BAFTA Nominees unveiled

BAFTA Nominees unveiled

It's that time of year again as the BAFTA nominees are unveiled.

Here's the full list for you to savour, but in case you want highlights, Gravity has 11 nominations, just ahead of 12 Years A Slave and American Hustle with 10 nominations each.

Captain Phillips has nine nominations, while Saving Mr. Banks and Behind The Candelabra each get five. Philomena, Rush and The Wolf Of Wall Street each get four.

BEST FILM
12 Years A Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Gravity
Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom
Philomena
Rush
Saving Mr. Banks
The Selfish Giant

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER 
Colin Carberry (Writer), Glenn Patterson (Writer) Good Vibrations
Kelly Marcel (Writer) Saving Mr. Banks
Kieran Evans (Director/Writer) Kelly + Victor
Paul Wright (Director/Writer), Polly Stokes (Producer) For Those in Peril
Scott Graham (Director/Writer) Shell

DIRECTOR
Steve McQueen - 12 Years A Slave
David O. Russell - American Hustle
Paul Greengrass - Captain Phillips
Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity
Martin Scorsese - The Wolf Of Wall Street

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell - American Hustle
Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine
Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón - Gravity
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen - Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Nelson - Nebraska

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
John Ridley - 12 Years A Slave
Richard LaGravenese - Behind The Candelabra
Billy Ray - Captain Phillips
Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope - Philomena
Terence Winter - The Wolf Of Wall Street

LEADING ACTOR
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Christian Bale - American Hustle
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips

LEADING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - American Hustle
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks
Judi Dench - Philomena
Sandra Bullock - Gravity

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Daniel Bruhl - Rush
Matt Damon - Behind the Candelabra
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Oprah Winfrey - The Butler
Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 
The Act Of Killing
Blue Is The Warmest Colour
The Great Beauty
Metro Manila
Wadjda

DOCUMENTARY
The Act Of Killing
The Armstrong Lie
Blackfish
Tim's Vermeer
We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks

ANIMATED FILM
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
Monsters University

ORIGINAL MUSIC 
12 Years A Slave - Hans Zimmer
The Book Thief - John Williams
Captain Phillips - Henry Jackman
Gravity - Steven Price
Saving Mr. Banks - Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY
12 Years A Slave - Sean Bobbitt
Captain Phillips - Barry Ackroyd
Gravity - Emmanuel Lubezki
Inside Llewyn Davis - Bruno Delbonnel
Nebraska - Phedon Papamichael

EDITING 
12 Years A Slave - Joe Walker
Captain Phillips - Christopher Rouse
Gravity - Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger
Rush - Dan Hanley, Mike Hill
The Wolf Of Wall Street - Thelma Schoonmaker

PRODUCTION DESIGN
12 Years A Slave - Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker
American Hustle - Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
Behind The Candelabra - Howard Cummings
Gravity - Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woodlard
The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn

COSTUME DESIGN
American Hustle - Michael Wilkinson
Behind The Candelabra - Ellen Mirojnick
The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin
The Invisible Woman - Michael O’Connor
Saving Mr. Banks - Daniel Orlandi

MAKE UP & HAIR
American Hustle - Evelyne Noraz, Lori McCoy-Bell
Behind The Candelabra - Kate Biscoe, Marie Larkin
The Butler - Debra Denson, Beverly Jo Pryor, Candace Neal
The Great Gatsby - Maurizio Silvi, Kerry Warn
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug - Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Findlater

SOUND
All Is Lost - Richard Hymns, Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor, Micah Bloomberg, Gillian Arthur
Captain Phillips - Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro, Oliver Tarney 
Gravity - Glenn Freemantle, Skip Lievsay, Christopher Benstead, Niv Adiri, Chris Munro
Inside Llewyn Davis - Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff
RUSH Danny Hambrook, Martin Steyer, Stefan Korte, Markus Stemler, Frank Kruse

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity - Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould, Nikki Penny 
The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug - Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds 
Iron Man 3 - Bryan Grill, Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick 
Pacific Rim - Hal Hickel, John Knoll, Lindy De Quattro, Nigel Sumner 
Star Trek Into Darkness - Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton, Patrick Tubach, Roger Guyett

