NEW TRAILER FOR FINDING DORY

Pixar looks to bounce back from the underperformance of last year's The Good Dinosaur with Finding Dory - the sequel to one of their most popular films, 2003's Finding Nemo. With the exceptional popularity of their other film from last year, Inside Out, still in the minds of audiences, however, this film ought to have no problem in hitting high numbers at the box office when it's released in the US on the 17th of June. UK release date will be the 29th of July.

REVIEW OF 2015 - BEST FILM

1. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao Hsien)

2. The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer)

3. Carol (Todd Haynes)

4. Park Lanes (Kevin Jerome Everson)

5. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)

6. The Forbidden Room (Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin)

7. The Blue Room (Mathieu Amalric)

8. Phoenix (Christian Petzold)

9. The Witch (Robert Eggers)

10. Inside Out (Ronnie del Carmen and Pete Docter)

11. World of Tomorrow (Don Hertzfeldt)

12. Eisenstein in Guanajuato (Peter Greenaway)

13. 45 Years (Andrew Haigh)

14. The Salt of the Earth (Juliano Ribeiro Salgado)

15. Chi-Raq (Spike Lee)

16. Son of Saul (Nemes Laszlo)

17. By the Sea (Angelina Jolie)

18. The Wonders (Alice Rohrwacher)

19. Cemetery of Splendour (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

20. Knight of Cups (Terrence Malick)

21. Tangerine (Sean Baker)

22. Sherpa (Jennifer Peedom)

23. Under Electric Clouds (Aleksey German)

24. A Bigger Splash (Luca Guadagnino)

25. Innocence of Memories (Grant Gee)

26. Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming Liang)

27. My Nazi Legacy (David Evans)

28. Stinking Heaven (Nathan Silver)

29. Aferim! (Radu Jude)

30. Wild Tales (Damian Szifron)

REVIEW OF 2015 - BEST MUSIC

1. Galen Johnson, Guy Maddin and Jason Staczek (The Forbidden Room)

2. Lauren Marie Mikus and Hanan Townshend (Knight of Cups)

3. Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood and The Rajasthan Express (Junun)

4. Tom Holkenborg (Mad Max: Fury Road)

5. Michael Giacchino and Tom MacDougall (Inside Out)

6. Matthew Smith (Tangerine)

7. Lim Giong (The Assassin)

8. Alexandre Desplat and Milena Fessmann (Every Thing Will Be Fine)

9. Johann Johannsson and Jonathan Watkins (Sicario)

10. Michael Drayton and Terence Blanchard (Chi-Raq)

INSIDE OUT AND THE REVENANT WIN CINEMA AUDIO SOCIETY AWARDS

The Revenant has staked another claim for dominance in the sound categories at next weekend's Oscar with a victory at the Cinema Audio Society awards. It won the Live Action prize for its crew of sound mixers, with the Animated prize going to Inside Out's crew, among a field of five non-Oscar nominees. Check out what the CAS nominated here, and what they chose to award below:

Best Sound Mixing - Live Action

Chris Duesterdiek, Conrad Hensel, Michael Miller, Frank A. Montano, Geordy Sincavage, Jon Taylor and Randy Thom (The Revenant)

Best Sound Mixing - Animated

Joel Iwataki, Tom Johnson, Doc Kane, Mary Jo Lang and Michael Semanick (Inside Out)

INSIDE OUT SWEEPS THE ANNIE AWARDS

The Academy didn't see fit to give Inside Out the same treatment they've given other, equally-successful, equally-acclaimed Pixar films in recent years, fobbing it off with two token nominations. At least Annie voters saw some sense, handing it out 10 awards from its 14 nominations; double noms in some categories mean that Inside Out misses only one potential win, taking every single other. While this does mean that other, deserving titles have slim pickings to choose from, I'm not complaining - this from the once-DreamWorks-dominated group that gave Kung Fu Panda every award it could find, snubbing WALL-E in the process. Pixar may be no underdog, but I was always rooting for it anyway. Here are their nominations, and below, their awards:

Best Animated Feature

Inside Out

Outstanding Directing in an Animated Feature Production

Pete Docter (Inside Out)

Outstanding Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

Phyllis Smith (Inside Out)

Outstanding Writing in an Animated Feature Production

Josh Cooley, Pete Docter and Meg LeFauve (Inside Out)

Outstanding Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

Tony Rosenast (Inside Out)

Outstanding Editorial in an Animated Feature Production

Kevin Nolting (Inside Out)

Outstanding Production Design in an Animated Feature Production

Ralph Eggleston (Inside Out)

Outstanding Animated Effects in an Animated Production

Michael Hall, Stephen Marshall, Michael K. O'Brien, Jon Reisch and Magnus Wrenninge (The Good Dinosaur)

Outstanding Animated Effects in a Live Action Production

Florent Andorra, Michael Balog, George Kaltenbrunner and Jim van Allen (Avengers: Age of Ultron)

Outstanding Music in an Animated Feature Production

Michael Giacchino (Inside Out)

Outstanding Character Animation in an Animated Production

Allison Rutland (Inside Out)

Outstanding Character Animation in a Live Action Production

Kevin Lan, Adrian Millington, Alexander Poei, Matthew Shumway and Blaine Toderian - 'Judy' (The Revenant)

Outstanding Character Design in an Animated Feature Production

Albert Lozano and Chris Sasaki (Inside Out)

Best Animated Feature - Independent

The Boy and the World

Best Student Film

Ed (Taya Neyestani)

Best Animated Short Subject

World of Tomorrow (Don Hertzfeldt)

Best Animated Special Production

He Named Me Malala

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS WINS TOP VES AWARD

As with many of the technical Oscar categories this year, Visual Effects is a tough one to call. But not between Mad Max: Fury Road and The Revenant, as in many cases - instead, it's between Mad Max and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the latter film has received the Visual Effects Society's seal of approval. Indeed, there were awards only for all three films mentioned above in the Photoreal categories,  with The Revenant claiming the Best Supporting Visual Effects award. The Good Dinosaur fairly cleaned up in the Animated categories, missing only one award to fellow Pixar feature Inside Out. Check out VES' nominees here, and their award winners below:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, Luke O'Byrne and Patrick Tubach (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Ivy Agregan, Nicolas Chevallier, Richard McBride, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer (The Revenant)

Outstanding Models in a Photoreal or Animated Project

Matthew Denton, Landis Fields, Cyrus Jam and Joshua Lee - 'BB-8' (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project

Colin Benoit, Paul Kavanagh, Greg Salter and Yukuhiro Susumu - 'Falcon chase / graveyard' (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature

T. C. Harrison, Charles Lai, Donny Rausch and Alan Travis - 'Bear attack' (The Revenant)

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature

Yannick Dusseault, Quentin Marmier, Justin van der Lek and Mike Wood - 'Falcon chase / graveyard' (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Outstanding Simulations in a Photoreal Feature

Dan Bethell, Clinton Downs and Chris Young' - 'Toxic storm' (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Outstanding Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature

Karin Cooper, Leandro Estebecorena, Gaelle Morand and Matt Shumway - 'The bear' (The Revenant)

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

Sanjay Bakshi, Denise Ream, Jon Reisch and Michael Venturini (The Good Dinosaur)

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature

Matt Kuruc, Tom Miller, David Munier and Matthew Webb - 'The farm' (The Good Dinosaur)

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature

Hemagiri Arumugam, Michael Hall, Stephen Marshall and Magnus Wrenninge (The Good Dinosaur)

Outstanding Animated Performance in an Animated Feature

Alexis Angelidis, Tanja Krampfert, Shawn Krause and Jacob Merrell - 'Joy' (Inside Out)

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

Francesco Faranna and Andreas Feix (Citipati)

