Awards Season 2015: DGA and BAFTA Winners

Awards Season is now approaching the final straight, with one big weekend left. This weekend, however, has seen two sets of major awards handed outs.

DIRECTORS' GUILD AWARDS

The DGAs were handed out yesterday (Saturday 7th February). The film winners are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Laura Poitras (Citizenfour)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television: Lisa Cholodenko (Olive Kitteridge)

With this win, it's looking likely that Inarritu might sneak in for the Best Director Oscar, in place of the highly-fancied Richard Linklater. Both films have their merits: the sheer timescale and commitment Linklater took to get Boyhood on the screen can't be underestimated, whilst the continuous camera movements and overall style of Birdman is a technical tour de force. Both would be worthy winners.

Citizenfour also got a Best Documentary Feature nod at the Oscars, so this looks good for that.

BAFTA FILM AWARDS

Tonight (Sunday 8th February), at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the 68th British Academy Film Awards were given out in a star-studded ceremony hosted for the tenth time by Stephen Fry. Rosamund Pike, Eddie Redmayne, Edward Norton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, JK Simmons, Keira Knightley, Reese Witherspoon and Amy Adams were among some of the stars in attendance to celebrate the best in film.

Here's a full list of BAFTA winners:

Best Film: Boyhood

Outstanding British Film: The Theory Of Everything

Leading Actor: Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)

Leading Actress: Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Original Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel 

Adapted Screenplay: The Theory Of Everything

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: Stephen Beresford and David Livingstone (writer and producer of Pride)

Animated Film: The Lego Movie

Documentary: Citizenfour

Film Not In The English Language: Ida

Cinematography: Birdman

Costume Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Editing: Whiplash

Make Up And Hair: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Original Music: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Sound: Whiplash

Special Visual Effects: Interstellar

Short Animation: The Bigger Picture

Short Film: Boogaloo And Graham

Rising Star: Jack O'Connell

Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema: BBC Films

BAFTA Fellowship: Mike Leigh

Stephen Fry was on top form as host, with a couple of nice little jokes; I also love how embarrassed he got after being kissed by Cuba Gooding Jr! I'm overjoyed to see the writer and producer of Pride get a BAFTA, as well as The Lego Movie winning Best Animated Feature. There was a very touching tribute to the late great, Richard (Lord) Attenborough and Mike Leigh's Felllowship acceptance speech was probably the highlight of the night, thanking those who have backed his films and also those who didn't- as they would have only interefered!

The biggest winner of the night was The Grand Budapest Hotel, winning five BAFTAs with The Theory Of Everything, Boyhood and Whiplash all taking home three. Congratulations to all winners!


Awards Season will culminate in two weeks' time, on the weekend of 21st/22nd February. Both the Independent Spirit Awards and the Razzies will be handed out on Saturday 21st February with the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday 22nd February.

And then we can forget about this trivial nonsense until the end of November.

Awards Season 2015: Producers' Guild Awards and SAG Awards Results

Well, after a brief respite, Awards Season rears its head for a brief moment as two important Guild Awards were handed out over this last weekend.

PRODUCERS' GUILD AWARDS 

The Producers' Guild Awards were handed out on 24th January. The film winners were:

Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: Birdman

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures: The Lego Movie

Documentary Film: Life Itself

The fact that Birdman got the PGA over Boyhood has been seen as a sign that the tide is starting to shift away from Linklater's epic. Of course, there are no guarantees- but a win at the PGA is a pretty good indication of Oscar success (if you're nominated, unlike The Lego Movie and Life Itself).

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS

The Screen Actors' Guild Awards were announced on 25th January. The film winners were:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: 

Birdman

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: 

Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: 

Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: 

J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: 

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

No surprises with Moore, Simmons and Arquette adding to their impressive haul of silverware, but a win for Eddie Redmayne in the awards voted for by actors (many of whom are also Academy members) puts him ahead in the Best Actor race (with Michael Keaton probably the second-placed runner). Birdman's win for Best Cast (essentially the SAG's Best Picture) adds to the speculation that it might be a triumph for Birdman come late February.

Up next in awards season is the Directors' Guild Award on 7th February and the BAFTA Film Awards on 8th February.

Review: The LEGO Movie (UK Cert U)

They really will make a film of anything these days. Books, other films (I'm looking at you, RoboCop although I'm dearly wishing I wasn't), newspaper articles, rollercoasters, and boardgames have all been used as inspiration for a film. Following on from Transformers and G.I. Joe, there's also now... The LEGO Movie.

Generic construction worker Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt) is a genial, easy-going, follow-the-instructions kind of guy, living and working in the town of Bricksburg which is run by President Business (voiced by Will Ferrell). However, Emmet's safe and ordered world is about to be changed as he becomes embroiled in a plot to save the world... For what could have easily been a hundred minute toy ad, The LEGO Movie manages to be laugh-out-loud funny, totally surreal and eminently enjoyable.

The voice cast is top-notch throughout, with great turns from Morgan Freeman as wise wizard Vitruvius, Elizabeth Banks as Master Builder Wyldstyle and an absolutely brilliant performance by Will Arnett as none other than... Batman! Bear in mind, Lego has the rights to a LOT of different franchises and there's a lot of fun to be had spotting the various characters. Ferrell is great as the villain of the piece whilst there's a great turn by Liam Neeson as a police officer who is both Good Cop and Bad Cop in one. There are also some genius little cameos which I won't spoil for you but which add to the general fun.

The animation is a mix of computer generated action and use of stop-motion with what looks like actual Lego pieces, even down to things like lightning bolts, fire, explosions and water. It's visually impressive, but probably doesn't need the 3D treatment (I did actually see this in 3D).

It will keep children and adults alike entertained and is an enjoyable slice of feelgood popcorn fun- just what I was in need of after a few weeks of heavy, intense dramas. All said, it was a whole lot of fun.

The LEGO Movie had previews last weekend (8th and 9th February) and is on general release in 2D and 3D releases from Friday 14th February.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez