Jameson Empire Awards: The Red Carpet

This post marks the end of awards season for another year (sob). Here are a couple of pictures from the Awards which have literally just ended over in London. Stay tuned, there's more to come!

The ever dapper Tom Hiddleston 

Looks like Martin Freeman may have retained some of Bilbo's knit wear...

Daniel Radcliffe - Hero

Sam Claflin 

Sir Ian McKellen 

Samantha Barks 

Reunited: Sam Mendes and Kevin Spacey 

Jameson Empire Awards: The Winners

Best Male Newcomer 

Domhnall Gleeson (Anna Karenina)

Rafe Spall (Life Of Pi)

Steve Oram (Sightseers)

Suraj Sharma (Life Of Pi)

WINNER Tom Holland (The Impossible)

Extremely worthy winner, I had voted for him after the short list was released in that post.

Best Female Newcomer

Alice Lowe (Sightseers)

Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina)

Holliday Grainger (Great Expectations)

Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts Of The Southern Wild)

WINNER Samantha Barks (Les Miserables)

Two out of two so far, as predicted!

Best Comedy 

21 Jump Street

Moonrise Kingdom 

WINNER Ted

The Pirates! In an Adventure With Scientists 

Silver Linings Playbook 

There's no disputing Ted was hilarious. Maybe 21 Jump Street was funnier...

Best Horror 

WINNER The Woman In Black 

The Cabin In The Woods 

Sinister 

Sightseers 

Dark Shadows

Happy this won, this was my pick for the category 

Best Thriller

Argo 

Skyfall

Zero Dark Thirty 

The Raid 

WINNER Jo Nesbo's Headhunters

Definitely a tough category, I had chosen Argo for this - Headhunters definitely bucks the previous award season trend.

Best Sci-FI/Fantasy 

Prometheus 

Looper 

Avengers Assemble 

Dredd 3D 

WINNER The Hobbit

I had chosen Avengers for this nod, but The Hobbit makes for a very worthy winner 

The Art Of 3D

Avengers Assemble 

WINNER Dredd 3D

Life Of Pi

Prometheus 

The Hobbit

Had predicted the Hobbit, but there wasn't much in it 

Jameson Best Actor

Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

Daniel Craig (Skyfall)

Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln)

WINNER Martin Freeman (The Hobbit)

Robert Downey Jr. (Avengers Assemble)

I threatened to eat my hat if Daniel Day-Lewis didn't win. I'll let you know how it tastes...

Best Actress

Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises)

Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

Dame Judi Dench (Skyfall)

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

WINNER Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games)

Thought Watts deserved this, but happy to see J-Law's winning streak continue. 

Best Director 

Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises)

Joss Whedon (Avengers Assemble)

WINNING Sam Mendes (Skyfall)

Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)

Peter Jackson (The Hobbit)

Unsurprisingly I had wanted this one to go to Nolan, but Mendes is definitely a hugely talented director, no qualms here.

Best British Film 

Dredd 3D

Les Miserables 

WINNER Sightseers 

Skyfall 

The Woman In Black

Bit of a curve ball don't you think? Over Les Mis and Skyfall though, really?!

Best Film 

Django Unchained

Avengers Assemble

WINNER Skyfall

The Dark Knight Rises

The Hobbit 

I wanted The Dark Knight Rises, but it sort of had to be Skyfall didn't it?

Check out Amateur Review's prediction post and also the Red Carpet post still to come. 

Jameson Empire Awards Shortlist

BAFTA Red Carpet 2013

Fear not this post will be padded out with even more glamorous pictures when they surface! Expect Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Hugh Jackman, George Clooney, Ben Affleck and many more.

The lovely Jennifer Garner

Certainly not Miserable! Samantha Barks

The stunning Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence in Dior 

Rising Star Juno Temple in Stella McCartney 

Damien Lewis and Helen McCrory 

The legend herself: Dame Judi Dench 

Sally Field smiling through the bitter cold 

Anne Hathaway in studded Burberry

The beautiful Amy Adams in Elie Saab 

Jessica Chastain

Marion Cotillard looking chilly as the snow fell

Director and star of Argo, Ben Affleck 

Red Carpet vet: George Clooney 

George and Ben 

Man of the hour: Mr Daniel Day Lewis 

Les Miserables - Review

LES MISERABLES


2013

12A

Starring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe Anne Hathaway

Directed by Tom Hooper

In 19^th-century France, Jean Valjean is paroled but continuously shadowed by Inspector Javert for a minor crime which saw him imprisoned for 19 years. When he takes the responsibility for factory worker Fantine’s daughter on his path to redemption, their lives are changed forever.

Hooper’s vision of the classic novel is by no means subtle. The opening scene, depicting hundreds of downtrodden convicts pulling an imposing ship into harbour, sets the precedent for the film. Les Miserables is an epic film and goes big in every sense: the performances, the emotion, the set design, the cinematography. Nevertheless this stirring musical maintains the brutality and the edge that laces Hugo’s original story and delves into the politics, French history, religion, justice, romantic and familial love with stunning flair and finesse.

The singing is handled with such ease, you treat it the same as you would dialogue after a while. The composition carries meaning that could never be achieved with dialogue alone. To ask why this Les Miserables film couldn’t have been done without singing would be like asking why poetry is not prose; it’s not meant to be. Some of the shots throughout the songs are very tight and claustrophobically close. You can see the exertion of singing live, it’s unflinching, almost uncomfortably intimate – but this just enhances what Victor Hugo intended, these people really are miserable and you shouldn’t turn away from it.

Hooper’s one-take/on-set singing brings a new level of meaning to the lyrics that are known and loved already, and it’s tremendously impressive. Anne Hathaway has spoken of how difficult it is to belt out these theatrical, operatic numbers while not contorting her face. But you can see the energy the actors are pouring into the performances and it is truly invigorating. This comes at the expense of some less polished moments but for the most part, the cast handle the massive songs with extraordinary skill.

Anne Hathaway’s Fantine is nothing short of remarkable, I Dreamed A Dream has definitely been reclaimed from Susan Boyle. This is not the pretty version; it is full of heart wrenching anger, sadness, hopelessness and resignation. Another pleasant revelation was the fact that, not only can Eddie Redmayne act outstandingly well, he has a startling pair of lungs on him. Marius’ rendition of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables is one of the most emotionally charged moments of the entire show.

Not all is so triumphant. Some of the outdoor shots of Paris seem curiously counterfeit which detracts from the full blown realism of the acting and indoor sets. At times Crow teeters into rock and roll notes, and the notoriously difficult Bring Him Home seems ever so slightly strained; but this is nit picking of the highest order.

Les Miserables is one of the greatest stories ever told, Hooper and his cast do it more than justice. When the pivotal moments arrive, they step up to the challenge with resolute determination to do it proud. It’s full of heart, clout and the care of hundreds. Les Miserables packs a supreme punch; even the most die hard fan of the novel or stage show could not disagree with that.

Rating 9.5