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

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

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

Best Film:

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

Best Director:

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

Best Actress:

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

Jameson Best Actor:

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

Best British Film:

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

Best Thriller:

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

Best Comedy:

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

Best Horror:

The Guest
Oculus
The Babadook
Annabelle
Under the Skin

Best Sci-fi/Fantasy:

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

Best Female Newcomer:

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

Best Male Newcomer:

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

Here’s the leaderboard:

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

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

The Avengers: Age of Ultron – April 23rd

Alien 5 – 2017?

68th British Academy Film Awards Live

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

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

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

Here we go!

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

Outstanding British Film:

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

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

Special Visual Effects:

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

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

Supporting Actor:

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

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

Next two British greats award a third.

Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema:

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

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

Supporting Actress:

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

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

Cinematography:

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

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

British Debut:

’71
Northern Soul
Lilting
Kajaki
Pride

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

Best Actress favourite Julianne Moore arrives.

Best Original Screenplay:

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

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

Foreign Language:

Leviathan
The Lunchbox
Two Days, One Night
Ida
Trash

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

Best Adapted Screenplay:

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

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

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

EE Rising Star:

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

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

Brick is back.

Director:

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

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

Leading Actor:

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

Another crossover in the work: Superman V Captain America!

Leading Actress:

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

That was a surprise: Tom Cruise!

Film:

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

Fellowship:

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

Here comes the quickfire awards.

Original Music:

Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Documentary:

Citizenfour

Makeup and Hair:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Production Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

British Short Film:

Boogaloo and Graham

British Short Animation:

The Bigger Picture

Editing:

Whiplash

Sound:

Whiplash

Animated Film:

The Lego Movie

Costume Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

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

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

Edgar Wright reveals his Top Ten of the Year and new images of Vision in Age of Ultron

Critics and fans alike tend to dictate what goes down as the year’s best films; the year’s leaders would have to be Interstellar, Boyhood, Guardians of the Galaxy, Birdman, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Babadook, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Godzilla, The Imitation Game and The Lego Movie. A more interesting pick comes from the filmmakers themselves (Tarantino shocked the world by announcing The Lone Ranger among his) and British director Edgar Wright (The World’s End, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, Shaun of the Dead) has revealed his own top ten. In no particular order, his selection was.

• Boyhood – Director: Richard Linklater – Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke
• The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson – Ralph Fiennes, Adrien Brody, Tony Revolori, Saoirse Ronan, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray
• Birdman – Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zack Galifianakis
• Snowpiercer – Joon-ho Bong – Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris
• Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, David Gyasi, Wes Bentley, Casey Affleck, Mackenzie Foy, Bill Irwin
• Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy – Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmed
• Under the Skin – Jonathan Glazer – Scarlett Johansson
• The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Will Arnett
• Whiplash – Damien Chazelle – Miles Teller, JK Simmons
• Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton

In the mammoth release of the trailer for Firefly, Buffy and Toy Story writer Joss Whedon’s superhero sequel The Avengers: Age of Ultron there wasn’t any look at one of the major characters, Vision (played by A Beautiful Mind’s Paul Bettany). A new image reveals a better look at him than before. Age of Ultron also stars Robert Downey Jr (The Judge), Chris Hemsworth (Rush), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation), Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker), Chris Evans (Snowpiercer), Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Elizabeth Olsen (Godzilla), Aaron Taylor Johnson (Kick-Ass), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Stellan Skarsgard (Pirates of the Caribbean), Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and James Spader (The Blacklist).

The Avengers: Age of Ultron – May 1st

BIFA nominations unveiled and Alan Taylor’s Terminator auditioners announced

Brie Larson is the 24 year old 21 Jump Street and Scott Pilgrim star who’s recently stunned the critics in new drama Short Term 12. Margot Robbie started her career with TV roles on Pan Am and Neighbours but is going big after a role in About Time and soon stars with Leonardo Di Caprio and Matthew McConaughey in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street and is in IMDB’s Top 100 on the Starmeter (ranked 51st currently). Emilia Clarke, Daenerys Targaryen on HBO’s legendary Game of Thrones, is ranked at 44th on that same meter and recently starred with Jude Law in the comedy Dom Hemmingway. It’s announced that they’ll be going head to head for a very important role.

