Fault in Our Stars wins at MTVs, Rebecca Hall joins BFG and Stallone in first still from Creed

BIrdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Birdman, Guardians of the Galaxy and Boyhood were among the most celebrated films of the previous awards season but the MTV Awards have a history of selecting mainstream flicks. Previous films to have been crowned include Terminator 2, A Few Good Men, Scream, There’s Something About Mary, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, Napoleon Dynamite, Wedding Crashers, Transformers, Twilight, The Avengers and The Hunger Games: Caching Fire. Last night’s results are in on the 2015 awards (novelty awards included).

Best Movie:

The Fault in Our Stars
American Sniper
Boyhood
Gone Girl
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Selma
Whiplash

Best Male Performance:

Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Channing Tatum – Foxcatcher
Miles Teller – Whiplash

Best Female Performance:

Shailene Woodley – The Fault in Our Stars
Scarlett Johansson – Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Emma Stone – Birdman
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Breakthrough Performance:

Dylan O’Brien – The Maze Runner
Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
David Oyelowo – Selma
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Best Scared Performance:

Jennifer Lopez – The Boy Next Door
Zack Gildford – The Purge: Anarchy
Dylan O’Brien – The Maze Runner
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Annabelle Wallis – Annabelle

Best On Screen Duo:

Zac Efron & Dave Franco – Bad Neighbours
Bradley Cooper & Vin Diesel – Guardians of the Galaxy
James Franco & Seth Rogen – The Interview
Channing Tatum & Jonah Hill – 22 Jump Street
Shailene Woodley & Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars

Best Shirtless Performance:

Zac Efron – Bad Neighbours
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Channing Tatum – Foxcatcher
Kate Upton – The Other Woman

Best Fight:

Dylan O’Brien vs Will Poulter – The Maze Runner
Chris Evans vs Sebastian Stan – Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Jonah Hill vs Jillian Bell – 22 Jump Street
Edward Norton vs Michael Keaton – Birdman
Seth Rogen vs Zac Efron – Bad Neighbours

Best Kiss:

Ansel Elgort & Shailene Woodley – The Fault in Our Stars
Rose Byrne & Halston Sage – Bad Neighbours
James Franco & Seth Rogen – The Interview
Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone – The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Scarlett Johansson & Chris Evans – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Best WTF Moment:

Seth Rogen & Rose Byrne – Bad Neighbours
Rosario Dawson & Anders Holm – Top Five
Jonah Hill – 22 Jump Street
Jason Sudeikis & Charlie Day – Horrible Bosses 2
Miles Teller – Whpilash

Best Villain:

Meryl Streep – Into the Woods
Jillian Bell – 22 Jump Street
Peter Dinklage – X-Men: Days of Future Past
(Spoilers) – Gone Girl
JK Simmons – Whiplash

Best Musical Moment:

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Seth Rogen & Zac Efron – Bad Neighbours
Miles Teller – Whiplash

Best Comedic Performance:

Channing Tatum – 22 Jump Street
Rose Byrne – Bad Neighbours
Kevin Hart – The Wedding Ringer
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Chris Rock – Top Five

Best On Screen Transformation:

Elizabeth Banks – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Steve Carell – Foxcacher
Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Zoe Saldana – Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Hero:

Dylan O’Brien – The Maze Runner
Shailene Woodley – Insurgent
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Martin Freeman – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy

Trailblazer Award:

Shailene Woodley (The Descendants, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, The Spectacular Now)

Comedic Genius Award:

Kevin Hart (Get Hard, Ride Along, Think Like a Man, The Wedding Ringer)

Generation Award:

Robert Downey Jr (The Avengers, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Sherlock Holmes, Zodiac)

Here’s the winners’ leaderboard:

Bad Neighbours, The Fault in Our Stars, The Maze Runner – 3
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – 2
22 Jump Street, American Sniper, The Boy Next Door, Into the Woods – 1

With various big names already attached to his fantasy adventure The BFG, famed director Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, Lincoln) has enlisted even more cast members for the project. Rebecca Hall, the Golden Globe and BAFTA nominated star of Iron Man 3, The Town, The Prestige and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, was the first major addition in an announcement that included Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows, Flight at the Conchords) and Penelope Wilton (Shaun of the Dead, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). The cast already includes Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall, Bridge of Spies), Bill Hader (Superbad, The Skeleton Twins) and Martin Freeman (Fargo, Sherlock, The Hobbit trilogy).

