The 2014 Tuorhoth Awards Nominations

If you’ve been following some of our recent posts, you’ll have picked up that The 2014 Tuorhoth Awards are on their way and today we’re going to announce the nominees. The nominees have been selected by a group of four elite judges. Our aim is to provide a mix of mainstream and arthouse for a honest awards ceremony to celebrate the best in film. The winners will be announced next week.

Best Movie:

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Cloud Atlas

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Kings of Summer

Much Ado About Nothing

Rush

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Thor: The Dark World

Best Leading Actress:

Carey Mulligan – The Great Gatsby

Amy Acker – Much Ado About Nothing

Rinko Kikuchi – Pacific Rim

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Best Leading Actor:

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Idris Elba – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Martin Freeman – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Zachary Quinto – Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Director:

Justin Chadwick – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Ron Howard – Rush

Peter Jackson – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Baz Luhrmann – The Great Gatsby

Best Supporting Actor:

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Moises Arias – The Kings of Summer

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Tom Hiddleston – Thor: The Dark World

Best Supporting Actress:

Doona Bae – Cloud Atlas

Naomi Harris – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Best Comedy:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

The Kings of Summer

Much Ado About Nothing

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Wreck-It Ralph

Best Sci-Fi:

Cloud Atlas

Ender’s Game

Man of Steel

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Fantasy:

47 Ronin

Cloud Atlas

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Thor: The Dark World

The Wolverine

Best Animated Film:

Despicable Me 2

Monsters University

Wreck-It Ralph

Best Drama:

12 Years a Slave

The Great Gatsby

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Rush

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Best Thriller:

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Lone Ranger

Now You See Me

World War Z

Kermode Award for Best Newcomer:

Barkhad Abdi

Moises Arias

Doona Bae

Luke Evans

Lupita Nyong’o

Best Original Song:

Atlas – Coldplay – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Rey – The Great Gatsby

I See Fire – Ed Sheeran – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Ordinary Love – U2 – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Happy – Pharrel Williams – Despicable Me 2

Best Musical Score:

Oz: The Great and Powerful – Danny Elfman

Gravity – Steven Price

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Howard Shore

Cloud Atlas – Tom Tykwer

Man of Steel – Hans Zimmer

Best Special Effects:

Ender’s Game

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Original Screenplay:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa – Armando Ianucci, Steve Coogan

American Hustle – Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell

Gravity – Jonas Cuaron, Alfonso Cuaron

The Kings of Summer – Chris Galletta

Wreck-It Ralph – Jennifer Lee

Best Adapted Screenplay:

12 Years a Slave – John Ridley

Captain Phillips – Billy Ray

Cloud Atlas – Lana Wachowksi, Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer

The Great Gatsby – Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty – Steve Conrad

Are We Crazy? Did we miss out a classic? Tell us your favourite movies from the last year in the comments and get unsung heroic in the soptlight!

The 2014 Academy Awards nominations are in!

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

Best Picture

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

David O’Russell – American Hustle

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Alexander Payne – Nebraska

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay

Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell – American Hustle

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack – Dallas Buyers Club

Spike Jonze – Her

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Billy Ray – Captain Phillips

Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope – Philomena

Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater – Before Midnight

Best Actor

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Matthew MacConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Judi Dench – Philomena

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

June Squibb – Nebraska

Best Animated Film

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Ernest & Celestine

Frozen

The Wind Rises

Best Original Score

Philomena – Alexander Desplat

The Book Thief – John Williams

Gravity – Stephen Price

Saving Mr Banks – Thomas Newman

Her – William Butler, Owen Pallett

Best Original Song

Alone Yet Not Alone – Alone Yet Not Alone

Happy – Despicable Me 2

Let it Go – Frozen

The Moon Song – Her

Ordinary Love – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Best Cinematography

The Grandmaster – Phillipe Le Sourd

Gravity – Emmanuel Lubezki

Inside Llewyn Davis – Bruno Delbonnel

Nebraska – Phedon Papamichael

Prisoners – Roger Deakins

Best Editing

American Hustle

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Best Production Design

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Her

Gravity

The Great Gatsby

Best Costume Design

American Hustle – Michael Wilkinson

The Great Gatsby – Catherine Martin

The Invisible Woman – Michael O’Connor

The Grandmaster – William Chang Suk Ping

12 Years a Slave – Patricia Norris

Best Make-Up

Dallas Buyers Club

Jackass: Bad Grandpa

The Lone Ranger

Best Sound Editing

All is Lost

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Lone Survivor

Best Sound Mixing

Captain Phillips

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Inside Llewyn Davis

Lone Survivor

Best Visual Effects

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Star Trek Into Darkness

The Lone Ranger

Best Foreign Language Film

Broken Circle Breakdown – Belgium

The Great Beauty – Italy

The Hunt – Denmark

The Missing Picture – Cambodia

Omar – Palestine

Best Animated Short

Feral

Get a Horse

Mr Hublot

Possessions

Room on the Broom

Best Documentary

The Act of Killing

Cutie and the Boxer

Dirty Wars

The Square

20 Feet From Stardom

Best Documentary Short

Cavedigger

Facing Fear

Karama Has No Walls

The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life

Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall

Best Live-Action Short

Aquel No Era Yo

Just Before Losing Everything

Helium

Do I Have to Take Care of Everything

The Voorman

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

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

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

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

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

First trailers for The Invisible Woman and I, Frankenstein plus Tarantino’s films of 2013 and new casting for Home

Aaron Eckhart’s upcoming action I, Frankenstein looks like it could be the big dark fantasy of 2014. Stuart Beattie was the writer of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and director of teen adventure Tomorrow, When the War Began and now this effects filled horror. The Frankenstein Monster (Eckhart) is now a 200 year old living in present day hiding under the name of Adam. He’s recruited to end a war between two immortal clans with his surprising superhuman strength and agility. Bill Nighy (Love Actually), Yvonne Strahovski (Dexter), Jai Courtney (A Good Day to Die Hard), Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings) and Caitlin Stasey (Tomorrow, When the War Began) make up the cast for this film and all feature in this new trailer which offers a first glimpse at the film.

Our next trailer is for The Invisible Woman. Ralph Fiennes (Skyfall, Harry Potter, Schindler’s List, The English Patient) stars in and directs the new period drama in which he portrays Charles Dickens in the classic Victorian author’s relatively untold true story. Despite being married and at the height of his career, finds himself obsessed with his younger secret lover Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones). Kristn Scott Thomas (Only God Forgives), Michelle Fairly (Game of Thrones) and Tom Hollander (Rev, Gosford Park) also star.

Moving on, there’s been some new additions to the cast of Home. This Dreamworks (Kung-Fu Panda, Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon animation is about a quirky group of aliens called the Boov landing on Earth to seek refuge from their villainous enemies. Joining three time Emmy award winner Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) and pop star Rihanna (who had brief acting experience in Battleship) are 5 time Golden Globe nominee Steve Martin (The Jerk, Three Amigos) and Jennifer Lopez (Out of Sight)

Finally, we have the Top Ten films of the year so far according to legendary director Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs and many others). The two time Oscar winner has released his expert view on the year’s releases so far and it’s got a good mix of mainstream hits and indie dramas.

1. Afternoon Daylight (Jill Soloway)
2. Before Midnight (Richard Linklater)
3. Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen)
4. The Conjuring (James Wan)
5. Drinking Buddies (Joe Swanberg)
6. Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach)
7. Gravity (Alfonso Cauron)
8. Kick-Ass 2 (Jeff Wadlow)
9. The Lone Ranger (Gore Verbinski)
10. This is the End (Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg)

There’s quite a few surprises in this list. Before Midnight, Blue Jasmine, Frances Ha and Gravity were likely due to their good (excellent, in Gravity’s case) reviews. Drinking Buddies and Afternoon Daylight I haven’t seen but they didn’t seem to be major critical successes with US critics (mainly 3 star reviews) but they seem to have struck a chord with Tarantino. There’s also four massively mainstream releases in the list (which is surprising for the director known for making the kind of action films that flip the genre). Kick-Ass 2 wasn’t a hit with even some of the fans of the first film but the increased violence of the sequel was unlikely to put off the director of Pulp Fiction. The Lone Ranger (which I applauded in my review of Verbinki’s Western) pushed many US critics into the zone of reviewing the film before they’ve seen it but Tarantino’s interest in the Western genre after his huge success with Django Unchained. The most surprising perhaps are This is the End which seemed a just above average comedy and The Conjuring which is a fairly soft-core horror.

The Invisible Woman – February 7th 2014

I, Frankenstein – 24th January 2014

Home – 5th December 2014

The Lone Ranger review

Director: Gore Verbinski

Starring: Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp, Tom Wilkinson, Ruth Wilson, William Fichtner, Helena Bonham Carter, James Badge Dale

There’s no avoiding the fact that reviews and box-office for The Lone Ranger have been horrific. Although it’s now made just over it’s $215 million budget, you can’t call it a success until it’s made double that. Mainly American critics have ranted over and over about Johnny Depps’ latest Western and, while I hugely enjoyed The Lone Ranger, it’s fairly easy to see why.

In 1933, the hundred year old Comanche Tonto (Johhny Depp)  recalls the story of The Lone Ranger that took place in 1869. Violence fearing lawyer, John Reid (Armie Hammer) joins his brother (James Badge Dale) in a group of Texas Rangers that set out to find train robber Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner). A sudden ambush by Cavendish and his gang on the team kills all but one of the loyal members of the group. John joins forces with the mysterious, and possibly crazy, younger Tonto. He takes up the infamous mask and persona of The Lone Ranger and they out to get vengeance against Cavendish and businessman Latham Cole (Tom Wilkinson) who has a greater plot afoot.

