12 of '12! Part 2.

Welcome back to my list of the top 12 films that I saw in 2012! So far I've counted down from 12 to 6, which leaves us with just five more to go - my favourite films of 2012. So let's not waste any more time, cue the Top of the Pops jingle because here are my top five films of 2012...

Pioneers of cinema itself, and previous Best Picture winner at the BAFTAs and Oscars last year (for my favourite film of 2011, The Artist), the French are at it again, with touching comedy Untouchable (original title: Intouchables). The film, which after becoming the second highest grossing film in the French box office experienced a warm reception overseas too, tells the story of a wealthy paraplegic who decides to hire a less well-off young man to be his carer, as he is the only person to show him the one thing he desires: no sympathy. There isn't an awful lot to not like about Untouchable; it is effortlessly the funniest comedy of the year, has a touching and thoughtful story at its centre, the beautiful setting of France, and a close buddy movie relationship at its heart that makes the film a real feel-good treat. It may be predictable from the outset to see how each of the characters will learn from one another as their relationship blooms, but any flaws become significantly less problematic as the film is such a joy to watch. When placed next to a mainstream comedy such as Ted which is equally predictable, the laughs in Untouchable feel honest and genuine when compared to a film that in comparison seems to try too hard to make its audience laugh. Once again the French prove that they really are the fathers of film!

Michael Fassbender proves that he has the balls (literally) to take on a very challenging film in Steve McQueen's hauntingly beautiful film Shame. This harrowing art film about sex addiction tackles a very difficult subject matter and makes it accessible to all through the undeniably human them of addiction as a whole. With its flawless cinematography, stunning performances from Fassbender and Mulligan, and superb direction, Shame allows you to step inside the mind of a man battling his inner demons, in a mesmerising and powerful way. Heavily snubbed at last year's awards ceremonies, this is a tour de force piece of filmmaking that blew me away. Click here to read the full review.

Easily the most inventive and unique films of the year, Berberian Sound Studio was also one of my personal favourites! Toby Jones proves how he is one of the best and perhaps overlooked British acting talents, in a film about the creation of horror sound effects in film itself. Whilst the first half of the film gives us an insight into the construction of film (rest in pieces melons and cabbages), the second half turns art house as the film then goes on to deconstruct itself, as the lines between ours, Gilderoy's and the horror film's diegeses begin to blur as reality and film merge. A remarkable piece of filmmaking that will leave you thinking, but more importantly entertained as what starts out as a normal drama soon turns into a very unique horror.

Sam Mendes Took a stab at the tried and tested 50 year old Bond formulae and well and truly proved that nobody does it better! Reinvented for a newer generation of cinema goers, Skyfall took the classic conventions of every Bond film, all of the elements that made them so enjoyable, and updated them to create an instant Bond classic... and then some! With a narrative that storms along at a pace like nothing else, some of the most extraordinary action set pieces in recent film history, stunning settings, skilful cinematography, a classic Bond song, and a modern and engaging character driven narrative, Skyfall was much more than just a good Bond film, it was a fantastic film full stop, and one that dared to offer more to those looking for it. Immensely fun, enjoyable and tirelessly exciting, Skyfall was one of the most satisfying films that I saw this year, and more than ticked all of the boxes. Click here to read the full review.

There's a great irony to the fact that I am posting this article on the day that the 2013 Oscar nominations were announced, as my film of the year rather shockingly garnered a total of 0 nominations (and just 1 for the BAFTAs yesterday), despite vast critical acclaim, approval from waves of cinema goers and fans alike, and for concluding one of the greatest film trilogies of all time. I am of course talking about Christopher Nolan's epic Bat-Finale, The Dark Knight Rises. This sudden backlash of accolade for the film comes as a shock to me, as I am in nothing short of complete admiration for Nolan's work in this remarkable film. Where to begin? It's a comic book action film, that's intelligent and engaging, relevant and poignant, entertaining and moving - a Hollywood blockbuster of art house quality. It has a tremendous cast playing deep characters in a film which is in essence a character piece that focusses not on Batman, but on the broken shadow of a man behind the mask. It contains some of the best moments of cinema of all time within a film that I discover more and more within every time I see it. It is traditionally shot on film (which holds a certain special quality to me compared to digital), and more impressively on IMAX, which in my eyes remains the most impressive technical advancement in film - and seeing the entire IMAX print on the grand canvas of an IMAX screen made for one of, if not the single greatest cinema experiences that I have ever seen. Heavy use of CGI is put aside (and see if you can notice when it's used anyway!) in favour for real visual effects, creating a more impressive aesthetic experience for us cinema goers. All of which Nolan implements in most of his films, and to which I admire greatly, but what makes The Dark Knight Rises stand out is the epic scale that it encompasses within all of these areas, really pushing the limits in what can be done in film - they dropped an actual plane out of the sky in the film's opening scene for Pete's sake! I adored Nolan's work on this incredible finale of a film and the entire Dark Knight Trilogy as a whole, and whilst the Oscars may refuse to acknowledge it, I give it the title of my film of 2012. Click here to read the full review.