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
Everything I Can See From Here
I Am Tom Moody
Sleeping With The Fishes

BRITISH SHORT FILM 
Island Queen
Keeping Up With The Joneses
Orbit Ever After
Room 8
Sea View

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
Dane DeHaan
George McKay
Lupita Nyong'o
Will Poulter
Lea Seydoux

Kick Ass 2: DVD Review

Kick Ass 2: DVD Review

Rating:
Released by Universal Home Entertainment

So, here it is then, the film which star Jim Carrey refused to promote due to the violent content and a change of heart in light of the Sandy Hook massacre. It's been three years since the first Kick Ass film swiped its way into the pantheon of comic book R-rated movies - and this latest sees Kick Ass' antics from the first flick inspiring a new wave of costumed, but ordinary, superheroes.

However, for Kick Ass aka Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) himself, life's got rather quiet and humdrum. He's hung up the green and yellow unitard and is concentrating on life as a high school student. Likewise with Chloe Grace Moretz's Hit Girl. She's trying to be part of school and put aside the costumed vigilante, adrenalin filled lifestyle.

But the reality is the pair of them are bored silly with a normal life and crave the ultra violence of the vigilante world.

Hit Girl's determined to stick with the quieter life and deal with Mean Girls style bullies at school, but when Kick Ass meets up with the sadistic ex-Mafia enforcer Colonel Stars and Stripes (an electric Jim Carrey), he becomes part of a team called Justice Forever. Just round the corner though isChristopher Mintz-Plasse's bondage wearing super-villain, The Mother F***er, who's determined to avenge his father's death at the hands of Kick Ass, putting them on a collision course.

Kick Ass 2 is frankly, a disappointment.

After the first skirted extreme violence with satire and added a new element to the comic book genre, this latest does nothing to build on that initial promise and revels in its smackdowns.

Sure, the violence is quite full on and occasionally brutal (though it's no different from the first) but it's not as shocking as it first was and feels rather mundane as it's thrown into the narrative for violence's sake. Likewise, the vicarious thrill of seeing a young girl drop the C-bomb was something quite unheard of until Kick Ass - now, wisely, they don't choose to repeat the same trick but it means that a lot of the swearing feels a bit old hat this time around.

Most of the vigilante gang that Dave joins up with are simply dull - whether that's a comment on everyone wanting to be a superhero, I'm not sure, but they're simply faceless mannequins in spandex and masks. Only an understated Carrey brings something a little different to the dynamic with his pugilist scarred face and buzz cut - though once he chooses to indulge in his violent tendencies, any kind of character development / empathy for this born again Christian crusader goes out of the window. Equally Mintz-Plasse's turn as the fetish-wearing and lisping supervillain falls short of a truly diabolical nemesis and proffers up, quite frankly, a whiny little b*tch bad guy who's throwing tantrums rather than throwing barbs at the good guys.

More interesting is Hit Girl / Mindy McCready's coming of age quest to try and fit in with the perils of high school as she tussles internally with whether to deny her destiny (a key trope of most comic books); but sadly, the pay-off for this is a gag that involves vomit and diarrhea. To her credit, Grace Moretz emerges with credibility in tact here, bringing a turn which soars way above the material.

Most of the film sees the Mother F***er sidelined from taking on his nemesis and simply recruiting misfits to his evil gang - until it all culminates in a final showdown which resembles an over-exuberant and violent cosplay outing at the likes of Comic-Con or Armageddon. As the fight progresses, there are sparks of the darker, slightly nastier edge to the violence and it's close to leaving a sour taste in the mouth.

And that's where Kick Ass 2 becomes a disappointment - it lacks some of the smarts that helped keep the first film on the right side of guilty pleasure and clever subversion of the genre. With a fractured narrative, and with the fact the energy and sense of urgency are all missing from the fight sequences as the gangs take on each other in a particularly costumed showdown a la West Side Story, this sequel fails to match up to - or exceed - the first.