It’s so far unclear if the new film Creed will be an Oscar favourite or a limp reboot of the lagging Rocky franchise (one that began with a Best Picture win in 1976 steadily declined through four sequels in the 1980s and returned with the minor hit of 2006’s Rocky Balboa). The new addition of the franchise has Michael B Jordan (Chronicle, The Fantastic Four) reteaming with his Fruitvale Station (an acclaimed urban drama) director Ryan Coogler to play Creed’s grandson who recruits Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone – First Blood) as his new mentor to become a new boxing legend. The film’s first still has been revealed. Graham McTavish (The Hobbit, Outlander) and Tessa Thompson (Selma, Dear White People).

Creed – November 25th

The BFG – July 22nd 2016

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?

87th Academy Awards results – Birdman soars! Also wins for Whiplash, Boyhood, Interstellar and Grand Budapest

We, like so many, predicted that Richard Linklater’s loving endeavour of a film would snatch top prize last night but the Broadway-set black comedy depicting a disgraced actors attempted resurgence has caused an unexpected upset. Birdman is this year’s victor, succeeding the recent likes of 12 Years a Slave, Argo, The Artist and The King’s Speech. It received four awards, including Best Picture, Director and Cinematography. Here’s the full winners list.

Best Picture:

Birdman
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best Director:

Alejandro Gonazlez Inarritu – Birdman
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Bennett Miller – Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game

Best Actor:

Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton – Birdman

Best Actress:

Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Supporting Actor:

JK Simmons – Whiplash
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher

Best Supporting Actress:

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Laura Dern – Wild
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

Best Original Screenplay:

Birdman – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
Boyhood – Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher – E Max Frye, Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy

Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Imitation Game – Graham Moore
American Sniper – Jason Dean Hall
Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten
Whiplash – Damien Chazelle

Best Animated Feature Film:

Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Foreign Language Film:

Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines
Timbuktu
Wild Tales

Best Documentary – Feature:

Citizenfour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Best Documentary – Short:

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Cruise
The Reaper
White Earth

Best Live Action Short Film:

The Phone Call
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh

Best Animated Short Film:

Feast
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

Best Original Score:

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game – Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar – Hans Zimmer
Mr Turner – Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything – Johann Johannsson

Best Original Song:

“Glory” – John Legend, Common – Selma
“Everything is Awesome” – The Lonely Island, Tegan and Sara – The Lego Movie
“Grateful” – Dianne Warren – Beyond the Lights
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” – Glen Campbell, Julian Raymond – Glen Campbell: I’ll be Me
“Lost Stars” – Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois – Begin Again

Best Sound Editing:

American Sniper
Birdman
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

Best Sound Mixing:

Whiplash
American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken

Best Production Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr Turner

Best Cinematography:

Birdman (Emmanuel Lubezki)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Robert Yeoman)
Ida (Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski)
Mr Turner (Dick Pope)
Unbroken (Roger Deakins)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Foxcatcher
Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Costume Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr Turner

Best Film Editing:

Whiplash
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game

Best Visual Effects:

Interstellar
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Tonight will be considered a triumph for Birdman, Whiplash and The Grand Budapest Hotel. The team of Boyhood, besides the winning Arquette, may be disappointed with the lack of payoff for their monumental effort. Considering their high amount of nominations, The Imitation Game, Mr Turner, Unbroken and Foxcatcher have suffered a let down. Here’s the winner’s leaderboard:

Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel – 4
Whiplash – 3
American Sniper, Big Hero 6, Boyhood, Citizenfour, Ida, The Imitation Game, Interstellar, Selma, Still Alice, The Theory of Everything – 1

Making predictions for next year, perhaps Spielberg’s thriller St James Place or the Coen Brothers’ Hail Caesar could feature. Inarritu may be at it again with his release The Revenant or Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight may emerge. Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs? David O Russell’s Joy? Bryan Cranston’s Trumbo? Del Toro’s Crimson Peak. We may even give Star Wars: The Force Awakens a shot. We’ll see you next year.

2015 Academy Awards preview

Tonight, questions will be answered. Will American Sniper gun down competition? Will Birdman take flight? Is Boyhood coming of age? Will The Grand Budapest Hotel cater to its awards dreams? Will Imitation Game crack Hollywood? Is Selma marching for the Academy’s vote? Is a breakthrough in store for The Theory of Everything? Is tonight a diagnosis of Whiplash? Besides all male protagonists, what connects these fine films is their involvement in this year’s Academy Awards.

How I Met Your Mother and Gone Girl star Neil Patrick Harris has the answers and will be revealing them soon but for now we’ll be recapping on the most important awards race of the year as the Oscars kick off.