Of course it wouldn't be a best of list without a few honourable mentions, and 2012 gave us so many good films that I just couldn't fit them all into my top 12 list. In fact I could probably even do an honourable mentions list for my honourable mentions with so many enjoyable releases! So are just a few of the films that narrowly missed out on places in my 12 of '12:

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: A fun outing that made for a much welcome return to the realms of Middle Earth, yet without the rose tinted glasses the over long running time (and we're only a third of the way through!) meant that the film was Baggins at times, resulting in it being more ummin' and aahin' than Balin and Dwalin; less Thorin and more borin' and snorin'! Yet as soon as Gollum steps onto the scene, everything suddenly comes alive, and the film well and truly begun. (Full Review)
• Lawless: a great modern gangster film that I enjoyed immensely. Shia LaBeouf was actually good in the role, and Tom Hardy (along with his role as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises) proved that he can convey the raw animalistic intensity of a character with just his eyes and a grunt! A fun film that I struggled to keep out of my list.
• Brave: Pixar's latest offering was a visual treat that had a touching mother/daughter story at the centre of it. Whilst it wasn't the studio's best piece due to the strict confines of the fairytale genre, it was certainly a lot of fun, with a refreshing female lead, and the clans and the triplets bringing a great comic relief to the animated proceedings. (Full Review)
• Prometheus: fair to say that this was a film that divided people; I actually very much enjoyed Sir Ridley's return to the Alien universe, and even almost gave it a spot in my top 12! Perhaps it did ask more questions than it did answer, but is that really such a bad thing? Whilst I admire the stylistic qualities of the old fashioned sci-fi immensely, each time I watch it I find more and more thing to think about within the narrative, which leaves me enjoying it all the more. (Full Review)
• Frankenweenie: Tim Burton returned to classic stop-motion animation in great style with his pastiche of the monster movie genre. Not only was it crammed with references and a lot of fun, it was also the only film that I have seen that seemed to purposefully use its 3D effect to add to its narrative. Yes that's right folks; it made me fleetingly believe in 3D! What more can I say!? (Full Review)
• The Descendants: A big contender for awards season last year, the George Clooney starring film was mostly just an alright film, which elevated itself to a very emotional and poignant piece at times. There is nothing more heartbreaking than a shot of a young girl being told that she will never get to see her dying mother again - I haven't teared up this much since Toy Story 3!

Well there you have it folks, my cinematic highlights of 2012 (out of the films that I actually managed to see); I hope that you enjoyed this read, and now it's your turn to get involved too! I'd love to hear what your top films of the year were too, so be sure to let me know in the comments section below. Or perhaps you want to give me a telling off for forgetting one of your favourite films of the year; maybe you just cannot stand my taste in film!? Whatever it maybe I always love to hear from you guys too, so make sure to leave a message below.

Here's to 2013 being just as good a year for film!

Review: Prometheus

2012: A Ridley Scott-yssey!

It isn't often that a film comes along that truly defines a genre, and it can often be difficult to establish those that do; but in the case of the science-fiction genre in particular (something that was briefly debated in my review for John Carter earlier this year) if you were to select two genuine genre defining films that have shaped the sci-fi films that we see today, then you'd almost definitely be left with Star Wars, and Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien. Now Sir Ridley has returned to the Alien universe that he created 33 years ago with his prequel that's not a prequel (I'll try my best to clear this up in a bit!): the long awaited and highly anticipated Prometheus.

The year is 2085, and a group of scientists and explorers who have discovered a series of ancient markings littered throughout history, informing them of the origins of mankind coming from the stars, have followed these signs into the depths of outer space to a mysterious planet where they will truly discover where the human race comes from, whilst simultaneously trying to ensure that they actually make it out alive as events unfold that could change the fate of the entire human race.

