‘The King’s Speech’ leads the way at this year’s BAFTA awards with 14 nominations

The Tom Hooper-directed film – about stammering British monarch King George VI – is up for Best Film and Best Director, while its star Colin Firth is widely tipped to pick up the accolade for Best Actor.

Colin’s co-star Helena Bonham Carter is up for Best Supporting Actress for her role as George’s wife, the Queen Mother Elizabeth, and will take on ‘The Fighter’ star Amy Adams, Barbara Hershey for ‘Black Swan’, ‘Another Year’ actress Lesley Manville and Miranda Richardson for ‘Made In Dagenham’.

‘The King’s Speech’ is up against ‘Black Swan’, ‘Inception’, ‘The Social Network’ and ‘True Grit’ in the Best Film category, while Colin will take on ‘Biutiful’ star Javier Bardem, ‘True Grit’ actor Jeff Bridges, ‘The Social Network’s Jesses Eisenberg and ‘127 Hours’ leading man James Franco in a bid to be named Best Actor.

As well as being up for Best Film, ‘Black Swan’ was given a further 11 nominations including Best Actress for its star Natalie Portman, while Darren Aronofsky is in the running for Best Director.

Natalie goes up against 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld for ‘True Grit’, ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ star Noomi Rapace, Annette Bening and Julianne Moore – who both starred in ‘The Kids Are All Right’ - in the Best Actress category.

‘The Fighter’ actor Christian Bale, ‘The Social Network’s Andrew Garfield, ‘The Kids Are All Right’ star Mark Ruffalo, ‘The King’s Speech Actor’ Geoffrey Rush and the late Pete Postlethwaite – who starred in ‘The Town’ – are all in the running to be named Best Supporting Actor.

As was previously announced, Andrew Garfield, Gemma Arterton, Aaron Johnson, Emma Stone and Tom Hardy will fight it out for the Rising Star Award, which is voted for by the public.

The BAFTA Awards take place at London’s Royal Opera House on February 13.

The full list of nominations for the 2011 BAFTA Awards:

Best Film:

‘Black Swan’

‘True Grit’

‘Inception’

‘The King’s Speech’

‘The Social Network’

Best Director:

Darren Aronofsky – ‘Black Swan’

David Fincher – ‘The Social Network’

Tom Hooper – ‘The King’s Speech’

Christopher Nolan – ‘Inception’

Danny Boyle – ‘127 Hours’

Best Actor:

Jesse Eisenberg – ‘The Social Network’

Colin Firth – ‘The King’s Speech’

James Franco – ‘127 Hours’

Javier Bardem – ‘Biutiful’

Jeff Bridges – ‘True Grit’

Best Actress:

Annette Bening – ‘The Kids Are All Right’

Julianne Moore – ‘The Kids Are All Right’

Noomi Rapace – ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’

Natalie Portman – ‘Black Swan’

Hailee Steinfeld – ‘True Grit’

Best Supporting Actor:

Christian Bale – ‘The Fighter’

Pete Postlethwaite – ‘The Town’

Andrew Garfield – ‘The Social Network’

Mark Ruffalo – ‘The Kids Are All Right’

Geoffrey Rush – ‘The King’s Speech’

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams – ‘The Fighter’

Helena Bonham Carter – ‘The King’s Speech’

Barbara Hershey – ‘Black Swan’

Lesley Manville – ‘Another Year’

Miranda Richardson – ‘Made in Dagenham’

Outstanding British Film:

‘127 Hours’

‘Another Year’

‘Four Lions’

‘The King’s Speech’

‘Made In Dagenham’

Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer:

‘The Arbor’ – Clio Bernard (director), Tracy O’Riordan (producer)

‘Exit Through The Gift Shop’ – Banksy (director), Jaimie D’Cruz (producer)

‘Four Lions’ – Chris Morris (director/writer)

‘Monster’ – Gareth Edwards (director/writer)

Best Foreign Language Film:

‘Biutiful’ – Mexico/Spain

‘The Secret in Their Eyes’ – Argentina

‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ – Sweden

‘I Am Love’ – Italy

‘Of Gods and Men’ – France

Best Animated Feature Film:

‘Toy Story 3’

‘How To Train Your Dragon’

‘Despicable Me’

Best Original Screenplay:

‘Black Swan’ – Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin

‘The Fighter’ – Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson

‘Inception’ – Christopher Nolan

‘The Kids are All Right’ – Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg

‘The King’s Speech’ – David Seidler

Best Adapted Screenplay:

‘127 Hours’ – Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy

‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ – Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel

‘The Social Network’ – Aaron Sorkin

‘Toy Story 3’ – Michael Arndt

‘True Grit’ – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Best Original Score:

‘127 Hours’ – AR Rahman

‘Alice in Wonderland’ – Danny Elfman

‘How To Train Your Dragon’ – John Powell

‘Inception’ – Hans Zimmer

‘The King’s Speech’ – Alexandre Desplat

Rising Star Award:

Gemma Arterton

Andrew Garfield

Tom Hardy

Aaron Johnson

Emma Stone

Source: BANG Showbiz

James Franco credits Kirsten Dunst with helping save his life.

The 32-year-old actor was advised by his ‘Spider-Man 3’ co-star to volunteer for charity Art of Elysium – with helps children serious medical conditions – at a time in his life when he wanted to assist others but was unsure what to do.

He recalled: “Kirsten said, ‘You know I volunteer with this group called Art of Elysium’ and said to come help out.

“It was funny because I was seeing a therapist at the time, and I told him I just wanted to find a place where I could give back. I didn’t know what I could give. All I did was act and I didn’t want to teach that.

“I went and started volunteering at the hospital. Anyways, the experience really saved my life.”

The ‘127’ hours actor picked up the Spirit of Elysium awards from the charity on Saturday (15.01.11) at the Art of Elysium Heaven Gala in Los Angeles and also told the star-studded crowd of charity helpers and supporters – including Gerard Butler, Jake Gyllenhaal, Nicole Richie, Rachel Bilson and Elijah Wood – of how Kirsten rejected a play he had written with one of the children the organisation helps.

He said: “I met my friend David and we wrote a play together for the holiday party, it was an amazing play. And my dear friend Kirsten Dunst turned it down and we ended up doing something about the Grinch.”

Source: BANG Showbiz

127 Hours

James Franco portrays Aron Ralston in this true story film, who finds he needs to resort to drastic measures in order to survive being trapped by a boulder in the Moab Utah desert. The film displays superb work by lighting specialists who worked to film in the desert and also create realistic lighting in such an intense environment while also making it as realistic as possible. James Franco’s acting is flawless in his role and is quite possible a contender for many upcoming award shows.

Aron Ralston is adventuring through the Moab Utah desert, during his hike he however he becomes trapped when a large bolder pins his arm against a valley wall. Unable to move the heavy rock that is now wedged against the stone walls he needs to find a way of saving himself, having told no one where he was going. After five days of being trapped with no luck of escaping and running low on water and food he has only one option which will test his willpower to survive the ordeal.

The most intense scene involves Aron Ralstons escape from the boulders clutches. The editing and sounds used in the short five minuets of footage is the most dramatic and gut wrenching moment of the films entirety. It is no wonder that they had issues in theaters of people passing out watching this particular scene. Those of you who have seen the film know of which moment I am talking about. When he got to a certain point it almost seemed as though he would be unable to continue but he persevered and in doing so it even my head ache and stomach roll. The film makers defiantly came across the right way of portraying how to make it the most realistic process it could be for someone standing on the other side of the glass.

The lighting was another aspect I found well done. I am not sure if they did it with lights or actually filmed the process when the light was at the right moment of the day but either way it was executed perfectly. Every day at eight o’clock Aron was able to get fifteen minutes of sunlight between the crack of earth which he was locked into. They either lit this area where he was trapped amazingly and made it seem as though the sun was rising to a point where it crept into the crevice or they actually found the perfect area to film. I guess I will have to wait until the DVD to find out in the special features.