In Best Picture, eight nominees are challenging and we can divide them into two categories. Firstly, the safer bets: Boyhood, a coming of age tale filmed across twelve years, is our shoe in for victory, having been raved since its summer release and picking up top prize at the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes. The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything are both emotional and excellent but may struggle due to their lack of distinguishing from eachother, both depicting Oxbridge-type geniuses and the difficulties of their personal life. Fellow biopic Selma is missed out on all other major categories so we’d doubt its chances here.

Leading the way in the edgier options is Birdman, a tale centred on an egotistical, washed up actor escaping the demons of the Hollywood superhero he once played. It is still trailing Boyhood despite cleaning up at the Indie Spirit and a Globe Comedy/Musical win. Fact based army thriller American Sniper, is the highest grossing of the eight so it may follow the steps of Gravity by retreating to the technical categories. Whimsical comedy caper The Grand Budapest Hotel is greatly popular but has struggled to pose a serious threat while drumming drama Whiplash actually leads on IMDb rankings and is one of the few prolific entries that wasn’t part of some grand Oscar campaign from is inception.

Best Director is a category overshadowed by the controversial snubbing of Selma’s Ava DuVernay, a major oversight for the Academy. From the five white male contenders, the Mexican Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) and Richard Linklater (Boyhood) are going head to head; the latter is tipped to win but Inarritu has the backing of the Director’s Guild. Wes Anderson (Grand Budapest) is still set to miss out on winning his first Oscar and it might be a rough evening for Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher) and thirty year old newcomer Damien Chazelle (Whiplash).

Best Actor has four first time candidates. Bradley Cooper (American Sniper) is on his third consecutive nomination after Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle but there’s an alarming lack of hype surrounding his chances. Despicable Me/Anchorman star Steve Carell‘s transformation in Foxcatcher and Sherlock/Benedict Cumberbatch‘s turn in The Imitation Game have so far found the acceptance podium illusive. It’s between Birdman’s comeback king Michael Keaton and Theory of Everything’s mastermind Eddie Redmayne.

In Actress, former winners Marion Cotillard (Two Days One Night) and Reese Witherspoon (Wild) are proving popular but it’ll be fifth time lucky for Still Alice star Julianne Moore. Brits Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) and Felicity Jones (Theory of Everything) might prove to be dark horses however.

Elsewhere, JK Simmons (Whiplash) and Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) are set to surmount competition from veterans Robert Duvall (The Judge) and Meryl Streep (Into the Woods), Hulk actors Edward Norton (Birdman) and Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher) as well as the likes of Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), Laura Dern (Wild), Emma Stone (Birdman) and Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game).

Here’s a few more faces to look out for tonight:

Interstellar – Original Score, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Production Design, Visual Effects

Foxcatcher – Actor in a Leading Role (Steve Carell), Actor in a Supporting Role (Mark Ruffalo), Directing, Original Screenplay, Makeup and Hairstyling

Nightcrawler – Original Screenplay

Into the Woods – Supporting Actress (Meryl Streep), Costume Design, Production Design

Mr Turner – Cinematography, Costume Design, Original Score, Production Design

Unbroken – Cinematography, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing

Weekend box-office – 21st to 27th of February 2015 – will Fifty Shades whip up a storm?

The novel sensation Fifty Shades of Grey has been rushed into production as a new motion picture which is set to transfer its behemoth popularity into box office success. The controversially graphic romantic drama depicting the antics of an obsessive billionaire and a vulnerable journalist is quickly garnering a critic proof reputation that propelled The Da Vinci Code to stellar financial takings. Last week, we predicted it’d win but challenging it are spy thriller Kingsman: The Secret Service, animation SpongeBob, Oscar favourite American Sniper and the sci-fi action Jupiter Ascending.

US:

1. Fifty Shades of Grey – Director: Sam Taylor Johnson – $85.2 million
2. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – $36.2 million
3. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water – Paul Tibbitt – $31.5 million
4. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood – $16.4 million
5. Jupiter Ascending – The Wachowskis – $9.3 million

UK:

1. Fifty Shades of Grey – Sam Taylor Johnson – £13.6 million
2. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams – £1.8 million
3. Shaun the Sheep: The Movie – Mark Burton, Richard Starzak – £1.7 million
4. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – £1.6 million
5. Jupiter Ascending – The Wachowskis – £0.8 million

Fifty Shades has remarkably storm to success. These results may spell the apocalypse of cinematic integrity but it’s rare to see an 18 certificate film with a female director (Nowhere Boy’s Sam Taylor Johnson) and writers (author EL James and Saving Mr Banks’ Kelly Marcel). In the UK it triumphed with an opening weekend to rival last year’s top hits The Inbetweeners 2 and Transformers: Age of Extinction but we can expect Avengers 2 and Star Wars 7 to smash that record later in the year. The ultraviolent The Secret Service an impressive second place. I’ve scored 8/10 this week.

