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

The Imitation Game review

Director: Morten Tyldum
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Allen Leech, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance, Matthew Beard, Rory Kinnear, Mark Strong, Alex Lawther, Jack Bannon

Awards season goldmines are often the unknown true stories that suspend the audience’s belief. 12 Years’ Oscars triumph proved that but The Imitation Game’s predicament is that, not only are the stories of the Bletchley codebreakers frequently told, Turing’s own life is well documented on TV (by Derek Jacobi) and on stage. Is the established story still going to be relevant?

Upon his dubious arrest and interrogation in the 1950s, mathematician Alan Turing (Cumberbatch) recalls both his tormenting childhood and codebreaking days at Bletchley during World War II, hoping to crack the unbreakable code that the Germans use for every transmission. Winning the war and saving the world, Turing’s own personal secrets may be the downfall of his career in the secret service.

2013’s Captain Phillips may have proved that even a well publicised story, when its true events unfurl, can still be as engaging as the rest. Sadly, The Imitation Game is plagued by the odd inconsistent scene that knocks it back a peg. In the second of the three time settings, the film ought to make far more use of the potentially gripping race-against-time elements of attempting to beat Enigma but cutting off to picnics and bar-frequenting in the midst of it kicks out any possibility of tension building.

The shear human enormity of the story is still enough to entice though. It excellently capitalises on the horrific, savage injustice of Turing’s persecution. His sexuality, and its outlawing, enforce on him a clandestine and almost reclusive life. What Cumberbatch’s stunning performance best captures is the anti social and almost unlikeable elements of Turing’s personality, however courageous, but this also highlights the obvious typecasting of the Sherlock star.

He particularly shines in the scenes of Alan’s awkwardness and general obnoxious mistreatment toward his team of colleagues, hinting a connection to a condition such as Asberger’s, but they clash frustratingly with other moments. Screenwriter Graham Moore’s studious work runs dry as Alan somehow tunes in to the sub-text of conversations, a near improbable task for someone of that mind. Also the attempts of incorporating secrecy and espionage into the military intelligence’s involvement somehow devolves into childish “I’ll won’t tell if you don’t” demands and going behind backs to tell on the teacher.

Norwegian Morten Tyldum, who last helmed the thriller Headhunters, is the director of this biopic. His visual tone follows the traditional period-drama formula but maintains a meticulous style and elegance throughout. He especially gets to flex his artistic muscles when the story flickers off to the bloodbath of the war (happening concurrently with the main events) with some glorious effects shots.

The switches between each setting were fairly clunkily handled: “Popular at school, were you?” Cue flashback to Turing at school. Further disappointing was the lack of focus on Turing’s own intellect. The development of his beloved machine is non-existent: he appeals for for the money and it suddenly appears.

While Cumberbatch is outstanding, he isn’t alone in this fine ensemble. Keira Knightley, still meddling in her usual posh-girl demeanour, may not bring anything new but is still impressive. The back and forth of Cumberbatch and Charles Dance’s uptight commander is a delight while Downton Abbey’s Allen Leech, Southcliffe’s Rory Kinnear and Stoker’s Matthew Goode make good use of the roles supplied. Now venerable actor Mark Strong’s almost cameo like appearance is outshone by newcomer Alex Lawther as the young Turing who harbours love for his classmate and only friend, the doomed but tragically influential Christopher.

Again, the increasingly fictionalised elements of the plot are the major letdown. Events such as the team not revealing that they’ve cracked the code or the discovery of a mole would have taken place but their oddly condensed into some annoyingly implausible sequences. Still the might of Tyldum, Moore, music maestro Alexandre Desplat and Cumberbatch’s best performance to date create a truly worthy Oscar contender.

8/10

“Sometimes it is the people nobody imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine.”

Boyhood, Still Alice and Birdman triumph at 2015 Golden Globes

The first of the three major awards ceremonies dished out its accolades at last nights Golden Globes. So far Boyhood, Birdman, The Imitation Game, Gone Girl and The Grand Budapest Hotel seemed to be leading the way but this’ll set the town for the rest of the awards season to come.