Firstly I feel it's important to address the important matter at hand, and the question that is almost certainly on everyone's minds: a prequel to Alien that isn't a prequel to Alien - what!? Prometheus is set within the Alien universe, and does contain a number of small moments that relate to the beginning of Alien much later down the line - without any spoilers the film's ending in particular does link to Alien, but not a massive way that anyone who hasn't seen it will be left feeling confused. The rest of the film however is it's own entirely individual story with its own unique characters and aliens. See? A prequel that isn't a prequel! In fact the film itself in my opinion is actually probably closer to a spin-off than a prequel if anything. The obvious result of this means that anyone can watch the film and appreciate it, but those who know a bit more about the Alien mythology will gain a little bit extra on the side. However nor should it be a film that lives in the shadows of Alien, as despite the heavy influence upon the iconic elements of the original Alien used within the trailers and promotions for Prometheus, the film should be seen in many respects as a stand alone film of its own.

Along side this though, Prometheus does very much feel like an Alien film. Visually stunning, the film takes the retro vision of the future that Scott envisaged for the original film and presents it with both real life effects and sets, and advanced CGI; allowing Scott to explore more possibilities within the universe he created. The effect of this is rather extraordinary - the film manages to perfectly execute a look that is both true to that of the 70s original yet modern and contemporary to today's audiences who are now technologically 33 years closer to that reality. Remaining close to Alien, the tone of Prometheus clearly has Scott's visionary fingerprints all over it as it encapsulates the feeling of spectacle and the escapist futuristic excitement that entertains us as much today as it did in 1979 - mainly brought in through one of it themes of space exploration. In fact a lot of the themes from Alien, as well as a few from Blade Runner, also appear in Prometheus alongside a great number of new themes and ideas based around questions of life, the universe and everything, which lay deep in the background for those who wish to look for them - a sort of 2001: A Space Odyssey for today's audiences. As a result of these ideas and themes Prometheus actually becomes more of a solid sci-fi piece than Alien: which became iconic for its unique horror/sci-fi genre hybrid. Despite this the film isn't without its moments of horror, the emphasis merely lies in other areas even though some of the best moments were thanks to a return this iconic vibe.

The Fantastic Mr.Fassbender plays the android David in the visually stunning Prometheus.

Of course the film's strengths don't just lie within Sir Ridley's visionary style and direction. There really is no shortage of acting talent with the likes of Noomi Rapace (the original Swedish Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Michael Fassbender (the fantastic star of Shame), Charlize Theron (who is also currently starring in Snow White and the Huntsman), Idris Elba (Thor) and Guy Pearce (The King's Speech) forming a small part of the overall cast. With Rapace playing Elizabeth Shaw, the film's female protagonist, another character becomes a memebr of Ridley's Angels, with Scott clearly retaining his emphasis on strong leading female characters after Sigourney Weaver's Ripley; a character who debatably changed the image and role of women in film forever. In fact during many scenes I almost felt myself having to do a double take, with Rapaces character occasionally even looking just like Ripley too! Alongside Rapace, The Fantastic Mr.Fassbender continues to prove himself as one of the finest actors around today within his role of the android David (nice name!).

Although despite its strengths, Prometheus is not without its problems either. Within the narrative of the film, a lot happens, and I mean a lot - the films certainly feels like its 2 hour running time. Firstly this causes a few pacing issues throughout the film, with a fair amount of scenes feeling longer than they needed to be, especially next to the film's more thrilling faster paced moments; during which the film really gets going. Alongside this the narrative does at times become bogged down substantially with a lot of sub-plots that arguably do not need to be there at all. This includes the prosthetic covered character of Guy Pearce's Peter Weyland, who's character feels unnecessarily aged for no apparent reason (you'll understand when you see him). It's almost as if Scott has grown a bit too attached to a lot of his own personal ideas and has attempted to cram them all into this one film, or maybe his ideas are just so deep and meaningful that they cannot fit within just 2 hours of screen time! Perhaps a second film is what Scott really needed to spread all of his ideas out a bit, in order to allow some of the more over-looked areas to breathe a bit more and for the film to flow a little bit better.

Despite the problems that the film does clearly suffer from, the overall scale, tone and vibe of the film are more than enough to make this a film worth watching, especially those who have seen and loved Sir Ridley's original 1979 film Alien - who will almost certainly get a kick of nostalgia out of the iconic style, tone and ideas of the first film. Performances from Rapace and The Fantastic Mr.Fassbender carry the film through, and with only a few small moments that link to the overall picture of the Alien films this really is a film that anyone can watch, even if they haven't seen the old films. Whilst it should be seen as its own entity, the sheer weight of Alien's slick and iconic narrative will mean that this film will remain within its shadows as its younger sibling - even if it doesn't necessarily deserve to. Prometheus has landed ladies and gentlemen; not in a crash-landing, but not in a smooth one either with some minor turbulence along the way...

Verdict: 4/5

Prometheus is now showing in cinemas across the UK.

Agree or Disagree? Leave your comments below!

Trailer Park: Prometheus

Returning to his roots, visionary director Ridley Scott heads back to one of the film franchises that launched his career. Released in 1979, Scott's second big screen project Alien became an instant classic, thrilling millions of cinema goers since through its visionary style, unique sci-fi horror genre and the sequels and spin-offs that have been released since. With a cast including Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, Shame's Michael Fassbender and Hollywood starlet Charlize Theron, Scott has made a welcome return to the Alien franchise with Prometheus - a non-direct prequel set in the world of the Alien universe. Whilst I didn't care much for Scott's last film Robin Hood, it is very exciting to see him return to the impressive visual style of his original Alien film in the scenes from this trailer; and even though I still believe that the physical special effects and sets used in the likes of Alien and the original Star Wars trilogy are very special, it is exciting to see this unique world today with the additional use of advanced CGI technologies which should allow Scott to explore new territories and push the boundaries with this new film. Prepared to get your heart pulsing in this adrenaline pumping new trailer released this morning...

Prometheus is released in cinemas across the UK on 1st June 2012.

Are you excited to see Ridley Scott return to the Alien franchise? Do you think it will be a blockbuster or lacklustre? Leave your comments below!

Review: Shame

 

Michael Fassbender proves he has the balls - literally!

Shame follows the life of Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender), a man living in New York and suffering from the problems of sex addiction. When his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) comes for an unexpected stay at his apartment, Brandon begins to realise all of the problems that he has and attempts to pull himself together to live a normal life.

Depicting the world through the eyes of a man suffering from the sex addiction, director Steve McQueen (no, not that one...) beautifully shoots a disturbing film that will make you think about the film way after the end credits have rolled. Though the film feels at times long due to it's difficult subject area that is shot to feel awkward through long takes in certain scenes that hide none of the actions or emotions portrayed, and the opposite with fast cuts for some of the more graphic scenes, this is the point of the film: that it does give off this impression and make you feel this way, which is what makes it work so well.

The performances throughout the film are second to none, with Carey Mulligan giving an impressive performance amongst others. However it is Michael Fassbender who truly steals the show through such a powerful performance with great emotional depth as the film follows his story entirely; Fassbender's performance allows us to believe the world we see through Brandon's eyes and sympathise with him in many ways, yet feel just as repulsed as we are charmed by this seemingly normal man in others.

Brandon Sullivan (Michael Fassbender) in Shame

The film deals with a lot of difficult subject issues and does little to hide them in anyway, shape or form. It certainly isn't for the faint of hear - yet at the same time I would recommend that a lot of people do watch this, as it is an incredibly powerful piece of film that skilfully portrays a number of important messages, no matter how hard they may be to watch at times. No matter how bad it may seem, these sort of things do happen in real life, and seeing this is an important part of realising the world we live in. That's why I think that Shame is such a thought provoking and powerful piece of work that will linger with you for a long time.

Every now and then a film is released that really makes you think about what you should think and how you should feel, sticking with you long after you've left the cinema: Shame is one of those films. Despite being at times a very difficult and uncomfortable film to watch, the fact that me and my friends were still talking about it and trying to figure out what we thought for the entire walk home and beyond (I saw it two days ago and I'm still thinking about it!) does go to show just how powerful the film is - thanks to its beautiful cinematography and direction, and its exceptional cast lead spectacularly by an incredible performance by Michael Fassbender. The last film that I reviewed and saw at the cinema was The Muppets - it's fair to say that Shame is the complete opposite (in fact it took a listen of the entire Muppets soundtrack just to cheer me up afterwards!), yet I wouldn't recommend this fantastic film any less because of it (except maybe not for the kids...)

Verdict: 5/5

Shame is showing in cinemas across the UK now.