All in all, a group of lads and comic fans will enjoy Kick Ass 2 due to some puerile one liners and moments of vulgarity - but the hedonistic highs of the first are MIA in the sequel.

Rating:

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones: Blu Ray Review

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

This latest young adult novel is the first of a six book series from author Cassandra Clare and was published back in 2007.

City of Bones focuses on Lily Collins' Clary, who has her New York world thrown upside down on her birthday. Not only does her mother disappear but she finds out she is a descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret group who are locked in an eternal battle against demons for the protection of our world.

Clary is forced to join forces with these Shadow Hunters to try and track down her mother and an object of power known as the Mortal Cup - but that places her and her long time friend Simon (Misfits' star Robert Sheehan) in peril by putting them into a world of runes, vampires, werewolves, warlocks, angels and demons - and in the midst of a war, described portentously by one character as "A war that can never be won but always must be fought..."

But it also puts Clary in a position of discovering herself and a new potential love in the form of Jamie Campbell Bower's Jace, a hooded, blonde tousled fighter for the cause.

So, once again the teen / YA / supernatural genre gets another entrant, and once again, all the teen cliches and tropes, poor dialogue, brooding,  love triangle and dodgy acting are present.

I'm not 100% sure that it's the fault of the film that's launching The Mortal Instruments series,particularly if they are following the source material, but the generally cliched tone will mean that it won't appeal to all audiences. At times, it feels like a generic piece, with a lot of familiar elements in place from thousands of films you've seen before. References to Ghostbusters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, an homage to the Exorcist, a Star Wars feel, a kiss in manufactured rain in a greenhouse between Clary and Jace (hello, Nicholas Sparks) and other moments et al - there are plenty of nods to others of its ilk and the end result is that The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones feels like a patchwork quilt of supernatural fantasy elements of the genre and doesn't really have a full identity of its own to stand on its own two feet.

Plot threads are left dangling as well, with two major ones not resolved - though, this, I'm guessing, is intended to ensure future films are made (and is, in my understanding, in keeping with the books) but means it's a frustrating touch for the casual viewer.

In terms of the acting; Collins is okay as the lead - she does the doe-eyed girl in love well, but never quite convinces as the action heroine (though, she's a step up from a few others within her genre); Campbell Bower is a little too wooden and emotionless to feel any real chemistry between him and Collins; Sheehan impresses with some comic relief (though, to be frank, he's playing a lower level version of his Misfits character Nathan) but he's sidelined towards the end.

All in all, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie may well appeal to those teen audiences looking for a new YA fix now that Twilight has departed - but for the rest of the audience, there will be a general rolling of the eyes and a feeling that everything here's been done before. And in some cases, in a better film.

Extras: Behind the scenes pieces, music videos

Rating:

Only God Forgives: Blu Ray Review

Only God Forgives: Blu Ray Review

Rating: R18
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

Ryan Gosling reteams with his Drive director for this new film set in the seedy underworld of Bangkok. Pretty boy Gosling plays a fairly ugly role, as he's Julian, a drug smuggler on the scene who masks his secondary business with a Thai boxing club. But his life's thrown into turmoil when his younger brother murders an underage prostitute.

Because that's when his mother Crystal comes to town - and orders Julian to get vengeance for her, which sets him on a collision course with Vithaya Pansringarm's cop lord, Chang.

Only God Forgives is a detached, emotionless experience and one which is also polarising. Gosling's pretty dead behind the eyes and emotionally blank as Julian and it's hard to really empathise with him as the pressure starts to mount; particularly because there's no real connection to his family's plight due to the repugnant nature of all of them. Most disgusting is Kristin Scott Thomas' towering bullying turn as a mother who pours forth such bile from her mouth that you'll be stunned into submission. When Julian tells her that his brother raped and then murdered an underage girl, her reaction is simply one of "She probably deserved it."

It's shocking in some ways and that's probably what Winding Refn set out to do as the neon-soaked, red lit and blood soaked series of scenes play out. Occasionally bordering on the surreal and almost Lynchian, scenes are artfully set up and beautifully executed but with a minimum of impact thanks to the soulless characters which inhabit the world within.

