British Independent Film Awards Nominations 2015

The British Independent Film Awards 2015 Nominations lists were announced in London by Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Gemma Chan.

Films such as Macbeth, 45 Years, High-Rise, Ex Machina, The Lobster and Amy were among the independent productions dominating across a number of categories this year.Check out a  full list of nominees across all categories below:

Best British Independent Film

45 Years
Amy
Ex Machina
The Lobster
Macbeth

Best Director
ANDREW HAIGH 45 Years
ASIF KAPADIA Amy
ALEX GARLAND Ex Machina
YORGOS LANTHIMOS The Lobster
JUSTIN KURZEL Macbeth

Best Screenplay 
45 Years Andrew Haigh
Brooklyn Nick Hornby
Ex Machina Alex Garland
High-Rise Amy Jump
The Lobster Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou

Best Actress
MARION COTILLARD Macbeth
CAREY MULLIGAN Suffragette
CHARLOTTE RAMPLING 45 Years
SAOIRSE RONAN Brooklyn
ALICIA VIKANDER The Danish Girl

Best Actor
TOM COURTENAY 45 Years
COLIN FARRELL The Lobster
MICHAEL FASSBENDER Macbeth
TOM HARDY Legend
TOM HIDDLESTON High-Rise

Best Supporting Actress
HELENA BONHAM CARTER Suffragette
OLIVIA COLMAN The Lobster
ANNE-MARIE DUFF Suffragette
SIENNA MILLER High-Rise
JULIE WALTERS Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor
LUKE EVANS High-Rise
BRENDAN GLEESON Suffragette
DOMHNALL GLEESON Brooklyn
SEAN HARRIS Macbeth
BEN WHISHAW The Lobster

Most Promising Newcomer
ABIGAIL HARDINGHAM Nina Forever
AGYNESS DEYN Sunset Song
BEL POWLEY A Royal Night Out
MIA GOTH The Survivalist
MILO PARKER Mr Holmes

Debut Director
CORIN HARDY The Hallows
PAUL KATIS Kajaki: The True Story
CHRIS & BEN BLAINE Nina Forever
JOHN MACLEAN Slow West
STEPHEN FINGLETON The Survivalist

Producer of the Year
45 Years
Amu
Kajaki: The True Story
The Lobster
The Violators

Outstanding Achievement in Craft
Editing Chris King – Amy
Casting Fiona Weir – Brooklyn
Production Design Mark Digby – Ex Machina
VFX Andrew Whitehurst – Ex Machina

Discovery Award
Aaaaaaah!
Burn Burn Burn
Orion: The Man Who Would Be King
The Return
Winter

Best British Short
Balcony
Crack
Edmond
Love Is Blind
MANoMAN

Best International Independent Film
Carol
Force Majeure
Girlhood
Room
Son of Saul

Best Documentary
Amy
Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance
How To Change The World
Palio
A Syrian Love Story

The Moët British Independent Film Awards will take place in London on December 6.

 

Prometheus Sequels Hault Neill Blomkamp Alien Reboot

Ridley Scott is determined to deliver several sequels to Alien origin story Prometheus. The first of which Alien: Paradise Lost is set to begin filming in January 2016. Unfortunately it seems Fox has decided to put Neill Blomkamp’s planned Alien sequel on hold to focus on Scott’s series.

The District 9 and Chappie director broke the news on Twitter:

“Alien is kinda holding/ pending prometheus 2. So I shall be working on other things… as much as I love the xeno- and Lt ripley,”

It could just be a brief delay, though if the studio intends to allow Ridley Scott to finish his new series it could push Blomkamp’s own efforts into even more uncertain territory. Ridley Scott is already talking about his hopes to make as many as three follow ups to Prometheus. 

Fans will be disappointed as Blomkamp’s concept art for a sequel to Aliens which ignored the events of Aliens 3 and Alien: Resurrection, bringing back Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in the process, had been met with considerable fan enthusiasm and excitement.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Adds Female Lead

Marvel and director James Gunn reportedly failed in their ambitious efforts to tempt Matthew McConaughey into playing the sequels lead villain. The Oscar winning star has reportedly already turned down the chance to challenge Chris Pratt to an intergalactic dance off.

However in more positive news French actress and Oldboy star Pom Klementieff has joined the cast in an unspecified role that reportedly required lots of chemistry reads. So odds are she may be the new romantic interest for Chris Pratt’s Star Lord. We’ll keep you posted with news of confirmed pelvic sorcery…

Spectre Review

The Plot

A cryptic message from Bond’s Past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M (Ralph Fiennes) battles political porches to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE

The Good

Director Sam Mendes returns to the Bond franchise after the dazzling success of 2013’s Skyfall in spectacularly lavish fashion. In an opening sequence that begins with an expertly executed tracking shot following Bond through the streets and rooftops of New Mexico as he dips in and out of a Day of the Dead parade, it’s clear that Mendes is not dropping the winning formula of action mixed with beautiful cinematography that won fans over last time round.

Craig’s Bond as always, is a treat to watch from beginning to end as he brings his usual quiet charm to the role. With Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Wishaw and Rory Kinnear returning as bonds faithful allies, the cast list is already something to behold. Add in Christoph Waltz as the villain however, and the formula becomes explosive. Waltz, like Craig is cool calm and collected, without the humour of Skyfall’s Silva (Javier Bardem), a characteristic which could have held too many similarities with his career making role in Inglourious Basterds. He’s dropped into the story earlier than Silva was in Skyfall and remains a strong presence throughout.

