Review: The Cabin in the Woods

If you go down to the woods today, you'd better be prepared to laugh and scream your socks off!

When five teenage friends decide to go on away for a break to one of their cousin's cabin in the woods, none of them were expecting the horrors that they'd encounter as their getaway paradise quickly becomes anything but! With a unexpected secret force behind the unfolding events, one thing's for sure; the lives of Dana (Kristen Connolly), Curt (Chris Hemsworth), Jules (Anna Hutchison), Marty (Fran Kranz) and Holden (Jesse Williams) will never be the same again - that is of course assuming that they make it out alive...

On the surface, The Cabin in the Woods may appear to look like a cliched and generic horror film, and that's because it's designed to be! It's very hard to say a lot about this film without ruining it and it's twist that you'll have probably heard everybody talking about, but avoid it at all costs because seeing the film unaware will make that much more rewarding. What I will say is that the twist is what makes the film a stand out horror piece, even though it may appear for all intents and purposes to be anything but. The use of such over-cliched generic conventions from the horror genre these days will often make people groan and roll their eyes at the formulaic piece of horror that they'll have undoubtedly seen before a hundred times. What The Cabin in the Woods very cleverly does is takes all of these conventions and cliches from the horror genre and turns them on their head with a unique story that in many ways actually goes on to somewhat justify and explain them.

Curt (Chris Hemsworth), Holden (Jesse Williams) Jules (Anna Hutchison), Marty (Fran Kranz) and Dana (Kristen Connolly) investigate the mysterious goings-ons in The Cabin in the Woods

Not only does this well-executed twist make the film a love-letter to the horror genre and a film made for horror fans, but it also makes it incredibly funny, resulting very much so in a horror-comedy that is just as funny as it is scary; a rare feat that I have never seen pulled off as well as it is here. Whilst the cliched horror elements make you laugh at just how cliched they are, they do genuinely provide scares at the same time; and without revealing too much about the secrets behind the twist, I will say that Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford steal the show with many of the film's biggest laugh out loud moments in their roles as Sitterson and Holden respectively. Whilst mixing the horror and comedy genres has been attempted many times in the past, it has never been executed quite as well as The Cabin in the Woods has managed to do, with the laughs and thrills coming thick and fast, and often hand in hand. The comedy complements the horror, and the horror complements the comedy - and despite the cleverness of its twist, this is truly what makes the film work as well as it does.

As scary as The Woman in Black; as funny as The Muppets and Jeff, Who Lives at Home; and as much a love-letter to cinema as The Artist; The Cabin in the Woods perfectly balances comedy and humour with it's very clever twist to form a love-letter to the horror genre that packs as many laughs as it does genuine chills. After producing this and directing Marvel's Avengers Assemble, Joss Whedon seems to be the man of the moment - showing some of the other releases of 2012 just how it's done!

Verdict: 5/5

The Cabin in the Woods is still showing in cinemas across the UK.

Agree or Disagree? Leave your comments below!

Beyond Infinity Film Celebrates: The Artist!

I may have already reviewed the film back at the start of January (my first ever review no less!), but after its overwhelming and much deserved successes all award ceremonies including the big two; The BAFTAs and The Oscars, I feel it's only right to give some more attention to what is a truly remarkable film - The Artist.

Back at the start of January when I first saw and reviewed The Artist, very few people had heard about the film, and it's staggered release meant that many of those who had couldn't see it anyway. Now however is a very different picture. Riding off the back of its many award successes, The Artist is now playing in many cinemas up and down the country, and last week my local independent cinema (the fantastic Gulbenkian cinema in Canterbury) showed it all week, with sell out showings on a nightly basis! I decided this week to go and see the film again, and it has to be said that for me, this second viewing was a very special moment; in fact I'd probably go as far as to say the best cinema experience that I've ever had! Whilst the first time I saw it, there were only 5 to 7 people in the entire cinema, here the screening was sold-out. The handful of people in the cheap chain multiplex cinema who sat munching loud crisps in my ear throughout the film had been replaced by a large audience of cinema goers who all were enthralled by the magic of the film. And there I was - right in the audience scenes from the film itself! I spoke fondly of these moments in my review saying how I wish that cinema was a special today as it was back then, as seen in a number of the films scenes, and in a rare moment in modern cinema I was there. This for me was a truly amazing moment, with the entire audience laughing along and enjoying the film together; it was a true experience elevating the film up to something special. Back in 2009 with the release of Avatar, millions of people around the world flooded to cinemas to see what was an event film; The Artist is like this too, except the event for this is far superior than Avatar's gimmicky CGI/3D effects - it is the heart and soul of the film that by taking us back to its roots reminds us why we love cinema and why it is so special to us all.

 The cast and crew of The Artist celebrate their triumph at The Oscars

The Artist truly is a cinematic triumph on so many levels, and I am so proud to see it receive all of the attention and awards that it so rightfully deserves. I'd like to personally congratulate every single person involved in creating this film, especially the incredible works of director and screenwriter Michel Hazanavicius, and the wonderful lead performances of Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo who drive forward the story and bring it to life - it's so rare to see a film as special as this, and so exciting to also see what is technically an almost silent French film in the 4:3 format and black and white achieving such success today!

Now let's celebrate The Artist with number of special videos! Firstly in case you missed it, here is the moment that The Artist became the first silent film to win the Oscar for best picture in 83 years!:

 

This next and very insightful video goes behind the scenes of the film and talks to the people behind it:

And now for a bit more fun - a very entertaining blooper reel from the film:

After winning the BAFTA and the Oscar for Best Leading Actor, Funny or Die asks what will Jean Dujardin do next in this hilarious sketch:

And finally, for many people the real star of the show was a very talented little dog named Uggie, and here he is on American chat show Ellen showing off some of his acting talents:

The Artist is still showing in cinemas across the UK - so catch it whilst you still can!

Have you seen The Artist? What did you think? Leave your comments below!

2012 BAFTA Results!

 

 The winners of the 2012 BAFTA Awards

So the BAFTAs were last night, and if you remember back to one of my first blogs back in January, I made a prediction for each category as to who would win. The idea was to then look back on my predictions and see how close I was! So let's have a look at how well I did...

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BEST FILM

• Prediction: THE ARTIST Thomas Langmann
• Winner: THE ARTIST Thomas Langmann

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

• Prediction: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Tomas Alfredson, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo, Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
• Winner: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Tomas Alfredson, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo, Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

• Prediction: TYRANNOSAUR Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)
• Winner: TYRANNOSAUR Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• Prediction: THE SKIN I LIVE IN Pedro Almodóvar, Agustin Almodóvar
• Winner: THE SKIN I LIVE IN Pedro Almodóvar, Agustin Almodóvar

DOCUMENTARY

• Prediction: SENNA Asif Kapadia
• Winner: SENNA Asif Kapadia

ANIMATED FILM

• Prediction: THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN Steven Spielberg
• Winner: RANGO Gore Verbinski 

DIRECTOR

• Prediction: THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius
• Winner: THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Prediction: THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius
• Winner: THE ARTIST Michel Hazanavicius 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Prediction: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
• Winner: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

LEADING ACTOR

• Prediction: JEAN DUJARDIN The Artist
• Winner: JEAN DUJARDIN The Artist 

 
LEADING ACTRESS

• Prediction: MERYL STREEP The Iron Lady
• Winner: MERYL STREEP The Iron Lady

 
SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Prediction: JIM BROADBENT The Iron Lady
• Winner: CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER Beginners

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Prediction: CAREY MULLIGAN Drive
• Winner: OCTAVIA SPENCER The Help

ORIGINAL MUSIC

• Prediction: THE ARTIST Ludovic Bource
• Winner: THE ARTIST Ludovic Bource

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Prediction: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Hoyte van Hoytema
• Winner: THE ARTIST Guillaume Schiffman

EDITING

• Prediction: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Dino Jonsater
• Winner: SENNA Gregers Sall, Chris King

PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Prediction: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
• Winner: HUGO Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo

COSTUME DESIGN

• Prediction: JANE EYRE Michael O’Connor
• Winner: THE ARTIST Mark Bridges

MAKE UP & HAIR

• Prediction: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
• Winner: THE IRON LADY Marese Langan

SOUND

• Prediction: THE ARTIST Nadine Muse, Gérard Lamps, Michael Krikorian
• Winner: HUGO Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

• Prediction: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery
• Winner: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery 

SHORT ANIMATION

• Prediction: A MORNING STROLL Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe
• Winner: A MORNING STROLL Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe

SHORT FILM

• Prediction: ONLY SOUND REMAINS Arash Ashtiani, Anshu Poddar
• Winner: PITCH BLACK HEIST John Maclean, Gerardine O’Flynn 

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

• Prediction: CHRIS O’DOWD
• Winner: ADAM DEACON

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So there you go, in total I got 13 correct guesses and 11 wrong; not too bad I guess!? Overall I am happy with these results and winners of the night, and glad to see The Artist (Click here for my review) clean up as the big winner of the night - just as it deserved to.

Let's end off with some footage from the night itself, hosted from the Red Carpet by the glamorous Miss Piggy, the star of the fantastic new film The Muppets (Click here for my review) as she flirts and mingles with some of the stars.

  

How well did you do? Did you beat me? 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!

Review: The Artist

George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) and Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) in The Artist

Last night I went to see Michel Hazanavicius' new film The Artist, having driven far and wide to find a cinema actually showing it (due to the distributor's staggered release of the film) - and boy was it worth it!

The film follows the story of George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a huge star of silent film, who struggles to maintain his rich and glamorous lifestyle after the advent of sound. Throughout the film we see the star hit the peak of his career, before falling into a downward spiral that sees him hit rock bottom, whilst the beautiful starlet Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) whom Valentin himself helped rise to stardom becomes the biggest actress of the new era of talkies. Can Valentin overcome the odds to rise once again to the top?

For anyone who didn't know, The Artist is a black and white silent film, set in the period of black and white silent films, about black and white silent films, the making of black and white silent films and the fall of black and white silent films at the advent of the talkies (see what they did there?) The film is a beautiful tribute and throwback to the golden era of Hollywood, with its authentic style, charming performances, and heartwarming tale reminding us of the romanticism of a time where a cinema was a lot more than a glorified sweet shop as many large chain multiplexes filled with screens of typically trashy overpriced 3D Hollywood blockbusters have degraded to today.

Al Zimmer (John Goodman) in The Artist

This beautiful film successfully celebrates the wonder of the golden age of cinema leaving audiences smiling in reminiscence, although it comes as something of a hollow end result. Whilst I sat smiling at the gorgeous shots of elegant packed out picture houses, which were accompanied by a live orchestra and audiences who don't break of the BBC Radio 5 Live Cinema Code of Conduct, I became aware of the fact that I was unfortunately sat in the less pristine auditorium of a major cinema chain whilst the guy in the row behind me happily munched his bottomless bag of extra crunchy crisps in my left ear throughout the entire film (even worse when watching a film that is SILENT!!!). As an 18-year-old it saddens me that I never saw this world, but this film certainly did bring it close to life.

To conclude, The Artist is a truly wonderful film, and little more can be said about it than has already been said by everyone else. It was so thrilling to see a film in the cinema that was so well made; a film that had more dimensions than most 3D Hollywood blockbusters could ever wish for, yet was as simple as it gets in its silent, black and white format (take note Michael Bay...).

Everything about this film is just wonderful, from the performances and style right down to the film's majestic score and reminiscence of the glamorous golden age of Hollywood, make sure to catch the inevitable next big Oscar winner whilst you can. The more I think about it, the more I want to see it again. Simply put - you'd be a fool to miss it!

It's clear that it will wipe the Oscars clean this year, I only hope that the best actor award can be awarded to Uggy the Dog who gave one of the finest performances that I have ever seen!...

Verdict: 5/5

The Artist is now showing in cinemas across the UK, although the staggered release means that it may be a small while before your local cinema shows it, but trust me when I say it's worth the wait!

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