Vithaya Pansringarm's Chang is a menacing character, thanks largely in part to the calm and silence in which he carries out his role as the angel of death and bringer of retribution. Wielding a samurai sword and executing justice in a very traditional and honoured way, he's quite the character, prone as he is to cutting people's hands off or using skewers to extract the information he needs and then dishing out a karaoke number at the end of it all.

Talking of the violence of the piece, there's been much made of the ultra-violence on display, but to be frank, I wasn't particularly shocked by it. Granted, it's vicious and brutal in parts (Julian is taken down in a boxing ring by Chang in a series of precise blows) but it's because of the real lack of connection to the characters, that you curiously don't feel a thing as their fates and vengeance catch up to them. There's no dispute that Winding Refn's created a hyper-stylised and ultra stylish piece of film-making with slow sweeping shots down long corridors bathed in reds and neons and an impressive soundtrack which showcases the swish of the sword and punctuates the surreal visions which plague Julian.

But if he'd spent a little more time deviating away from the artsy extremes of the cinematic form and concentrated a little more on developing the shades of grey of the main protagonists of the piece, he'd have created something which was stunning.

As it is Only God Forgives lives in a pit of ugliness, and proves to be a frustrating cinematic experience. Divisive and polarising, it's destined to be a staple of film class discussions and could potentially see many cinema goers expecting a repeat of Drive's slickness alienated and stunned.

Extras: Commentary, interviews, behind the scenes

Rating:

Short Term 12: Movie Review

Short Term 12: Movie Review

Cast: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr, Kaitlyn Dever, Keith Stanfield
Director: Destin Cretton

Community star Brie Larson heads up this earnest lo-fi indie about a supervisor at a foster-care facility in America for teenagers.

She plays Grace, the slightly damaged go-to carer for these kids and who's trying to acclimatise one of them Marcus (Stanfield) to life on the outside. At the same time, a new teen Jayden (Denver) comes into the unit and Grace has to cope with a change in her own conditions...

There's an understated warmth to Short Term 12 that's engaging and entertaining - as well as a depth to the performances which is ultimately rewarding. Brie Larson gives a vulnerable yet strong turn as the fragile Grace, whose determination to help those around her almost comes at her own detriment as she juggles several lives at once. While there are some questions about whether Grace, who so clearly has issues of her own, would be running a care facility, Larson does much to assuage those doubts.

But the star is also Cretton who's crafted together something which has moments that shine.

One sequence where Marcus tries out a new rap with one of Grace's co-workers speaks volumes in the 30 seconds he has on screen about the pain and sadness of life before the foster home. Other directors would deliver a heartfelt, yet impassioned speech, but Cretton's simple use of a lingering camera and the actor is quietly impressive and totally emotionally mesmerising.

All in all, Short Term 12 exudes a confidence and empathy which is compelling to watch; it offers an insight into a world which reveals the daily doubts plaguing some of our youths, but also celebrates the daily victories of life in among the quietly authentic moments.

Rating:

Gambit: Blu Ray Review

Gambit: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Entertainment

Remade from the 1966 film of the same name which starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine, Gambit's been languishing in development hell for a while. With various names attached to its screenplay - including Aaron Sorkin - it fell to the Coen Brothers to adapt the story and contemporize it.

Colin Firth stars as Harry Deane, a British art curator, who plots to seek revenge on his media mogul boss, Lord Shabandar (Alan Rickman) by conning him into believing a painting is a Monet and paying millions for it.

However, to do this, Deane needs to enlist the help of a flaky Texan Rodeo queen, PJ Puznowski (Cameron Diaz)....

Gambit is a curiously flat affair, which fails to bring any laughs as it winds out its story.

Despite some Pink Panther-esque opening titles which promise a screwball affair, what transpires is long-winded and weak, with only caricatures to latch onto.

