British Film Bloggers Circle: Winners

Just because the Oscars are over, doesn't mean that all the awards have finished! Not at all, as Yesterday the British Film Bloggers Circle winners were also announced! How does that make you feel? Happy? Joyous? Marginally indifferent? However you feel, I'm posting to tell you the winners and pass on some more shameless self promotion as I am part of said Bloggers Circle.


So without further to do, here's the list of winners:

Best Film: Drive

Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

Best Actress: Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk about Kevin) 

Best Supporting Actor: Ezra Miller (We Need to Talk about Kevin) and Christian Bale (The Fighter) - TIE

Best Supporting Actress: Berenice Bejo (The Artist)

Best original script:  The Artist and Midnight in Paris  - TIE

Best adapted screenplay: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best film not in the English language: The Skin I Live In

Best British film: Submarine

Breakthrough: Jessica Chastain

So there we are. I will say that one or two results left me hurtling vodka bottles at the founders screaming that (Redacted Film) was robbed, and how I'm going to get Harvey Weinstein to promote my picks next year. However, as a selection of awards, I did find it more unpredictable alternative than a certain star studded event , save for the best film award perhaps. 

Next year, I do hope for a Best Documentary section to be added as many brilliant films such as Senna, The Interrupters and Beats, Rhymes and Life deserved to be seen by more people this year.

So there we have it. It may not have as much glam and glitz as the academy, but at least we won't bore you with a two hour fashion show before the event.

To learn more about The British Film Bloggers Circle here:

 

The British Film Bloggers Circle

As mentioned in my previous post yesterday, I've been picked as one of the bloggers eligible to vote for the British Film Bloggers Circle Awards. The winners will be drawn over the weekend and the list of nominations is here.


What I forget to mention, is what the British Film Bloggers Circle actually is! 


Here's some quotes from Laurent de Alberti, writer at Filmland Empire and one of the Circles founders:

"Spare a thought for  us, poor bloggers, tirelessly spending unpaid hours trying to share our passion and enthusiasm for cinema with the world, all this while being looked down by less charitable, well established journalists... Unlike what that infamous lines from the (godawful) Contagion stated last year, blogging is more than just graffiti with punctuation!"

"An initial idea formed from the lack of community, respect and standards within film blogging."

Now, the fact that I've been asked to be part of this group of  talented writers is is flattering. Unfortunately the mere fact that they've asked me; with my ridiculously low standards and respect for most things, negates their faction as complete insanity. However, as I'm a part of it, I will do my best to take it down from the inside. Especially as I was a big fan of Contagion.


Here's a link explaining more about the circle: 


As stated in the link a website is to follow.

British Film Bloggers Circle Awards: Nominations

Now, I'm not usually one for awards or lists. However, as a bit of fun, I've been asked to cast my vote on the first annual "Bloggies" awards. A bunch of U.K bloggers have got together, made some nominations, and have all cast a vote on our "best" of the year.  Below are the list of nominations which have been selected and the winners will be called over the weekend, which is of course Oscar weekend.  

It'll be interesting to see who wins.

Nominations:

Best Film

Drive

Midnight in Paris

Shame

Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy

The Artist

Best Director

Tomas Alfredson for Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy

Paddy Considine for Tyrannosaur

Michel Hazanavicius for The artist

Steve McQueen for Shame

Lynne Ramsay for We need to talk about Kevin

Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive

Best Actor

Jean Dujardin for The artist

Michael Fassbender for Shame

Ryan Gosling for Drive

Peter Mullan for Tyrannosaur

Gary Oldman for Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy

Michael Shannon for Take Shelter

Best Actress:

Olivia Colman for Tyrannosaur

Kirsten Dunst for Melancholia

Tilda Swinton for We need to talk about Kevin

Jeong-Hie Yun for Poetry

Michelle Williams for My week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor:

Christian Bale for The Fighter

Stefano Cassetti for Love like poison

Ezra Miller for We need to talk about Kevin

Corey Stoll for Midnight in Paris

Nick Nolte for Warrior

Best Supporting Actress:

Berenice Bejo for The artist

Jessica Chastain for Take shelter

Charlotte Gainsbourg for Melancholia

Carey Mulligan for Drive

Carey Mulligan for Shame

Best Original Screenplay:

Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)

Take shelter (Jeff Nichols)

The artist (Michel Hazanavicius)

The guard (John Michael McDonagh)

Tyrannosaur (Paddy Considine)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Coriolanus (John Logan, screenplay; William Shakespeare, play)

Drive (Hossein Amini, screenplay; James Sallis, book)

The ides of March (George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, screenplay; Beau Willimon, play)

Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy (Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan, screenplay; John Le Carre, novel)

True Grit (Joel & Ethan Coen, screenplay; Charles Portis, novel)

The skin I live in (Pedro & Agustin Almodovar, screenplay; Thierry Jonquin, novel)

We need to talk about Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, Rory Kinnear screenplay; Lionel Shriver novel)

Best film not in the English language:

Incendies

Poetry

The skin I live in

Trollhunters

Tomboy

Best British Film:

Shame

Submarine

Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy

Tyrannosaur

We need to talk about Kevin

Best breakthrough:

Richard Ayoade, Submarine (Director, Writer)

Jessica Chastain, The debt, The tree of like, Take shelter, The help, Coriolanus, Texas killing fields (Actress)

Tom Cullen, Week-end (Actor)

Andrew Haigh, Week-end (Director)

Tom Hiddleston Thor, Deep blue sea, War horse, Archipelago, Midnight in Paris (Actor)

Oscar Nominations are out....

So the Oscar Nominations are out and once again they do not surprise me. Many would have wished for The Dark Knight to win an award but please guys seriously, the academy hates fan boys. It was never going to happen. And so it shouldn't!

Why? Because the snubbed films are usually remembered more than the ones that win. Chicago, A Beautiful Mind, Ordinary People anyone? Remember them? People still argue more now about Pulp Fiction being the most definitive film of the 90's than Forrest Gump that film that oust it in 94. So to be fair I'm happier a film like The Dark Knight will be remembered more by it's record breaking audience than the stuffy academy.

I am happy however that Slumdog Millionaire has got a best picture nod. I remember coming out of an advanced screening and stating to a work colleague. I loved it, but no way is it getting anywhere near an Oscar. Sometimes it's nice to be wrong.

Because life sucks, we're only just getting a lot of the Nominated films in just now, and I will probably spend a lot of the next few weeks watching them to be up to date. However after seeing he Wrestler I hope Rourke blows everyone out of the water and claims the best actor award and right now until I see more I'm backing Slumdog for pretty much every thing else!

One thing though....I have seen Revolutionary Road (Review coming soon) and I'm not sure if I want Micheal Shannon to win Best Supporting Actor for his excellent turn as the troubled John Givings. While Ledger is probably favorite (and superb) in his role as the Joker, Shannon gives a brilliantly nuanced performance that made a dreary film worth watching (and he's only in two scenes!).

Well only time will tell and of course every film wanker will complain that the film/actor they wanted to win was robbed but lets hope that the whole event is a good one all together.