The films faults only form a very small list. Many have criticised the running time of 150 minutes but that’s hardly derailed 2 and half hour hits such as The Avengers or Avatar. The key reason, and the answer as to why the films got a much more positive reception out of America, to the critical failure is because it antagonises America’s industrial founders as well as their army leaders so it’s falling short of a patriotic cowboy movie. Other good reasons could be that there’s a lack of interest for the source material seeing as the last theatrically released Lone Ranger films came out well over thirty years ago or that the film’s 2nd most famous star, Helena Bonham Carter, is limited to two scenes, one of which she only has about five lines in. But once your able to forgive the minor problems of Gore Verbinski’s production, it’s easy to enjoy this great romp of an adventure.

Johnny Depp is priceless is his new role. He’s not a convincing American Indian but brings out possibly the best on-screen sidekick for a long time. He almost deserves nominations for facial expressions alone and he delivers every gag with a brilliant straight face. Thankfully his promotion from generic sidekick to a lead of the same importance of the Lone Ranger himself is a huge bonus to the film. Armie Hammer’s Reid’s transition from terrified lawman to best shot in the West is a sudden, unexplained and unjustified but he certainly has bags of charisma. He’s an entertaining screen presence, despite being slightly overshadowed by Depp, and he can certainly act, as he proved in The Social Network. He brings a touch of humour to what could be a extraordinarily bland role.

William Fichtner’s villain, Butch Cavendish, is an excellent one: dark, unforgiving and frighteningly gruesome. At the end of the exhilaratingly tense canyon sequence, the whole audience was shocked at the loss of heart from Dan Reid, Iron Man 3’s James Badge Dale in a disappointingly small role,at Cavendish’s hands, and knife. He’s a potentially iconic villain who’s slightly put to the side for Tom Wilkinson’s fairly generic, rich baddie.

Most of the performances where up to scratch. Ruth Wilson is a great actress despite the unconvincing accent. Same to be said about Helena Bonham Carter, who’s good in a tiny role.

There’s a twenty minute sequence of the film where the  level of excitement severely drops as night falls over the silver mine but every other moment of the film is huge fun. The special effects are top notch at every point, the one exception being John and Silver the horse’s escape from the burning house. The screenwriting trio of Justin Haythe, Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio brilliantly incorporate humour into the action.

It is sad to see Westerns performing so badly at the box-office these days. Cowboys and Aliens had huge stars such as Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig and Sam Rockwell as well as Jon Favreau, Iron Man and Iron Man 2, on directing duties plus a screenplay from Bad Robot regulars Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof but only got $10 million more than it’s $160 million budget. Jonah Hex is another obvious example. Josh Brolin, Megan Fox, John Malkovich, Will Arnett, Wes Bentley and Michael Fassbender all starred and yet $10 million came out of a $47 million budget. But they’re not all complete bombs these days. For every Jonah Hex there’s been a Rango, Gore Verbinski’s animated, bizzare Oscar winning triumph for the genre which grossed $245 million worldwide, or a Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino’s smash hit won 2 Oscars and grossed $424 million despite an unconventional 18 certificate. It’s a shame to see The Lone Ranger added to the pile of box-office bombs but that doesn’t mean there’s not fun to be had here.

The crow on Tonto’s head has to have been one of the best gag providers in recent years. Tonto is one of the key reasons as to why this film is so lovable. The final action sequence is absolutely stunning. As soon as the classic William Tell Overture kicks in, you’ll be grinning from ear to ear as the edge of seat train and brass band related mayhem ensues. The Lone Ranger does a rare thing of giving you a satisfying adventure as well as leaving an expandable story to expand on. I would happily watch a trilogy of Lone Ranger films but the biggest shame of film is that there’s no chance of that happening after the film has so far taken $217 million from a $215 million budget. It’s the 2nd huge budget Disney commercial flop in as many years after last years infamous John Carter. This will unfortunately mean that, due to both Carter and the Ranger being non-sequels from massively successful directors and incredible cast lists, we’ll just be getting franchise continuations from Disney.

I strongly encourage you to see The Lone Ranger for two reasons. 1) I want there to be a sequel. 2) It’s hugely entertaining. Johnny Depp, even if the intimidating shadow of Captain Jack Sparrow is looming over him and director Gore Verbinski, gives one of the most genuinely funny performances of the year. All Hammer, Wilson and Fichtner are excellent as is the film. Great storytelling and imagination and not for that faint of heart.

9/10

(as Silver climbs up a tree) “Something very wrong with that horse”