Agree or Disagree? Leave your comments below!

2012 BAFTA Film Awards Nominations and Predictions

So it's that time of year again - awards season, and with the party already started with the Golden Globes, it's time to turn our attention towards the two main awards ceremonies that are actually worth paying attention to: The BAFTAs and The Oscars. With the release of the BAFTA nominations earlier this week, I thought it'd be interesting to post the nominees here and to make a prediction as to who will win for each category (my predicted winner will be in red and bold for each category), so we can then look back after the ceremony on the 12th of February and see just how close I was! So without further ado, let's begin...

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BEST FILM

• THE ARTIST Thomas Langmann
• THE DESCENDANTS Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
• DRIVE Marc Platt, Adam Siegel
• THE HELP Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this year the awards belong to The Artist. Having already performed well at the Golden Globes, it is inevitable that this film will go on with the same success at the upcoming BAFTAs and Oscars. I'd confidently put money on The Artist winning the best film award for both of these ceremonies.
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

• MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Simon Curtis, David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, Adrian Hodges
• SENNA Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Manish Pandey
• SHAME Steve McQueen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Abi Morgan
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Tomas Alfredson, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo, Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
• WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN Lynne Ramsay, Luc Roeg, Jennifer Fox​, Robert Salerno, Rory Stewart Kinnear

Whilst I'd love to see Lynne Ramsay's incredible film We Need to Talk About Kevin win this award as one of, if not my favourite films of last year, however I'm putting my money on Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy to win this one. Also on of the year's best films, Tinker, Tailor featured an incredible cast, soundtrack and cinematography to create a truly fantastic adaptation of John le Carré's bestselling novel.

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

• ATTACK THE BLOCK Joe Cornish (Director/Writer)
• BLACK POND Will Sharpe (Director/Writer), Tom Kingsley (Director), Sarah Brocklehurst (Producer)
• CORIOLANUS Ralph Fiennes (Director)
• SUBMARINE Richard Ayoade (Director/Writer)
• TYRANNOSAUR Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

This is a bit of a tough one, and we could see a surprise winner come out of this category. The three that instantly jump out at me are Attack the Block, Submarine and Tyrannosaur to take the award, but to pick one of the three I think it will be Tyrannosaur that will just take the lead, although Attack the Block could give it a run for its money and take an unexpected victory on the evening...

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• INCENDIES Denis Villeneuve, Luc Déry, Kim McGraw
• PINA Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel
• POTICHE François Ozon, Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer
• A SEPARATION Asghar Farhadi
• THE SKIN I LIVE IN Pedro Almodóvar, Agustin Almodóvar

If there is any justice in the world, then this award will go to Pedro Almodóvar's incredible horror piece The Skin I Live In. Also one of my top films of 2011, Almodóvar's film will genuinely leave you exiting the cinema in a state of psychological trauma - and as my roommate said as we left the cinema: "have you seen the Human Centipede? Yeah, this film was worse than THAT!..."

DOCUMENTARY

• GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD Martin Scorsese
• PROJECT NIM James Marsh, Simon Chinn
• SENNA Asif Kapadia

The clear favourite to win the best documentary award is by far and away Senna. I'd be very surprised if this film doesn't win the award here after the critics and general audiences, and racing fans and people who had never even heard of Senna alike were blown away by such a moving film. It is interesting to note however that the film failed to make onto the Oscar nomination longlist for the best documentary in what was a rather controversial move by the Academy - so the film definitely won't get an Oscar, but it'll be the favourite to win here.

ANIMATED FILM

• THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN Steven Spielberg
• ARTHUR CHRISTMAS Sarah Smith
• RANGO Gore Verbinski

Tintin to win-win! The Spielberg directed picture was a return to form for the world's most famous film director, with a fantastic adventure film that harkened back to the days of Spielberg's earlier works, in particular Raiders of the Lost Arc. Having just won at the Golden Globes for the same category this is my favourite to win here too.

DIRECTOR

• THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius
• DRIVE Nicolas Winding Refn
• HUGO Martin Scorsese
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Tomas Alfredson
• WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN Lynne Ramsay

The Artist is in my opinion going to be the inevitable big winner this year, so the odds of the best director award going to French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius look pretty good; and it'd be a justified win too though, after all it's no easy task to make a new film that looks like it was made nearly a decade ago, especially one of this standard.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius
• BRIDESMAIDS Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
• THE GUARD John Michael McDonagh
• THE IRON LADY Abi Morgan
• MIDNIGHT IN PARIS: Woody Allen

You may find it a be a bit odd to see what is an almost entirely silent film get my nod for the best original screenplay award (and if you think that's weird, wait 'til you get to the sound nominations...), however a screenplay is just as important here even without the dialogue (although it was obviously written anyway for the actors to say regardless - with the sound removed in post-production), but for a film as good as The Artist, which is up against not a lot of competition for this category (although I thought that The Guard is fantastic, and Midnight in Paris did just win the Golden Globe for its screenplay, so that could provide some small competition for the awards maverick of 2012...)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• THE DESCENDANTS Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
• THE HELP Tate Taylor
• THE IDES OF MARCH George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
• MONEYBALL Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

Another tough category, but I'm going to predict that the highly succesful Tinker, Tailor will fly the lfag for the British film industry here and win this award. Although if anyone of these tough competitors can give it a run for its money, then it'll be Moneyball which was written by one of the best screenwriters in Hollywood today: Aaron Sorkin.

LEADING ACTOR

• BRAD PITT Moneyball
• GARY OLDMAN Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• GEORGE CLOONEY The Descendants
• JEAN DUJARDIN The Artist
• MICHAEL FASSBENDER Shame

Gary Oldman became an early favourite for the best actor award after the release of Tinker, Tailor last September, however with The Artist dominating the awards season and Jean Dujardin having already secured award wins for his role in the film, it's a fair bet to put him as favourite to win. Although I wouldn't be surprised to see Oldman win it on the night though, or even dark horse Michael Fassbender either...

LEADING ACTRESS

• BÉRÉNICE BEJO The Artist
• MERYL STREEP The Iron Lady
• MICHELLE WILLIAMS My Week with Marilyn
• TILDA SWINTON We Need to Talk About Kevin
• VIOLA DAVIS The Help

Critics have appeared to be a bit hit and miss in their reviews of The Iron Lady, but despite whatever they may think about the film as a whole, most seem to be in agreement that Meryl Streep's performance as Maggie Thatcher seems to be a winner. Although I'd love to see Tilda Switon take it for her role in We need to Talk About Kevin which was one of if not my top film of the year.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

• CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER Beginners
• JIM BROADBENT The Iron Lady
• JONAH HILL Moneyball
• KENNETH BRANAGH My Week with Marilyn
• PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN The Ides of March

For me there are no real stand out winners here for this category, it really could go to any one of these five nominees. As a complete stab in the dark, I'd instinctively say that it would go to either Jim Broadbent or Kenneth Branagh, possibly Philip Seymour Hoffman as a bit of a dark horse, but I think if I had to make a bet on it, I'd put my money on Broadbent.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• CAREY MULLIGAN Drive
• JESSICA CHASTAIN The Help
• JUDI DENCH My Week with Marilyn
• MELISSA MCCARTHY Bridesmaids
• OCTAVIA SPENCER The Help

Once again, just like the previous category this could go to anyone in this category. Although if I were to make a guess I'd say that the award could possibly go to Carey Mulligan, a young and talented British actress who has quickly risen the ranks to become a very well-known and much sought after actress in the industry.

ORIGINAL MUSIC

• THE ARTIST Ludovic Bource
• THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
• HUGO Howard Shore
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Alberto Iglesias
• WAR HORSE John Williams

Whilst the great John Williams is nominated for War Horse, and Tinker, Tailor featured a fantastic soundtrack from Alberto Iglesias, the award will go to The Artist (as will most) as let's face it, in a silent film the music become even more important, and this film work with that skilfully.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• THE ARTIST Guillaume Schiffman
• THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Jeff Cronenweth
• HUGO Robert Richardson
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Hoyte van Hoytema
• WAR HORSE Janusz Kaminski

You know what, I'm gonna give The Artist a break here (despite also having great cinematography) and say that the award for cinematography will go to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy which in my opinion would well and truly deserve to win this award with its incredible cinematography.

EDITING

• THE ARTIST Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
• DRIVE Mat Newman
• HUGO Thelma Schoonmaker
• SENNA Gregers Sall, Chris King
• TINKER TAILOR SOLIDER SPY Dino Jonsater

Hmm... tough one! If I'm honest I'm really not sure which one to pick here, as all of them use editing very well. I think I'll back the British again and go for Tinker, Tailor again here (let's not let The Artist get too big-headed!)

