator, Blade Runner, American Gangsters, Kingdom of Heaven and Black Hawk Down but he’s seen some of his recent projects slip down in quality; neither Body of Lies and Robin Hood weren’t successful and Alien’s prequel Prometheus wasn’t the one the fans wanted. Upon the release of his new thriller The Counsellor, he’s spoken to Empire about some of his upcoming projects, all of which sound exciting.

“Prometheus 2 is written,” says Scott, it’s not greenlighted but it’s beyond the development thanks to the writing of Jack Paglen. “I have already got the next two films ready to go. That will be 2014, 2015…”

“There is also this very well written piece, one of the last great science-fiction books called The Forever War (Joe Hadleman) – we’ve finally got a very good draft of that for Fox. I thought I’d left science-fiction for too long, that I had better climb back in. Prometheus was a great experience for me. Chasing number two, we can start evolving the grand idea.” One of his most hoped for projects is Blade Runner 2 with Harrison Ford. “Yeah, we’re working on that right now – that will happen sooner or later.”

One of his upcoming projects that wasn’t mentioned is the new biblical epic Exodus which stars Christian Bale as Moses alongside Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley, Aaron Paul and Joel Edgerton, in a story similar to the one told in Charlton Heston’s classic The Ten Commandments.

The Counsellor – November 15th

Exodus – December 18th 2014

The Forever War – 2015?

Prometheus 2 – 2016/17?

Blade Runner 2 – 2016/17?

Tuorhoth’s first predictions for the 2014 Academy Awards

October and November are seeing the releases of some of the huge contenders for the Oscars next year well before award season has begun. We’ve no idea how well any of these films are going to do critically seeing as none of them have actually been released to mainstream audiences. This isn’t an award by award breakdown but we’re giving you a brief guide as to what could be nominated in “the big six” awards at world’s biggest annual movie event. I’m also ranking the potential nominees by their likelihood of winning by colour: red means most likely to win, blue means second most likely and green means I’ve ranked them third.

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett – The Monuments Men

Cameron Diaz – The Counsellor

Julianne Moore – Carrie

Michelle Pfeiffer – The Family

Kristen Wiig – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Benedict Cumberbatch – 12 Years A Slave

Jean Dujardin – The Monuments Men

Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street

Tommy Lee Jones – The Family

Best Leading Actress

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Nicole Kidman – Grace of Monaco

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Chloe Grace Moretz – Carrie

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks

Best Leading Actor

George Clooney – Gravity

Steve Coogan – Philomena

Leonardo di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips or Saving Mr. Banks (undecided)

Ben Stiller – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Best Director

Alfonso Cauron – Gravity

George Clooney – The Monuments Men

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

Ben Stiller – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Best Picture

12 Years A Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

The Counsellor

Gravity

The Monuments Men

Out of the Furnace

Saving Mr. Banks

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Wolf of Wall Street

So, these are my beginning of season suggestions for who will be nominated at this prestigious event. We’re now going to talk through those films and actors that I haven’t included but could be major contenders. There’s a huge cast for The Monuments Men which I haven’t fully gone over. I’ve put George Clooney, who I’ve already selected for Best Director for this film, in for Best Leading Actor for Gravity not The MM but he could easily win for both. Stars of The Monuments Men like Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Hugh Bonneville and Bob Balaban could squeeze into the supporting actor position that I placed Dujardin in. Dujardin is already popular with the academy after his Lead Actor win in 2012 for The Artist and as likely could get a nomination for The Wolf of Wall Street instead of The Monuments Men.

Wolf of Wall Street could do very well. Jonah Hill may seem like a surprise nominee but remember that he got similar recognition at the 2012 Oscars for Moneyball. I’ve only put Nicole Kidman forward for this film but Grace of Monaco is a noteworthy contender for a Best Pic nomination. American Hustle is only in one award on my list but the stellar cast of Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence (whose already in for Hunger Games 2), Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale. I think it will win Best Original Screenplay however.

Other potential nominees are the aforementioned Bale for Out of the Furnace, for which Casey Affleck and Zoe Saldana could also be in contention. Dame Judi Dench could get into the actress categories for Philomena. Robert De Niro stars in both American Hustle and The Family and could crack into the shortlists. Colin Farrel and Paul Giamatti came close to my lists for Saving Mr. Banks. 12 Years A Slave could through in Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano and Quvenzhane Wallis back into the award scene while The Counsellor could do the same for Fassbender, Pitt, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem as well as it’s director Sir Ridley Scott. We can’t rule out other entries like All is Lost with Robert Redford, The Book Thief with Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson or Inside Llewyn Davis (the Coen brothers’ folk tale with Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan). Spike Lee’s mysterious action remake Oldboy could creep in with it’s stars Josh Brolin, Samuel L Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen, Hannah Simone and Sharlto Copley.

It’s not too late to remove this year’s earlier hits like The Great Gatsby (Baz Luhrmann directing Leonardo di Caprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton), Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen directing Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin), Prisoners (Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard and Jake Gyllenhaal in the directing of Denis Villeneuve) and Rush (Ron Howard’s biopic with Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl). Blockbuster action films like the upcoming The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Ender’s Game or 47 Ronin have been known to do well as the Oscars (see The Dark Knight, Inception and a few others) and there’s usually a surprise foreign language film in the mix (like Amour). There’s a whole variety of films that could be next year’s nominees but I think the leaders are: Gravity, Captain Phillips, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Monuments Men and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

Find out more about these films at our Future Films pages for 2013 and 2014.

The 86th Academy Awards will be hosted by Ellen De Generes and will be on ABC on March 2nd 2014

Tell us in the comments who YOU think will win big at the 2014 Oscars.