Tag Archives: Nightcrawler

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

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.

Tuorhoth’s Oscars 2015 Predictions

The Lego Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, Under the Skin, The Babadook and Edge of Tomorrow were among some of 2014’s most popular releases but, with the BAFTA nominations and Golden Globe results announced, we’re now poised to make our official Oscar predictions. The nominations themselves will be announced in a week’s time so we’ll be predicting the winners then. They are as follows:

Best Picture:

Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

and if there’s ten

Interstellar

Best Director:

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman
Christopher NolanInterstellar
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Actor:

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

Best Actress:

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

Best Supporting Actor:

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

Best Supporting Actress:

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

Best Original Screenplay:

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

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Jason Dean Hall – American Sniper
E Max Frye, Dan Futterman – Foxcatcher
Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl
James Gunn, Nicole Perlman – Guardians of the Galaxy
Graham Moore – The Imitation Game

Best Animated Film:

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

Best Original Score:

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

Best Cinematography:

Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman
Jeff Cronenweth – Gone Girl
Robert Yeoman – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Hoyte Van Hoytema – Interstellar
Dick Pope – Mr Turner

Best Visual Effects:

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Godzilla
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar

The announcement of the nominations should see Boyhood, Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Gone Girl, Foxcatcher, The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything thrive but Big Eyes, A Most Violent Year, Mr Turner, Into the Woods, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Cake and American Sniper.

Boyhood, Still Alice and Birdman triumph at 2015 Golden Globes

Boyhood winning at The Golden Globes 2015

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.

Wyatt, Tyldum, Lin and Duncan Jones in consideration for Star Trek 3 and Mr Turner leads London Critics

Departing to the new Star Wars trilogy, JJ Abrams’ sterling work on the Star Trek reboot series was always going to be hard to replace but the removal of esteemed writer Roberto Orci from the bridge proved the extremity of the task. Next Generation star and writer Jonathan Frakes has been lobbying for the job but those mentioned here are the most likely to succeed Abrams for Paramount’s so far untitled production.

On the shortlist are Rupert Wyatt, Daniel Espinosa, Justin Lin, Morten Tyldum and Duncan Jones. These five can easily be categorised into two camps: Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Gambler) and Jones (Source Code, Moon) are representing the sci-fi credentials while Lin (Fast and Furious 5/6) and Daniel Espinosa (Child 44, Safe House) are the action veterans in consideration. Morten Tyldum is an interesting contender. The Norwegian’s roots are with thrillers such as the greatly lauded Headhunters but is gaining acclaim for wartime drama and multi-Golden Globe nominee The Imitation Game.

In terms of who’s likely to get the job, the BAFTA winning Duncan Jones has already ruled himself out. Wyatt is sworn off the traditional blockbuster format and Lin is preoccupied with the next Bourne instalment. Tyldum appears to be embarking on a path to future Oscar glory and perhaps not the Final Frontier and I’m not sure Espinosa’s nuts-and-bolts style suits Star Trek’s uber stylish mould. The cast is yet to have been confirmed but we can expect to see Chris Pine (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Into the Woods), Karl Urban (Dredd, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers), Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy, Out of the Furnace, Avatar), Zachary Quinto (Margin Call, Heroes), Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Mission: Impossible), Anton Yelchin (Fright Night, Like Crazy) and John Cho (Sleepy Hollow, American Beauty).

Timothy Spall in Mr Turner

Pride was the most obvious leader at the British Independent Film Awards but the London Critics Circle has selected the artistic biopic Mr Turner as its front runner in their own ceremony. It’s followed by the American releases of black comedy Birdman, dark thriller Nightcrawler, intense drumming story Whiplash, whimsical caper The Grand Budapest Hotel and coming of age drama Boyhood as well as the foreign language efforts Ida and Leviathan. Still the homegrown productions of Mr Turner, paranormal mystery Under the Skin and Steven Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything. Here’s the nominations in full.

Film of the Year:

Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Leviathan
Mr Turner
Nightcrawler
The Theory of Everything
Under the Skin
Whiplash

Foreign Language Film of the Year:

Ida
Leviathan
Norte, The End of History
Two Days, One Night
Winter Sleep

British Film of the Year:

The Imitation Game
Mr Turner
Pride
The Theory of Everything
Under the Skin

Documentary of the Year:

20,000 Days on Earth
Citizenfour
Manakamana
Next Goal Wins
Night Will Fall

Actor of the Year:

Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Timothy Spall – Mr Turner

Actress of the Year:

Marion Cotillard – Two Days One Night
Essie Davis – The Babadook
Scarlett Johansson – Under the Skin
Julianne Moore – Maps to the Stars, Still Alice

Supporting Actor of the Year:

Riz Ahmed – Nightcrawler
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
JK Simmons – Whiplash

Supporting Actress of the Year:

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Marion Bailey – Mr Turner
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Agata Kulesza – Ida
Emma Stone – Birdman

British Actor of the Year:

Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Tom Hardy – Locke, The Drop
Jack O’Connell – Starred Up, ’71, Unbroken
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Timothy Spall – Mr Turner

British Actress of the Year:

Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow, Into the Woods
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game, Begin Again, Say When
Gugu Mbatha Raw – Belle
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl, What We Did On Our Holiday

Young British Performer of the Year:

Daniel Huttlestone – Into the Woods
Alex Lawther – The Imitation Game
Corey McKinley – ’71
Will Poulter – The Maze Runner, Plastic
Saoirse Ronan – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Director of the Year:

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jonathan Glazer – Under the Skin
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
Mike Leigh – Mr Turner

Screenwriter of the Year:

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

Breakthrough British Filmmaker:

Hossein Amini – The Two Faces of January
Elaine Constantine – Northern Soul
Yann Demange – ’71
Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard – 20,000 Days on Earth
James Kent – Testament of Youth

Technical Achievement Award:

’71
Birdman
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Leviathan
Mr Turner
A Most Violent Year
Under the Skin
Whiplash

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

Keaton, Gyllenhaal, Carell, Cumberbatch, Pike and Witherspoon nominated at SAGs and first trailer for Pixar’s Inside Out

We’ve given a lot of awards coverage lately, the likes of Birdman, Gone Girl, Interstellar, Inherent Vice, The Imitation Game and Boyhhod are leading the Best Picture race, but the Screen Actor’s Guild has the intriguing premise of only awarding acting accomplishments. The likes of Foxcatcher and The Grand Budapest Hotel lead the way while there’s some interesting surprise mentions for Jake Gyllenhaal for the thriller Nightcrawler, Jennifer Aniston for the drama Cake, Robert Duvall for The Judge, Meryl Streep for the fantasy musical Into the Woods and Naomi Watts for Bill Murray’s light comedy St Vincent. The lack of a mention for Interstellar, Unbroken, Selma and American Sniper, other favourites, is slightly worrying. These are the nominations in full.

Best Leading Actor:

Steve Carell – Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Best Leading Actress:

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

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
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods
Naomi Watts – St Vincent

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:

Birdman
Zach Galifianakis, Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts

Boyhood
Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater

The Grand Budapest Hotel
F Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Ralph Fiennes, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Tony Revolori, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, Lea Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Owen Wilson

The Imitation Game
Matthew Beard, Benedict Cumberbatch, Charles Dance, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Keira Kinghtley, Allen Leech, Mark Strong

The Theory of Everything
Charlie Cox, Felicity Jones, Simon McBurney, Eddie Redmayne, David Thewlis, Emily Watson

Pixar are the masterful company behind Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille and the Toy Story trilogy but they’ve somewhat slumped in recent years. They were on a high with a triple bill of joyous masterpieces, Wall-E (2008), Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010), but Cars 2 crashed and burned critically. Brave was a solid instalment and Monsters University had the odd nice moments but the latter was far too generic to be comparable to their earlier greats. Their newly planned pictures include two dreaded sequels (Finding Dory and Toy Story 4) and a dinosaur tale in production disarray.

Above is the trailer for Pixar’s most promising new outing, an adventure delving into the mind and the emotions of a young girl. This preview is certainly entertaining and has the fun focussed feel of some of their earlier work but the animation quality itself seems far lower than some of their more technically and visually astonishing work. Peter Docter (Up) directs the cast of Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation), Bill Hader (The Skeleton Twins), Mindy Kaling (The Office), Lewis Black (Hannah and Her Sisters), Kyle MacLachan (Twin Peaks) and Diane Lane (Man of Steel).

Inside Out – July 24th 2015

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

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

Best Picture:

Boyhood

Best Director:

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor:

Tom Hardy – Locke

Best Actress:

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Best Supporting Actor:

JK Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress:

Agata Kulesza – Ida

Best Screenplay:

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Foreign Language Film:

Ida

Best Documentary:

Citizenfour

Best Cinematography:

Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman

Best Animation:

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Editing:

Sandra Adair – Boyhood

Best New Filmmaker:

Ava DuVernay – Selma

And in Boston:

Best Picture:

Boyhood

Best Director:

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor:

Michael Keaton – Birdman

Best Actress:

Marion Cotillard – Two Days One Night

Best Supporting Actor:

JK Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress:

Emma Stone – Birdman

Best Ensemble Cast:

Boyhood

Best Screenplay (tie):

Birdman/Boyhood

Best Documentary:

Citizenfour

Best Animation:

The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Foreign Language Film:

Two Days One Night

Best Editing:

Sandra Adair – Boyhood

Best Cinematography:

Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman

Best New Filmmaker:

Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler

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

Best British Independent Film:

Pride

Best Director:

Yann Demange – ’71

Best Actress:

Gugu Mbatha Raw – Belle

Best Actor:

Brendan Gleeson – Calvary

Best Supporting Actress:

Imelda Staunton – Pride

Best Supporting Actor:

Andrew Scott – Pride

Best Screenplay:

Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan – Frank

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director):

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

Best Documentary:

Next Goal Wins

Best International Independent Film:

Boyhood

The Raindance Award:

Luna

The Richard Harris Award:

Emma Thompson

The Variety Award:

Benedict Cumberbatch

peter jackson weaving mckellen the hobbit Ready Player One Director Shortlist Includes Peter Jackson, Edgar Wright & More

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

Ready Player One – 2017?