Diaz is all rhinestone, cowboy hat and hillbilly drawl as the Texan cowgirl set as the honey trap in the sting; Rickman is his usual sneering condescending character as he plays the horrible boss toColin Firth's underling, Harry Deane. And Firth himself gives a very muted turn as the browbeaten employee determined to have the last laugh on his boss, and somehow manages to bring to mind a young Michael Caine (possibly in part due to the horn rimmed glasses he wears throughout). Creditable support comes from Courtenay, whose tweed clad Major is a venerable and respectable turn.

The only sequence where the farce really comes to life is a wonderfully sublime and underplayed piece where Dean finds himself needing to escape from a hotel suite and out on the ledge. But even that kind of old school gag is punctuated with a low brow fart gag, leaving all that transpired in its wake. All in all, Gambit lacks any real punch, any smartness of writing and any chance to actually care about the self-obsessed leads of Firth and Rickman. There's no punch the air moment of joy in this one upmanship battle and there are no moments other than the dumb ones which pervade a perfunctory and unexceptional script. Moribund and plodding, and lacking any contemporary resonance (it feels like a film from a bygone era), this "caper" is a real disappointment given the talent attached to it and the fact the Coen Brothers were involved.

Extras: Making of

Rating:

We're The Millers: Blu Ray Review

We're The Millers: Blu Ray Review

Rating: R16
Released by Warner Home Video

Back to the world of the road trip we go with this latest R-rated comedy to hit the multiplexes.

Former Saturday Night Live veteran Jason Sudeikis stars as veteran low-level pot dealer David. Ever since high school, he's been dealing dope and when he's robbed, he finds himself in debt to his dealer Brad (Hangover star Ed Helms). In order to pay off the debt, David's asked to move a "smidge" of weed across the border of Mexico into the USA - but realising that he'd attract the attention of the police, he co-opts himself a fake family from within his building.

There's home alone kid Kenny (Will Poulter), stripper and potential love interest Rose (Jennifer Aniston) and street teen Casey (Emma Roberts) - and so off they go in the RV, on the American vacation and off to make some money.

Inevitably though, it doesn't quite go according to plan....

Road trip comedies are films done to death already.

However, We're The Millers proves to be a relatively entertaining, if occasionally uneven entry, into an already crowded genre.

It succeeds largely on the charm and affability of its leads; Sudeikis and Aniston have good comic chemistry together as the drug dealer and stripper who share a love / hate relationship. Will (Son of Rambow) Poulter gets a good share of the laughs as the slightly dumb, slightly awkward teen and Roberts is perhaps the only one who feels a little underwritten as the "daughter" of the group. Their feeling real makes the family bond work without feeling forced. Of course, all they all want really is a family with each of them lacking it in their lives in some form or other - which is what leads to an inevitably mushy and rather sickly sentimental and utterly predictable ending that sticks in your craw.

The R-rated awkward laughs are sprinkled throughout and Thurber directs them with a taut eye that means they don't feel drawn out and pointless like some other recent entries of a similar ilk. Sure, there's gross out moments and an icky kiss-fest but they're peppered throughout and relatively snappy. It has to be said though that there could potentially be an argument for wanting more laughs or shortening the run time a little.

Much will be made of Aniston's warehouse strip tease in which she grooves and gyrates in the manner of a woman striking a blow in Hollywood for those over 40. Sure, it's a bit saucy but it's also self referential too with Sudeikis looking down the barrel of the camera at that point, rather knowingly. Since Horrible Bosses, Aniston's been determined to permanently bench her good girl image, so this is perhaps another notch in that quest.

Outside of the Millers, most of the other characters are stereotypes - the Mexican drug dealer, the Mexican hoodlum andThe Office and Hangover's Ed Helmsplaying a little OTT as the kingpin but it's due to the grounded characters and warmth of the leads that this doesn't tonally grate too much. Kathryn Hahn andParks and Recreation's Nick Offerman add a bit as a fellow RV family along for the journey too.

All in all, like any road trips, you hit a few speed bumps along the way but the destination is worth taking the journey for. This all sounds like faint praise for the film, and while the story's a little thin and the gags a little blander than what you may be used to, We're The Millers generally succeeds as a piece of throwaway entertainment.

Oh, and don't turn it off too quickly, as there's a gag reel with something very amusing directed at Jennifer Aniston...

Rating: