Bafta Results & Reactions!

So it's 9pm here & I'm settling in to watch the BAFTA's.  There's a 2 hour delay between the actual ceremony & the TV coverage so I had to detach myself from Twitter so that the results will be a lovely surprise.

I apologise in advance for what follows.  This is just what pops into my head as it happens...

The cast of Street Dance opened the show.  Yes this really happened.  Something to do with the awards taking place at the Royal Opera House prompted a ballet/street dance combo.

Jonathan Ross & his ridiculous facial hair cracked some jokes that actually made me laugh. A good comparison between 127 Hours & Mr Potato Head of Toy Story 3 made me giggle more than is probably acceptable.

Paul McCartney was on stage at one point and DIDN'T lead everyone in a rendition of Hey Jude... never thought I'd see the day.

Original Music - The King's Speech - Boo!  I love the film but AR Rahman should have won for 127 hours.

Jesse Eisenberg is very small.

Special Visual Effects - Inception - Woo hoo!  Had to be.

I wonder if James McAvoy would be as adorable without the Scottish accent?

Best Supporting Actress - Helena Bonham-Carter.  I hope she doesn't win the Oscar but it seems right for the BAFTA's. Her acceptance speech was fabulous.  She just seems like an awesome mental lady. Love her.  Also, Miranda Richardson looked pissed!

Outstanding Debut by a British guy doing writey, directory stuff - Chris Morris for 4 Lions. Chris wasn't there which is a shame but not surprising.  I've not seen Four Lions yet which is a problem as I promised my year 9 class I'd watch it this weekend. Just remembered.  Whoops!

Outstanding British Film - The King's Speech.  Of course.  And it deserved to win.  Moving, funny, superbly acted and as British as you can get.

Best Supporting Actor - Geoffrey Rush. He really is brilliant.  Although a little part of me wanted Andrew Garfield to get it.

Oh. My. God. Rosamund Pike & Dominic Cooper totally stuffed up their intro.  Painful.

Best original screenplay - The King's Speech

STEPHEN FRY!!  Thank goodness for that.  Was getting bored.

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema - The Harry Potter Films. Made shed loads of cash, created jobs, stimulated the economy blah, blah, blah.  I love them & I'm not ashamed.  David Heyman is a prat though.

Best Animated Film - Toy Story 3.  I love Toy Story but I really had my fingers crossed for How to Train your Dragon.  Oh well...

I LOVE Tom Ford.

Rising Star - Tom Hardy. Wooh!  Tom wasn't there which is a great shame. Ahem, anyway the other nominees were Gemma Arterton, Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Aaron Johnson. Would've been ok for any of these guys to win - except Arterton of course.  She's pants.

In memoriam - yeah some sad bits. Pete Postlethwaite!  Corey Haim! Sad.

Emma Stone's there with Macauley Culkin!  Eh?!  He's only just broken up with Mila Kunis.  And he's all odd.  Oh well, they might be just friends.
*EDIT* It was Kieran Culkin.  Can't believe I got them confused.  Also can't believe it was my mum who put me right!

Julianne Moore looked beautiful but she seemed mega nervous.

Adapted Screenplay - The Social Network. Yey!  I'm such a Sorkin nerd. And his speech was lovely.

Tilda Swinton is so unbelievably stylish.

Best Director - David Fincher.  Wooh!  Loved The Social Network - plus Andrew Garfield got a moment on stage.

Gerard Butler has mad crazy hair.  But it's lovely to see him speaking like a person with a real accent for a change.

Leading Actress - Natalie Portman. But she wasn't there. Can't argue.  She was ace.

Leading Actor - Colin Firth. Woop!  He's so gentlemanly and British.  Love him. Brilliant speech.

Best Film - The King's Speech. Yeah I know it's not a surprise but it really is a great film.  Big cheers for the UK Film Council too which is interesting as the Government are getting rid of it...

BAFTA Fellowship for Christopher Lee.  He really has aged though.  I know he's like 103 or something but he's starting to look it.  It was a really moving moment.  Lots of shots of crying celebrities.  I joined in.  Lovely way to end though. He's a legend.

The dresses!

Since watching Black Swan Barbara Hershey terrifies me.

Emma Stone was wearing the Lanvin dress I really REALLY want. And she looks great in it.

Thandie Newton never ages.

J.K. Rowling can look a bit librarian and boring but not tonight.  She looks fab!

And Tilda Swinton is just her crazy self. 

There are probably loads more fab (and not so fab) outfits but the photo's haven't appeared yet so this will have to do!

So let me know your thoughts in the comments.  Good decisions, bad decisions, fashion opinions... anything!

Oscar Nominations - My Predictions!

Well the nominations are out so it's time to make some (mostly) unfounded predictions so we can laugh at how many I get wrong in a few weeks.

I actually love the Oscars.  Yes I know they favour a certain 'type' of film. And yes it's a shame Christopher Nolan hasn't been nominated again. And I know comic book/fantasy films are enjoyed by the mainstream but not recognised by the establishment at awards time and that's rubbish.  But I honestly don't think I care that much. I want to watch a bunch of people in nice dresses prentend to have a good time and be happy for each other while they make ridiculous self-important speeches. It's fun! There are some great films, actors, directors and the rest of them nominated this year... and James Franco's presenting, so roll on the 27th February.

Best motion picture of the year

127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
Winter's Bone
True Grit
The Social Network
Toy Story 3

I really think The Social Network will get this one.  I know that the film with the most nominations is usually the favourite in this category but I'm bucking the trend.  It's great to see Toy Story 3 on the list.  I loved 127, Black Swan, Inception and The King's Speech. True Grit hasn't been released in the UK, I think Winter's bone got a tiny release and I can't help but think that The Fighter looks a bit crappy... has anyone seen it?  Leave me a comment and let me know.

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
David O'Russell - The Fighter
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
David Fincher - The Social Network
Joes & Ethan Coen - True Grit

I think it's Fincher's time... He missed out in 2009 with Benjamin Button, the Coens have won loads and I don't think The King's Speech will get many of the big awards. I think I secretly wish Aronofsky would win though, just because his film is so totally mental. But no, it's Fincher's time plus, look at his little face!

I'm gonna stop typing the other nominees now...

Best Actor

Colin Firth.  See that was easy. No point in writing the other guys down bless 'em. Jesse Eisenberg was great, James Franco was awesome and I'm sure the other two were great too but they've no chance.  I really do think Firth deserves it though. Yes he's playing a King with a stutter and a lisp - it's got 'Oscar' written all over it - but he does it brilliantly, never going too far.

Best Actress

Natalie Portman. Another easy one!  It doesn't help that I've not seen any of the other films in this category but Nina Sayers was the role of a lifetime and she didn't waste it.

Best Supporting Actor

Geoffrey Rush - I know the smart money is on Christian Bale for this one but every time I've watched The Fighter's trailer he looks like he's playing 'the wayward brother' stock character in a pretty over-the-top way.  I'd love to be wrong about that though.

Best Supporting Actress

I don't know!  Helena Bonham-Carter won't get it; although she's excellent, she doesn't have too much to do.  I've got to pick though so I'm going with Hailee Steinfeld. She looks like a good little actress, plus she's teeny she's got a chance. Love Amy Adams though.

Best Foriegn Language Film - Biutiful
Best Original Screenplay - The King's Speech

Best Animation

Aaargh!  I LOVE all the Toy Story films so I'm torn but I'm going with How to Train Your Dragon. It's funny, gorgeous too look at and incredibly moving. Pixar have enough already! 

Best Adapted Screenplay - The Social Network (I'm a Sorkin nerd - plus he's the best)
Best Art Direction - Inception
Best Cinematography - Black Swan
Best Sound Mixing - Inception
Best Sound Editing - Inception

Best Original Song - Just tracked these down and had a listen.  The thought of  having to watch Gwyneth Paltrow sing makes me feel a bit ill. I nearly went for the one from Tangled because I've got an irrational love for Mandy Moore but it's got to be We Belong Together from Toy Story 3. Randy Newman's voice makes me happy ok!

Best Original Score - AR Rahman for 127 Hours
Best Costumes -The King's Speech (If Alice in Wonderland gets it I'll be mad)
Best Documentary Feature - Restrepo (not seen it but Kermode says it's good)
Best Film Editing - 127 Hours (maybe??)

Best Animated Short - The Gruffalo!! A little British cartoon featuring the voices of Rob Brydon, James Corden would be pretty funny.  And now that's 3 nominated things with Helena B-C in...

Best Visual Effects - Inception

So that's it. A month till we find out how many I got right.

Apologies if this became less and less coherent towards the end. Do you agree, disagree, think I've gone mental? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Happy New Year!

I know, I know, I've been gone for a really long time.  No excuses, just a gift by way of an apology.

See, that's better! You can't beat a good Inception/Mean Girls combo.
I've made a blog resolution for the New Year - AT LEAST one post per week.  Promise.

So I thought I'd do a mini-recap on 2010 and look forward to the new year a little bit.

Favorite film of the year - The Social Network

I should confess first that I am a bit of an Aaron Sorkin groupie - and that David Fincher's not bad either, so this isn't a very surprising choice. I loved the script (obviously). I loved the momentum of it - you get the sense that in the hands of another creative pair it could have been incredibly boring. But the thing I think I really liked the most were the performances. Jesse Eisenberg's Mark Zuckerberg could just be an unsympathetic arse, but he's not. Andrew Garfield's Eduardo Saverin could be a whiney sore loser, but he's not.  The Winklevoss twins could become the comic relief, but they don't.  It's fab.

Honourable Mentions
Toy Story 3
Inception
Kick Ass

Worst film of the year - Sex and The City 2

This really shouldn't come as a surprise to you if you've read my review here. The first film wasn't great but I was unprepared for the level of awfulness that occurred during what felt like the 7 hour running time. And the most depressing thing is that it made so much money that a 3rd film is inevitable. Great.

Favorite performance - Nicholas Cage in Bad Lieutenant

I really enjoyed this film. Review is here.  It's a pitch black comedy that's just brilliant fun to watch and that's mostly because of Mr Cage. Check out the video below for some of his 'best' moments!



Now let's look ahead to 2011...

Already it's shaping up to be a pretty exciting January.  I've seen 127 Hours and The King's Speech this week (reviews to come!) and with Black Swan and True Grit on the horizon, things are looking good.

The year in which I'm excited about a film featuring an animated lizard

What's not to love about this?



The year in which Andrew Garfield becomes a household name

I saw Andrew Garfield playing Romeo at The Royal Exchange in Manchester in 2005. I was on the front row and he was a pretty shouty Romeo.  Yep, Spiderman once spat on me.  That's a pretty good claim to fame.  He was brilliant and I spent the next few years wondering when he'd appear as I'd told everyone I knew how great he was.  I think he's chosen really good roles, starting small and working up to The Social Network.  Who knows what the new Spiderman film will be like but I'm pretty sure he'll be great in it.

The year in which we worry about Clint Eastwood's sanity...

Clint Eastwood & Matt Damon team up - it's got to be great right?



Erm... maybe not.  What was that?!  Is it a character piece or an action film?  Whatever it is, that trailer is terrible!  Here's hoping it's just some unfortunate editing...

The year in which Harry Potter ends

Ending the post on a sombre note... Harry!  Sob!  I make no apologies for how dramatic I seem here.  It's the end.  And that is pretty sad. The only thing sadder is if the end turns out to be a little bit rubbish.  But that can't happen right?  It's going to be the best film ever right? Oh god.

What films are you most excited for in 2011?