BAFTA, Hopes and Predictions 2015

The British Academy Film Awards will be awarded on Sunday.  Here are my predictions along with what I would like to see win in the major categories:

Best Film

• My Choice: Boyhood
• Prediction: Boyhood
• Other nominations: The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Theory of Everything, Birdman, The Imitation Game

 

David Lean Award for Direction

• My Choice: Richard Linklater for Boyhood
• Prediction: Richard Linklater for Boyhood
• Other nominations: Alejandro González Iñárritu for Birdman, Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Damien Chazelle for Whiplash, James Marsh for The Theory of Everything:

 

Best Leading Actor

• My choice:  Ralph Fiennes for The Grand Budapest Hotel
• Prediction:  Michael Keaton for Birdman
• Other nominations: Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game, Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything, Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightcrawler.

 

Best Leading Actress

• My Choice: Reese Witherspoon for Wild (I haven’t seen still Alice)
• Prediction: Julianne Moore for Still Alice
• Other nominations: Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl, Felicity Jones for The Theory of Everything, Amy Adams for Big Eyes.

 

Best Supporting Actor

• My Choice: J.K. Simmons for Whiplash
• Prediction: J.K. Simmons for Whiplash
• Other nominations: Mark Ruffalo for Foxcatcher, Ethan Hawke for Boyhood, Edward Norton for Birdman, Steve Carell for Foxcatcher.

 

Best Supporting Actress

• My Choice: Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
• Prediction: Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
• Other nominations: Keira Knightley for The Imitation Game, Emma Stone for Birdman, Imelda Staunton for Pride, Rene Russo for Nightcrawler.

 

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

• My choice: Stephen Beresford & David Livingstone for Pride (I haven’t seen Kajaki but have heard great things about it)
• Prediction: Stephen Beresford & David Livingstone for Pride
• Other nominations: Elaine Constantine for Northern Soul, Yann Demange &Gregory Burke for ’71, Hong Khaou for Lilting, Paul Katis & Andrew de Lotbiniere for Kajaki.

 

Best Original Screenplay

• My Choice: Richard Linklater for Boyhood
• Prediction: Richard Linklater for Boyhood
• Other nominations: Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Damien Chazelle for Whiplash, Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo for Birdman.

 

Best Screenplay (Adapted)

• My Choice: Gillian Flynn for Gone Girl
• Prediction:  Graham Moore for The Imitation Game
• Other nominations: Jason Hall for American Sniper, Graham Moore for The Imitation Game, Anthony McCarten for The Theory of Everything, Paul King for Paddington

 

Best Cinematography

• My Choice: Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman
• Prediction: Dick Pope for Mr. Turner
• Other nominations: Hoyte Van Hoytema for Interstellar, Robert D. Yeoman for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Ryszard Lenczewski for Ida: Lukasz Zal,

 

Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film

• My Choice: Pride or Under the Skin
• Prediction: Paddington
• Other nominations: ’71, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything

 

EE Rising Star Award

• My Choice: Jack O’Connell
• Prediction: Shailene Woodley
• Other nominations: Miles Teller, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Margot Robbie

 

Best Film Not in the English Language

• Unfortunately, being the only one shown at my local cinema Trash is the only film I have seen so have no opinion on this category.  The nominations are: Ida, The Lunchbox, Two Days, One Night, Leviathan, Trash.

 

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A to Z of 2014

A – Avengers: Captain America: The Winter Soldier set the Avengers franchise in a new direction and Marvel announced phase Three schedule covering films up to 2019.

B  – Boyhood: What could have been a gimmick turned out to be the best film of the year.

C – Nick Cave: 20,000 Days on Earth was neither documentary or a narrative film, but was one of the best movies of the year.

D – Doug Liman: Edge of Tomorrow was the enigma of 2014.  The Doug Liman directed movie received solid reviews and great word of mouth but underperformed at the box-office.

E – Egypt & Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott’s biblical epic was released on Boxing Day in the UK and few weeks earlier in some countries.  The film has been banned in Egypt as the courtiers censors are unhappy with “historical inaccuracies”.

F – Fincher & Flynn: Director David Fincher turned Gillian Flynn’s bestselling Novel Gone Girl into an excellent movie.

G – Guardians of the Galaxy –  Made up of a cast of largely unknown characters, it was considered a risk for the franchise.  Not only was the film great fun but was the Highest grossing film at the US box-office (and 2nd highest worldwide) for the year.

H – The Hobbit: After more than 20 hours screen time, The Battle of the Five Armies brings Peter Jackson’s time in Middle Earth to an end.

I – The Interview:  The release for the movie The interview was cancelled following threats from hackers.  Barack Obama and George Clooney joined the debate and the film received a limited Christmas day release earning $1million from 331 scenes in independent theatres.

J – Jennifer Lawrence: With an Oscar win and two other nominations as well as a starring role in two of the biggest movie franchises, Jennifer Lawrence is probably the biggest young star in Hollywood.  She was also the most outspoken victim of hackers who stole nude images and posted them online.

K – Kickstarter: the big names to come from kickstarter in 2014 were the Veronica Mars movie and Zach Braff’s ;Wish I Was Here.  Blue Ruin and Obvious Child also raised a little to help get them released.

L – Luc Besson & Lucy: After numerous movies with his name attached as a writer or producer Besson is back in the director’s chair with the surprise hit Lucy.  Making back its $40million budget back in its opening weekend.

M – McConaissance: Matthew McConaughey’s resurgence was completed with a best actor Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club.

N – Nightcrawler: Jake Gyllenhaal gives the performance of his career in Dan Gilroy’s feature debut.

O– Oprah Winfrey: as well as producing two movies: Selma and The Hundred-Foot Journey Winfrey proved her Hollywood power by lending her support to the independent British film Belle.

P – Paddington: What could have been a disaster turned out to be charming and funny.

Q – Quvenzhané Wallis: The young star of Beasts of the Southern Wild retuned with a small part in 12 Years a Slave and starring role in the remake of Annie.

R – The Rover: After his début feature, Animal Kingdom in 2010 David Michôd is back with The Rover, a movie full of subtext, foreboding and great acting from Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson and Scoot McNairy. 

S – Scarlett Johansson: It’s been a busy year for Johansson with the UK release of: Her, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Chef, Under the Skin and the surprise hit of the year Lucy.

T – Alan Turing: The imitation Game finally told the long overdue story of war hero and farther of computing, Alan Turing.

U – Unreleased: A region 2 DVD of Snowpiercer is available from a well know online retailer but the film is still yet to receive a UK release.

V – Vampire: Forget Twilight, with Only Lovers Left Alive and What We Do in the Shadows there are two original ideas to kick-start the genre.

W – Mia Wasikowska: After appearing in Stoker my favourite film of 2013 Mia Wasikowska is rapidly becoming one of my favourite actresses with appearances in Maps to the Stars, The Double, Only Lovers Left Alive and Tracks in 2014.

X – X-Men: Days of Future Past: Bryan Singer returned to the X-Men franchise with a seminal story form the 80’s. It beat Captain America: The Winter Soldier at the world box-office, dragging the franchise from the shadow of Marvel Studios.

Y – 12 Years A Slave: Winner of Oscars for Best picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and best supporting actress for Lupita Nyong’o in her first feature film.

Z – The Zero Theorem: Terry Gilliam is back after five years, and back to what he does best, making interesting films that look like the cost a lot more to make than they actually did.

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Movie of the Month: October 2014

Another busy month with a varied array of films seen:

The Equelizer: Denzel Washington reteams with director Antoine Fuqua to in a film based on the Edward Woodward 80’s TV show.  They won’t trouble the Oscars this time around but the film is good pulpy fun.  It feels like the start of a franchise, the reasonable box-office performance means it probably is.

Gone Girl: David Fincher’s movie based on Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel.  Joyfully bonkers dark and twisted and as enthralling as you would expect from Fincher.  Expect an Oscar nomination foir Rosamund Pike.

Dracula Untold: An unnecessary  origin story of Dracula.  It looks good and has some well good set pieces but does nothing new.  Parts of the story make me think the writers have seen lots of  Dracula movies (particularly Francis Ford Coppola’s) but haven’t read Bram Stoker novel.

The Imitation Game:  The true story Alan Turing, the farther of computing and the man most responsible for cracking Naval Enigma during World War II.  It suffers from a lack of focus, not knowing if it wants to be a biography of Turing or a story of the cracking of Enigma.  Benedict Cumberbatc’s performance is monumental and is well deserving of an Oscar nomination.

The Maze Runner:  The latest in a long line in dystopian movie based on YA novels.  It isn’t The Hunger Games but is still worth a look. Will Poulter is on great form but  Kaya Scodelario is underused.  Part two is in pre production and will be out next year.

’71: A young British soldier gets separated from his regiment and as to negotiate the perils of Belfast at the height of the troubles in 1971. Jack O’Connell again shows why he is one of the most interesting young actors working today.   I have heard it compared to John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 but it really has more in common with Walter Hill’s The Warriors.

The Judge: Family drama or crime thriller?  I don’t know, and the film suffers because the filmmakers didn’t seem to know either.  It remains watchable thanks to a great cast headed by Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall.  Billy Bob Thornton makes the most of a small part but Vera Farmiga isn’t given much to work with.

The Babadook: A dark psychological drama dressed up as a supernatural horror.  At its heart it is a story about despair and depression but to its credit leaves enough ambiguity for audiences to decide it that is the story or the subtext.  A lot of the success of the film is an intense performance from Essie Davis.

Annabelle: A sort of prequel to last years The Conjuring.  It offers nothing different from the numerous similar films that have been made in recent years but does have some effective scenes, the 70’s setting is well constructed and looks great.

Nightcrawler: Louis Bloom is a socially awkward, possibly sociopathic man, he falls into a career as a freelance cameraman selling footage of car crashes and murders to the TV networks.   Imagine Travis Bickle in Michael Mann’s LA and you will have an idea of and you will get a good idea of Nightcrawler.  Jake Gyllenhaal is at his creepy best and almost unrecognisable.  It is fantastic to see Rene Russo get her first decent part in years.

Fury:  War films changed in 1998 with the release of Saving Private Ryan, Fury’s is a descendant of this new direction.  Set during the final month of war in Europe in 1945 and telling the story of a tank crew.  The film is at its best with the graphic, brutal and visceral war scenes than in the quieter more philosophical moments.

Serena: North Carolina, during the depression.  The owner of a timber empire (Bradley Cooper) seems to be complete when he meets and marries Serena (Jennifer Lawrence) but things gradually begin to spiral out of control.  Well acted and stunning looking but the story is hampered by a lack of direction and focus, it plods along to an unsurprising conclusion.

This month it is a near impossible choice, The Babadook and Nightcrawler are probably the best films, but Gone Girl is the movie of the month simply because it’s the one I most want to see again. 

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The Imitation Game – European premier

Last night I attended the European premier of The Imitation Game.  This isn’t entirely true, the European premier at The Odeon Leicester Square doubled as the opening film the 58th BFI London Film Festival.  It was simultaneously screened across the country at 30 cinemas.  While the stars squelched down the red carpet in pouring rain I was sat 120 miles away in the comfort of Cineworld Birmingham.  Given the absence of a large film festival anywhere in the UK outside London and Edinburgh I jumped at the chance of seeing the film over a month before its general release.