PRODUCTION DESIGN

• THE ARTIST Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould
• HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
• HUGO Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald
• WAR HORSE Rick Carter, Lee Sandales

Yet again this one's anyone's award to win. Whilst I'd love to see Tinker, Tailor win this award with its fantastic set design and use of mise-en-scene, I'm going to put money on it going to the final film in the Harry Potter franchise which does deserve some sort of nod at these awards for what it's done for the British film industry, and its extravogant fantasy sets do do a very effective job in bringing the world to life.

COSTUME DESIGN

• THE ARTIST Mark Bridges
• HUGO Sandy Powell
• JANE EYRE Michael O’Connor
• MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Jill Taylor
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Jacqueline Durran

Once again, all of these nominees are worthy contenders and could easily take home this award. Usually this sort of award can be expected to go to some sort of period drama in which creating such a wardrobe of costumes is no easy feat, which puts Jane Eyre into the spotlight. Although despite this, I find it hard to resist putting forward The Artist again.... actually I've just changed my mind; period drama - the award goes to Jane Eyre.

MAKE UP & HAIR

• THE ARTIST Julie Hewett, Cydney Cornell
• HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
• HUGO Morag Ross, Jan Archibald
• THE IRON LADY Marese Langan
• MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Jenny Shircore

Whilst instinctively (as with all of the applicable categories) my gut says The Artist, I can't help but think that Mr Potter could take this one as well along with production design. Hmm... Harry Potter (I don't know why I did that little dramatic pause, you could see who I predicted above anyway!)

SOUND

• THE ARTIST Nadine Muse, Gérard Lamps, Michael Krikorian
• HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 James Mather, Stuart Wilson, Stuart Hilliker, Mike Dowson, Adam Scrivener
• HUGO Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY John Casali, Howard Bargroff, Doug Cooper, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley
• WAR HORSE Stuart Wilson, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Richard Hymns

The Artist - although there is sort of irony about a silent film winning the award for sound!

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

• THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN Joe Letteri
• HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery
• HUGO Rob Legato, Ben Grossman, Joss Williams
• RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White
• WAR HORSE Ben Morris, Neil Corbould

All of these films feature fantastic special visual effects, but the award will almost definitely go to Harry Potter, just on principle really - with the success that it's brought to the British film industry and as this is the last film of the franchise as well.

SHORT ANIMATION

• ABUELAS Afarin Eghbal, Kasia Malipan, Francesca Gardiner
• BOBBY YEAH Robert Morgan
• A MORNING STROLL Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe

I'll admit here I have no idea! I've not seen any of these films nor have I even heard of any of them! Hang on, brb, Googling.... Ok so I just found trailers for the latter two, and whilst Bobby Yeah featured some pretty cool stop motion animation, A Morning Stroll had a very cool and unique stylistic look to it and most importantly - a catchy little soundtrack!

SHORT FILM

• CHALK Martina Amati, Gavin Emerson, James Bolton, Ilaria Bernardini
• MWANSA THE GREAT Rungano Nyoni, Gabriel Gauchet
• ONLY SOUND REMAINS Arash Ashtiani, Anshu Poddar
• PITCH BLACK HEIST John Maclean, Gerardine O’Flynn
• TWO AND TWO Babak Anvari, Kit Fraser, Gavin Cullen

Yet again like with the animated short category - not got a clue here! As I can't be bothered to google these as there are even more here than the previous category, I'm going to just pick one out at random: Only Sound Remains (it'll be hilarious if I get this one right! Just sayin'...)

THE ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)

• ADAM DEACON
• CHRIS HEMSWORTH
• CHRIS O’DOWD
• EDDIE REDMAYNE
• TOM HIDDLESTON

Finally reached the final category, it's only taken me a week to do so! Ok so this one's voted for by the public, and whilst I think all of these guys are great and upcoming actors and directors, Chris O'Dowd will undoubtedly get the public's love after starring in the incredibly popular and much-loved TV series The IT Crowd.

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So there we are, and if you managed to read through all of that well then kudos to you! Make sure to pop back to the blog after the awards ceremony on the 12th February to find out how many of my predictions were right (wish me luck, my heads on the line here!). I was planning on doing one for the Oscars too when those nominations are released, but this took ages and I have other stuff to do too; but just in case keep your eyes peeled for that too! (maybe...)

Agree or disagree? Leave your comments below on what you think about the BAFTA nominations and who you think will win!