Best Motion Picture – Drama:

Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical:

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Birdman
Pride
St Vincent
Into the Woods

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama:

Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
David Oyelowo – Selma

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama:

Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Jennifer Aniston – Cake
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy:

Michael Keaton – Birdman
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Bill Murray – St Vincent
Joaquin Phoenix – Inherent Vice
Christoph Waltz – Big Eyes

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy:

Amy Adams – Big Eyes
Emily Blunt – Into the Woods
Helen Mirren – The Hundred-Foot Journey
Julianne Moore – Maps to the Stars
Quvenzhane Wallis – Annie

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture:

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

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture:

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods
Emma Stone – Birdman

Best Director – Motion Picture:

Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay – Selma
David Fincher – Gone Girl
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture:

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaries, Armando Bo – Birdman
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Graham Moore – The Imitation Game

Best Original Score – Motion Picture:

Johann Johannsson – The Theory of Everything
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Trent Reznor – Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez – Birdman
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar

Best Original Song – Motion Picture:

John Legend/Common, “Glory” – Selma
Lana Del Rey, “Big Eyes” – Big Eyes
Patti Smith/Leonard Kaye, “Mercy Is” – Noah
Greg Kurstin/Sia Furler/Will Gluck, “Oppurtunity” – Annie
Lorde, “Yellow Flicker Beat” – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

Best Animated Feature Film:

How to Train Your Dragon 2
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Lego Movie
The Boxtrolls

Best Foreign Language Film:

Leviathan
Force Majeure
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem
Ida
Tangerines

Boyhood’s victory, as well as Linklater, Keaton, Adams, Simmons and Arquette’s wins, was easily predictable but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any surprises. Three of the four leading categories were wide open an last night put Eddie Redmayne, Julianne Moore and Amy Adams into the lead. Wes Anderson’s whimsical caper The Grand Budapest Hotel toppled dark comedy Birdman in the Comedy/Musical category but Inarritu’s film bounced back for Screenplay. The night’s biggest loser is The Imitation Game, hotly tipped with five noms but not a single win.

Here’s the winner’s list in full:

Boyhood – 3
Birdman, The Theory of Everything – 2
Big Eyes, The Grand Budapest Hotel, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Leviathan, Selma, Still Alice, Whiplash – 1

In TV, the likes of Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, True Detective and The Missing lost out to Fargo, Transparent, The Honourable Woman, House of Cards and The Affair.

You can find our official Oscar predictions (first nominees, then winners) here very soon.

Selma, Pride and Grand Budapest Hotel surprise at Golden Globe nominations

The first of the three truly major awards ceremonies, the other two being the BAFTAs and the Oscars, has at last pushed its cards from its chest. Unsurprisingly, the likes of Boyhood, Birdman, Foxcatcher, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game and The Grand Budapest Hotel feature prolifically but there’s a few unexpected mentions for the films Selma, Pride, Annie, St Vincent, Nightcrawler and Into the Woods and the stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Bill Murray, Naomi Watts, Jennifer Aniston and Meryl Streep. A phenomenal nine Brits have cropped up in the acting nominations (Benedict Cumberbatch, David Oyelowo, Eddie Redmayne, Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, Rosamund Pike, Emily Blunt, Keira Knightley and Helen Mirren). Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host the ceremony next Spring.

Best Picture – Drama:

Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything

Best Picture – Musical or Comedy:

Birdman
Into the Woods
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Pride
St Vincent

Best Director:

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay – Selma
David Fincher – Gone Girl
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor – Drama:

Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
David Oyelowo – Selma
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Best Actress – Drama:

Jennifer Aniston – Cake
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Actor – Musical or Comedy:

Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Bill Murray – St Vincent
Joaquin Phoenix – Inherent Vice
Christoph Waltz – Big Eyes

Best Actress: Musical or Comedy:

Amy Adams – Big Eyes
Emily Blunt – Into the Woods
Helen Mirren – The Hundred-Foot Journey
Julianne Moore – Maps to the Stars
Quvenzhane Wallis – Annie

Best Supporting Actor:

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

Best Supporting Actress:

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

Best Screenplay:

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl
Alejendro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Graham Moore – The Imitation Game

Best Original Score:

Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson – The Theory of Everything
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez – Birdman
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar

Best Original Song:

Big Eyes – Big Eyes – Lana Del Rey
Glory – Selma – John Legend, Common
Mercy Is – Noah – Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye
Opportunity – Annie – Greg Kurstin, Sia Furler, Will Gluck
Yellow Flicker Beat – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Lorde

Best Foreign Language Film:

Force Majeure
Gett: The Trial of Vivianne Amsalem
Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines

Best Animated Feature:

Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie

Here’s the list of the biggest nomination holders:

Birdman – 7
Boyhood – 5
The Imitation Game – 5
Gone Girl – 4
The Grand Budapest Hotel – 4
Selma – 4
The Theory of Everything – 4
Big Eyes – 3
Into the Woods – 3
St Vincent – 3
Foxcatcher – 3