By way of introduction, Alan Turing was a British mathematician and computer scientist. An early pioneer of the concepts of “algorithm” and “computation” he is regarded as the farther of computing, his “Turing machine” is considered a forerunner of what we now know as a computer.  During World War II he worked at Bletchley Park, Britain’s code-breaking centre. As the head of “Hut 8” he was largely responsible for cracking Naval Enigma.  Winston Churchill is believed to have said Turing made the “single biggest contribution to Allied victory”. A decade later he committed suicide after being persecuted by the authorities for being homosexual, a crime at the time.

I first became aware of Alan Turing in the late 90’s when I read Robert Harris’ excellent novel Enigma (published in 1995 and made into a film of the same name in 2001).  A fictional account of the battle to decrypt Enigma.  Although fictional the film gives a good overview of the exploits of the cryptanalysts of Bletchley Park and encouraged me to read more of the true story that was just becoming public knowledge fifty years after the fact.

Benedict Cumberbatch is perfectly cast as Alan Turing and to the films credit isn’t afraid of showing the antisocial and socially awkward side of his character.  His performance is heartfelt and convincing making it captivating.  The supporting cast is excellent with Matthew Goode and Mark Strong being as good as ever and Keira Knightley proving her critics wrong again.

Based on Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges and directed by Morten Tyldum (best known for Headhunters (2011)).  The film is well paced and constructed but does suffer from a lack of focus.  Told in flashback from his arrest for indecency (for being gay) in 1951 to his school days and his exploits during the war.  The film doesn’t know if it wants to be a biography of Turing or a story of the cracking of Enigma.  Personally I would have liked to have seen one or the other, either a full bio-pic or a more in depth look at the Bletchley Park years.  Anyone who has read up on the subject will learn little from the movie and are likely to enjoy it as a film, but those with little or no knowledge it is perfect introduction.

Not without its faults, but an enjoyable and informative film and a fitting tribute (largely thanks to a monumental performance from Benedict Cumberbatch) to a British war hero who is finally getting the recognition he deserves.  Well worth checking out when it goes on general release 14 November 2014. 

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Coming Soon…

As we pass the halfway point of the year one of my most anticipated films for a long time, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood has just opened and I will be watching it sometime this week. The end of the month sees The Avengers universe expand a little further with Guardians of the Galaxy, but what am I looking forward to for the rest of the year. Here are a few:

The Rover: Director: David Michôd: 15 August 2014 – Australia, 10 years after a global economic collapse, a man goes after the people who stole his only possession, his car. A sort of neorealist Mad Max.

A Most Wanted Man: Director: Anton Corbijn: 12 September 2014 – Political thriller based on a John le Carré’s novel. Sadly one of the last films to star the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Kingsman: The Secret Service: Director: Matthew Vaughn: 17th October 2014 – Vaughn and long time collaborator Jane Goldman adapted comic book about a veteran secret agent and a young recruit.

Gone Girl: Director David Fincher: 3rd October 2014 – A man reports his wife missing only to become the prime suspect. Adapted from a bestselling novel.

The Homesman: Director Tommy Lee Jones: 3rd October 2014 – A road/trail movie in the old west, Tommy Lee Jones stars as well as directs.

Interstellar: Director Christopher Nolan: 7th November 2014 – Space travel and wormholes and things like that, we can’t be sure because its Christopher Nolan, we don’t care because its Christopher Nolan!

The Hunger Games Mockingjay: Part 1: Director Francis Lawrence: 21st November 2014 – The first part of the final part of The Hunger Games, the revolution starts here.

Unbroken: Director: Angelina Jolie: 26 December 2014 – True story of Louis Zamperini, Olympic runner and WWII POW.

The Imitation Game: Director: Morten Tyldum: 14 November 2014 – The true and ultimately tragic story of Alan Turing, one of the men responsible for cracking the Enigma code during World War II.

Snowpiercer: Director: Joon-ho Bong: Date TBA – The remnants of humanity fight a class war on , a train that travels around the globe. (on my list of anticipated films 18 months ago, I hope to see it this year).

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