And of course, a Bond film is incomplete without its female sidekick of which Spectre gives us three. There’s the aforementioned Harris who returns as Moneypenny, as well as Monica Bellucci who appears briefly. But it’s Lea Seydoux who is arguably the most important character of the three. Seydoux brings about her an air of equality when it comes to matching Bond’s skill in the arts of self defence in a thankfully pivotal role as Madeleine Swan.

The Bad

All this talent put together and yet the storyline for Spectre disappointingly comes up short. Having only recently reclaimed the rights to the titular terrorist organisation whose rich history in the Bond franchise is known to any self respecting fan, their return feels much less triumphant than it should be. While the script does ambitiously try to link everything from Craig’s tenure together, connecting the events of the past three films with just a few lines of exposition seems heavy handed and even a little necessary. Perhaps an all out origin story would have better served the  return of Bond’s most iconic adversaries. Though the film’s closing stages do set the stage for future adventures and the reintroduction of even more familiar characters, their new backstories feel hastily concocted and clumsy.

While Waltz’s performance is as always a treat, his mysterious Franz Oberhauser feels criminally underused. Though his presence is consistent, his onscreen presence leaves much to be desired. Considering the lengthy 2 and a half hour runtime, its disappointing to see Oberhauser spend so much time hiding in the shadows. Also, while the length is indeed long, Spectre feels like it could have easily stripped away a good twenty minutes or so and left rather unscathed.

The Ugly Truth

Spectre is a worthy enough follow up to Skyfall if not quite up to its standards. An incredible cast and beautiful cinematography certainly keep things interesting, but for the return of the titular criminal organisation, it feels a little unfulfilled. Especially with such a seasoned villainous actor ending up a tad unused in order to create a sense of growing threat.

Review by Johnny Ellis

Pan Review

The Plot

One night a 12-year-old orphan Peter is spirited away from blitz ravaged 1940s London to the magical world of Neverland. While searching for his lost mother he befriends a young James T. Hook and faces off against the dread Pirate Blackbeard. Finding fun and dangers, he ultimately discovers his destiny to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan.

The Good

As a prequel to the overly familiar J.M. Barrie tales of Neverland Pan at least has the distinction of exploring some fresh ground. Despite numerous screen versions and reimagining’s of Peter Pan this film promises to be an original adventure, reintroducing a whole host of beloved timeless characters.

Director Joe Wright has an accomplished CV full of costume rich period dramas, so it was always a safe bet that the world of Neverland would be intricately well dressed. Combined with a generous special effects budget, Neverland is full of flying pirate ships and beautiful fantasy locations. It’s as colourful, camp and grandiose a vision of J.M. Barrie’s creations as has ever been realised on screen before.

Landing Hugh Jackman as the villainous Captain Blackbeard is a major coup for the film. Jackman is likeable menacing and delightfully dastardly as the shamelessly showboating pirate villain determined to live forever at any price. He’s a neatly ready-made substitute for the not yet nasty Hook.

The Bad

While Pan has a flamboyant colourful style that will distract and mostly entertain young audiences, older audiences may find some of the creative choices a little more puzzling or troubling. Having the pirates of Neverland happily singing Nirvana grunge anthem Smells Like Teen Spirit is the most obvious example. It’s a jarring and inexplicable mix of pop cultures that is certain to strongly divide opinions. It’s either wonderfully whimsical or laughably silly.

The film had already attracted vocal criticism for casting Rooney Mara as Neverland’s native princess Tiger Lilly. Though Mara’s pale face may be in sharp contrast to the typically Native American depiction of the character, she remains an excellent actress and does well in the role in spite of this issue. Director Joe Wright has been quick to defend the decision anyway by insisting his Neverland and its inhabitants are more globalised and fantastical than heavy handed tribal stereotypes.

Playing Barrie’s most iconic creations Levi Miller as the young Peter and Garrett Hedlund as James T. Hook meet with mixed success at best.

British audiences will find newcomer Miller’s overly cockney orphan particularly cringe worthy in places. Likewise Garrett Hedlund deliver his own confounding choice of accent for Hook, sounding something like a cross between a 1940s used car salesman and Heath Ledger’s Joker. It’s such a distracting vocal performance that it manages to largely negate the charm of Garrett’s handsome good looks and a script generously trying to making him an action hero.

The film optimistically saves the origin story of ’Captain Hook’ for potential sequels, unfortunately leaving audiences feeling short changed by a prequel that still feels only half told. Though the creative team behind Pan have ambitious plans to stretch things out into a lucrative trilogy, it feels unnecessary and perhaps ill advised. It may prove a mistake to save the most interesting parts of this newly invented backstory for a second or third film that may never even become a reality.

The Ugly Truth

Pan is a colourful fantasy adventure that will likely keep its target audience of younger children mostly entertained. Grownups by turn will at least be able to enjoy watching Hugh Jackman shamelessly ham things up. If the film does prove to be a box office success, in truth the potential sequels may finally offer audiences a more interesting chapter in the back story of Hook and Pan.

Review by Russell Nelson