This film while beautifully made and an excellent portrayal of Aron Ralston’s story of survival is also intense and some may have difficulty watching it. The scene where he finally finds the courage to free himself from the clutches of the boulder threatening to kill him is a very graphic and intense scene which is not appropriate for all audiences and there may be some that wont be able to handle this scene, my advice is to those who think they can, watch the film its a great story and James Franco’s acting is superb. Those who cant either close your eyes or steer clear. But if you like a true survival story see it for sure.

Written by Nathan Couture

News Source: MovieFilmReview

‘Black Swan’ and ‘The King’s Speech’ lead the nomination for this year’s 17th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards

The psychological thriller, which stars Natalie Portman as a ballet dancer experiencing a mental trauma, and the Tom Hooper-directed drama starring Colin Firth as Britain’s King George VI both received nominations in four categories, including Best Cast in a Motion Picture and Leading Actor for the main stars.

Supporting cast on both movies, Mila Kunis in ‘Black Swan’ and Geoffrey Rush in ‘The King’s Speech’, also received nods for their work.

‘The Fighter’ is also up for four awards in three categories, including Best Cast in a Motion Picture, Best Supporting Actress for both Amy Adams and Melissa Leo, and Best Supporting Actor.

Comedy drama ‘The Kids Are All Right’, about a lesbian couple and their two children’s sperm donor father also received two nominations in the film categories.

In the TV categories, Jane Lynch has received another nomination for her portrayal of angry sports coach Sue Sylvester in ‘Glee’ in the Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series, while newcomer Chris Colfer – who portrays gay school student Kurt Hummel – is up for Best Male Actor in a Comedy Series .

Other notable inclusions are ‘Mad Men’ stars Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss for Best Actor and Best Actress in a TV Drama Series.

Ernest Borgnine, the 93-year-old actor best known for play Quinty McHale in 1960s TV series ‘McHale’s Navy’, is to be given the Life Achievement Award for his career.

The winners will be announced on January 30 from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Centre.

Complete list of nominations for the 17th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Male Actor, Leading:

Jeff Bridges, ‘True Grit’

Robert Duvall, ‘Get Low’

Jesse Eisenberg, ‘The Social Network’

Colin Firth, ‘The King’s Speech’

James Franco, ‘127 Hours’

Female Actor, Leading:

Annette Bening, ‘The Kids Are All Right’

Nicole Kidman, ‘Rabbit Hole’

Jennifer Lawrence, ‘Winter’s Bone’

Natalie Portman, ‘Black Swan’

Hilary Swank, ‘Conviction’

Male Actor, Supporting:

Christian Bale, ‘The Fighter’

Jon Hawkes, ‘Winter’s Bone’

Jeremy Renner, ‘The Town’

Mark Ruffalo, ‘The Kids Are All Right’

Geoffrey Rush, ‘The King’s Speech’

Female Actor, Supporting:

Amy Adams, ‘The Fighter’

Helena Bonham Carter, ‘The King’s Speech’

Mila Kunis, ‘Black Swan’

Melissa Leo, ‘The Fighter’

Hailey Steinfeld, ‘True Grit’

Cast in a Motion Picture:

‘Black Swan’

‘The Fighter’

‘The Kids Are All Right’

‘The King’s Speech’

‘The Social Network’

TV

Male Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries:

John Goodman, ‘You Don’t Know Jack’

Al Pacino, ‘You Don’t Know Jack’

Dennis Quaid, ‘The Special Relationship’

Edgar Ramirez, ‘Carlos’

Patrick Stewart, ‘Macbeth: Great Performances’

Female Actor, TV Movie or Miniseries:

Claire Danes, ‘Temple Grandin’

Catherin O’Hara, ‘Temple Grandin’

Julia Ormond, ‘Temple Grandin’

Winona Ryder, ‘When Love Is Not Enough’

Susan Sarandon, ‘You Don’t Know Jack’

Male Actor, Drama Series:

Steve Buscemi, ‘Boardwalk Empire’

Bryan Cranston, ‘Breaking Bad’

Michael C. Hall, ‘Dexter’

Jon Hamm, ‘Mad Men’

Hugh Laurie, ‘House’

Female Actor, Drama Series:

Glenn Close, ‘Damages’

Mariska Hargitay, ‘Law & Order: SVU’

Julianna Marguiles, ‘The Good Wife’

Elisabeth Moss, ‘Mad Men’

Kyra Sedgwick, ‘The Closer’

Male Actor, Comedy Series:

Alec Baldwin, ‘30 Rock’

Ty Burrell, ‘Modern Family’

Steve Carell, ‘The Office’

Chris Colfer, ‘Glee’

Ed O’Neill, ‘Modern Family’

Female Actor, Comedy Series:

Edie Falco, ‘Nurse Jackie’

Tina Fey, ‘30 Rock’

Jane Lynch, ‘Glee’

Sofia Vergara, ‘Modern Family’

Betty White, ‘Hot in Cleveland’

Ensemble, Drama Series:

‘Boardwalk Empire’

‘The Closer’

‘Dexter’

‘The Good Wife’

‘Mad Men’

Ensemble, Comedy Series:

‘30 Rock’

‘Glee’

‘Hot in Cleveland’

‘Modern Family’

‘The Office’

STUNT ENSEMBLES

FILM

‘Green Zone’

‘Inception’

‘Robin Hood’

TV

‘CSI: New York’

‘Dexter’

‘Southland’

‘True Blood’

LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Ernest Borgnine

Source: BANG Showbiz

2011 Oscar Predictions: For Best Actor Nominations

Its time to make an early prediction for the 2011 Oscar Race. The guesses for Best Actor Nominations will really be exciting this time !

The 83rd Academy Awards will take place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. Our list of favourites comprises of some of the renowned actors who have already captured the imagination of movie fans!

Our Predictions for 2011 Oscar Best Actor Nominees are:

Jeff Bridges For ‘True Grit’

Bridges will play U.S. Marshal Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn in the upcoming 2010 Western film, written and directed by the Coen brothers, named ‘True Grit’. The character was portrayed by John Wayne in the 1969 film, a performance which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film is an adaptation of the 1968 novel by Charles Portis.

James Franco for ‘127 Hours’

James Franco stars as a real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston, in 2010 drama thriller film directed by Danny Boyle, ‘127 Hours’. In May 2003, hiker Aron Ralston became trapped by a boulder in Robbers Roost, Utah for nearly five days in 2003. The film was written by Boyle and Simon Beaufoy and produced by Christian Colson. 127 Hours met with critical acclaim.

Jesse Eisenberg for ‘The Social Network’

Jesse Eisenberg appears as Mark Zuckerberg in ‘The Social Network’. The movie is about the founding of the Internet social networking website Facebook and the resulting lawsuits. The Social Network has been received with critical acclaim. As of October 31, 2010 the film has grossed $79.7 million in the United States and $32.2 million overseas.

Colin Firth for ‘The King’s Speech’

‘The King’s Speech’ stars Colin Firth as King George VI. The film won the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival People’s Choice Award. The movie is directed by Tom Hooper from a script by David Seidler.

Robert Duvall for ‘Get Low’

Robert Duvall stars as Felix Bush in ‘Get Low’. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Robert Duvall won the Hollywood Award (Best Actor). The film has had positive reviews from all critics.

The British supermodel was introduced to the screen hunk – who played evil villain the New Goblin in the third instalment of the superhero franchise – at a New York Cinema Society bash last month and after spending the night flirting, they exchanged phone numbers.

A source revealed: “Agyness and James have met since and are very keen on each other. There is a real connection.”

Agyness, 26, has been single since splitting from musician Miles Kane – who is one half of The Last Shadow Puppets with Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner – last October, while James has only recently come out of a relationship with actress Ahna O’Reilly.

The source added to The Sun newspaper: “It’s early days. He’s still close to Ahna so it’s tricky to go in to another relationship but it’ll soon be full steam ahead.”

Agyness usually dates rock stars, and her previous boyfriends include The Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr, Josh Hubbard from The Paddingtons and Phantom Planet lead singer Alex Greenwald.

The blonde model was engaged to Albert for eight months but their romance ended last March.

Source: BANG Showbiz