Sarah Connor, the focus of the first two Terminator films, is that role but what we said about going head to head isn’t quite true. The Hollywood Reporter, well, reported that the three stars were under consideration by director Alan Taylor. He’s just released his Marvel epic Thor: The Dark World and is also known for Palookaville. At first glance, Clarke looks like a real contender as she and Taylor will know eachother through their work on Game of Thrones.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is rumoured to be starring in the new reboot of the James Cameron classic but not much more is known. We could guess of a switch of time zone from the most recent instalment, Salvation, seeing as they’ll be casting a young Sarah Connor.

Finally, we’ve find out the nominations for the BIFA, or British Independent Film Awards. They were unveiled via Scot star Ewan MacGregor reading them out. This year, there’s particular focus on Filth, Philomena and Le Week-End. There also appears to be an effort to bring in youth with Scarlett Johansson, Felicity Jones and Saorise Ronan given nods. You can find out who wins on the event itself, December 8th.

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
Metro Manila
Philomena
The Selfish Giant
Starred Up
Le Week-end

BEST DIRECTOR
Jon S Baird, Filth
Clio Barnard, The Selfish Giant
Sean Ellis, Metro Manila
Jonathan Glazer, Under The Skin
David Mackenzie, Starred Up

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR]
Charlie Cattrall, Titus
Tina Gharavi, I Am Nasrine
Jeremy Lovering, In Fear
Omid Nooshin, Last Passenger
Paul Wright, For Those In Peril

BEST SCREENPLAY
Jonathan Asser, Starred Up
Clio Barnard, The Selfish Giant
Steven Knight, Locke
Hanif Kureishi, Le Week-end
Jeff Pope, Steve Coogan, Philomena

BEST ACTRESS
Judi Dench, Philomena
Lindsay Duncan, Le Week-end
Scarlett Johansson, Under The Skin
Felicity Jones, The Invisible Woman
Saoirse Ronan, How I Live Now

BEST ACTOR
Jim Broadbent, Le Week-end
Steve Coogan, Philomena
Tom Hardy, Locke
Jack O’Connell, Starred Up
James McAvoy, Filth

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Siobhan Finneran, The Selfish Giant
Shirley Henderson, Filth
Imogen Poots, The Look Of Love
Kristin Scott Thomas, The Invisible Woman
Mia Wasikowska, The Double

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
John Arcilla, Metro Manila
Rupert Friend, Starred Up
Jeff Goldblum, Le Week-end
Eddie Marsan, Filth
Ben Mendelsohn, Starred Up

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Harley Bird, How I Live Now
Conner Chapman / Shaun Thomas, The Selfish Giant
Caity Lotz, The Machine
Jake Macapagal, Metro Manila
Chloe Pirrie, Shell

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
A Field in England
Filth
Metro Manila
The Selfish Giant
Starred Up

BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Shaheen Baig – Casting, Starred Up
Johnnie Burn – Sound Design, Under The Skin
Amy Hubbard – Casting, The Selfish Giant
Mica Levi – Music, Under The Skin
Justine Wright – Editing,  Locke

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer
The Great Hip Hop Hoax
The Moo Man
The Spirit Of ’45
The Stone Roses: Made Of Stone

BEST BRITISH SHORT
L’Assenza
Dr Easy
Dylan’s Room
Jonah
Z1

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM
Blue Is The Warmest Colour
Blue Jasmine
Frances Ha
The Great Beauty
Wadjda

THE RAINDANCE AWARD
Everyone’s Going To Die
The Machine
The Patrol
Sleeping Dogs
Titus

Terminator – July 1st 2015

British Independent Film Awards – December 8th