US:

1. Fifty Shades of Grey – Sam Taylor Johnson
2. Hot Tub Time Machine 2 – Steve Pink
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn
4. SpongeBob The Movie: Sponge Out of Water – Paul Tibbitt
5. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood

UK:

1. Fifty Shades of Grey – Sam Taylor Johnson
2. The Wedding Ringer – Jeremy Garelick
3. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams
4. Shaun the Sheep: The Movie – Mark Burton, Richard Starzak
5. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn

Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan in Fifty Shades of Grey, this week’s US and UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 14th to 20th of January 2015 – will Jupiter ascend to greatness?

Two of this week’s major releases are ones that suffered horrific delays. Off the financial disappointment of Cloud Atlas, The Matrix’s team the Wachowskis had planned the sci-fi action Jupiter Ascending (starring Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum) for July 2014 but fantasy adventure Seventh Son was originally set for February 2013, a full two years ago. Their efforts to get into American screens may be undone by animation The SpongeBob Movie. Last week, we predicted Jupiter would win but let’s see what goes down.

US:

1. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water – Director: Paul Tibbitt – $55.4 million
2. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood – $23.3 million
3. Jupiter Ascending – The Wachowskis – $18.4 million
4. Seventh Son – Sergei Bodrov – $7.2 million
5. Project Almanac – Dean Israelite – $5.2 million

UK:

1. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams – £2.5 million
2. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – £2.2 million
3. Shaun the Sheep Movie – Mark Burton, Richard Starzak – £2.1 million
4. Jupiter Ascending – The Wachowskis – £1.3 million
5. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood – £1 million

SpongeBob (which features Antonio Banderas as a pirate) has experienced a fairly high profile entry while we can best describe Jupiter Ascending’s debut as mediocre at its best. Still, it’s above to complete flop of Seventh Son. In the UK, it faired no better as Disney animation Big Hero 6 held off spy thriller Kingsman: The Secret Service for a second week. This week we’ve scored 1\10.

US:

1. Fifty Shades of Grey – Sam Taylor Johnson
2. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn
3. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water – Paul TibbittK
4. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood
5. Jupiter Ascending – The Wachowskis

UK:

1. Fifty Shades of Grey – Sam Taylor Johnson
2. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn
4. Shaun the Sheep Movie – Mark Burton, Richard Starzak
5. Jupiter Ascending – The Wachowskis

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water, this week’s US number one.

Ryan Potter and Scott Adsit in Big Hero 6, this week’s UK number one.

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

Tuorhoth’s BAFTA 2015 predictions

The King’s Speech, The Artist, Argo, 12 Years a Slave and now who? The countdown begins as our predictions for the 2015 British Academy Film Awards are in. Below you can find our picks from the greatly tightly fought race between Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything. In the acting categories, awards regulars Julianne Moore, Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ralph Fiennes and Amy Adams are going up against new-to-the-scene Michael Keaton, Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Benedict Cumberbatch and Rosamund Pike. For director, newcomer Damien Chazelle may cause an upset for Richard Linklater, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu or Wes Anderson.

Best Film:

1. The Theory of Everything
2. Boyhood
3. The Imitation Game
4. Birdman
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Director

1. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman
2. Richard Linklater – Boyhood
3. James Marsh – The Theory of Everything
4. Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Damien Chazelle – Whiplash

Best Actor:

1. Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
2. Michael Keaton – Birdman
3. Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
4. Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
5. Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Actress:

1. Julianne Moore – Still Alice
2. Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
3. Reese Witherspoon – Wild
4. Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
5. Amy Adams – Big Eyes

Best Supporting Actor:

1. JK Simmons – Whiplash
2. Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
3. Edward Norton – Birdman
4. Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
5. Steve Carell – Foxcatcher

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
2. Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
3. Imelda Staunton – Pride
4. Emma Stone – Birdman
5. Rene Russo – Nightcrawler

Best Original Screenplay:

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

Best Adapted Screenplay:

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

Best Cinematography:

1. Hoyte Van Hoytema – Interstellar
2. Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman
3. Dick Pope – Mr Turner
4. Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski – Ida
5. Robert Yeoman – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Outstanding British Film:

1. Pride
2. The Theory of Everything
3. The Imitation Game
4. Paddington
5. Under the Skin
6. ’71

Best Animated Film:

1. The Lego Movie
2. The Boxtrolls
3. Big Hero 6

EE Rising Star:

1. Jack O’Connell (Starred Up, Unbroken, ’71)
2. Margot Robbie (About Time, The Wolf of Wall Street, Tarzan, Suicide Squad)
3. Gugu Mbatha Raw (Belle, Beyond the Lights, Jupiter Ascending)
4. Miles Teller (Divergent, That Awkward Moment, Two Night Stand, Whiplash, The Fantastic Four)
5. Shailene Woodley (The Descendants, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, White Bird in a Blizzard)

The BAFTAs commence tomorrow.

Weekend box-office – 7th to 13th of January 2015 – will Kingsman be a service to the UK?

Some of the UK’s most influential filmmakers of the past few years include Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Interstellar), Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips, The Bourne Ultimatum) and Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trance) while James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything is flying our flag at the Oscars but today’s focus is on London born Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass, Stardust, Layer Cake) who is releasing the Colin Firth-starring spy thriller Kingsman: The Secret Service this week. It’s a major departure from his more studio-oriented material of late so it’ll be interesting to see how it fares. Meanwhile last week, we predicted that (in the US) American Sniper would keep on top.

US:

1. American Sniper – Director: Clint Eastwood – $30.7 million
2. Project Almanac – Dean Israelite – $8.3 million
3. Paddington – Paul King – $8.3 million
4. Black or White – Mike Bender – $6.2 million
5. The Boy Next Door – Rob Cohen – $6.1 million

UK:

1. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams – £4.3 million
2. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – £4.2 million
3. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood – £1.6 million
4. The Theory of Everything – James Marsh – £1 million
5. Taken 3 – Oliver Megaton – £0.8 million

Kingsman has arrived in second but it’s still a very respectable entry. Disney’s animated superhero adventure Big Hero 6 has beaten it to the post in a very tight competition. While it slipped up in the UK, American Sniper is still reigning in the US for the third week is a row, fending off rivals such as time-travel action Project Almanac and racial drama Black or White. This week I’ve scored 2/10.

US:

1. Jupiter Ascending – The Wachowskis
2. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood
3. The Seventh Son – Sergei Bodrov
4. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water – Paul Tibbitt
5. Paddington – Paul King

UK:

1. The Interview – Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
2. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn
4. Shaun the Sheep Movie – Mark Burton, Richard Starzak
5. Jupiter Ascending – The Wachowskis

Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller in American Sniper, this week’s US number one.

The character of Scott Adsit in Big Hero 6, this week’s UK number one.

Weekend box-office – 31st of January to 6th of February 2015 – Will American Sniper target Boy Next Door?

America’s adoration of its military fuels the success of Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper’s new entry American Sniper. A January smash hit, it ought to prove what a massive year Hollywood have ahead of them. Its $90 million debut will be challenged by three new entries: Lucasfilm animation Strange Magic; Johnny Depp comedy caper Mortdecai; Jennifer Lopez domestic thriller The Boy Next Door. Last week, we predicted that Sniper will hold off competition but they may bomb more than we expected.

US:

1. American Sniper – Director: Clint Eastwood – $64.6 million
2. The Boy Next Door – Rob Cohen – $14.9 million
3. Paddington – Paul King – $12.7 million
4. The Wedding Ringer – Jeremy Garelick – $11.3 million
5. Taken 3 – Oliver Megaton – $7.4 million

UK:

1. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood – £2.5 million
2. Taken 3 – Oliver Megaton – £1.8 million
3. The Theory of Everything – James Marsh – £1.6 million
4. Into the Woods – Rob Marshall – £1.3 million
5. Ex Machina – Alex Garland – £1.1 million

American Sniper is continuing to dominate while artificial intelligence thriller Ex Machina makes a respectful debut. Crashing and burning are Strange Magic and Mortdecai in seventh and ninth places. British adventure Paddington, comedy The Wedding Ringer and action sequel Taken 3. This week I’ve scored 2/10.

US:

1. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood
2. The Boy Next Door – Rob Cohen
3. Project Almanac – Dean Israelite
4. Paddington – Paul King
5. Black or White – Mike Bender

UK:

1. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn
2. Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams
3. American Sniper – Clint Eastwood
4. Taken 3 – Oliver Megaton
5. Trash – Stephen Daldry

Bradley Cooper in American Sniper, this week’s US and UK number one.