ACE EDDIE AWARDS: MAD MAX AND THE BIG SHORT ADVANCE IN OSCAR RACE

It was a done deal, lbr. Hank Corwin for The Big Short and Margaret Sixel for Mad Max: Fury Road both won ACE Eddie awards yesterday, cementing their position as joint frontrunners in the Oscar Best Editing race. That award will be tougher to call, though, with potential spoiler The Revenant right at their heels. Check out the American Cinema Editors' nominations at this link, and their winners below:

Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic)

Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy)

Hank Corwin (The Big Short)

Best Edited Animated Feature Film

Kevin Nolting (Inside Out)

Best Edited Documentary (Feature)

Chris King (Amy)

SPANNER, MEET WORKS: THE BIG SHORT WINS PGA

Here's the confirmation you needed - this Oscar race could go any which way from here. Beating Critics' Choice champ Spotlight and Golden Globe winner The Revenant, The Big Short takes the top prize from the Producers Guild of America. It's an important win for the film, as it failed - like last year's winner, Birdman - to win the Comedy / Musical Globe earlier this month, and because no PGA winner has missed the Best Picture Oscar since the two groups simultaneously expanded their lineups and adopted a preferential ballot seven years ago. Check out the PGA nominees at this link, and the award winners below:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Big Short (Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Brad Pitt)

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

Inside Out (Jonas Rivera)

Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures

Amy (James Gay-Rees)

THE BIG SHORT, ROOM AND STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON WIN ARTIOS AWARDS

Here are the results of Artios Award voting by the Casting Society of America. Seven categories, seven different winners as no film was eligible to compete in more than one field. Major awards season players intermingle with lesser-celebrated titles, which is a pleasant and refreshing change from the usual slate of usual suspects. Check out the CSA's nominations for 2015 here, and their award winners below:

Best Casting (Big Budget - Drama)

Meagan Lewis, Pat Moran, Carolyn Pickman, Beth Sepko, Lucinda Syson, Victoria Thomas and Cindy Tolan (Straight Outta Compton)

Best Casting (Big Budget - Comedy)

Meagan Lewis and Francine Maisler (The Big Short)

Best Casting (Studio or Independent - Drama)

Robin D. Cook, Jonathan Oliveira and Fiona Weir (Room)

Best Casting (Studio or Independent - Comedy)

Angela Demo, Nancy Mosser and Katie Shenot (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)

Best Casting (Low Budget - Drama)

Angela Demo (The Stanford Prison Experiment)

Best Casting (Low Budget - Comedy)

Kim Coleman (Dope)

Best Casting (Animation)

Natalie Lyon and Kevin Reher (Inside Out)

ROGEREBERT.COM NAMES MAD MAX: FURY ROAD FILM OF THE YEAR

rogerebert.com is still going strong, three years after the death of its namesake, that legend of film criticism. The critics currently contributing to the site have chosen their Top 10 films of the year, and Mad Max: Fury Road comes out on top of a strong list. There's also an unranked list of the best performances of the year. Take a look below:

rogerebert.com's Best Films of 2015
1. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller)
2. Inside Out (Pete Docter)
3. Anomalisa (Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman)
4. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)
5. Brooklyn (John Crowley)
6. 45 Years (Andrew Haigh)
7. Carol (Todd Haynes)
8. Son of Saul (Nemes Laszlo)
9. Creed (Ryan Coogler)
10. Chi-Raq (Spike Lee)

rogerebert.com's Best Performances of 2015
Emory Cohen (Brooklyn)
John Cusack (Love & Mercy)
Blythe Danner (I'll See You in My Dreams)
Paul Dano (Love & Mercy)
Benicio del Toro (Sicario)
Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)
Nina Hoss (Phoenix)
Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)
Jennifer Jason Leigh (Anomalisa / The Hateful Eight)
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Teyonah Parris (Chi-Raq)
Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
Kurt Russell (The Hateful Eight)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Shu Qi (The Assassin)
Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Jacob Tremblay (Room)
Ben Vereen (Time Out of Mind)

OSCAR NOMINATIONS PREDICTIONS 2015!

For official record, here are my final predictions for the 2015 Academy Award nominations, due to be announced tomorrow.

Best Picture

The Big Short

Bridge of Spies

Carol

Inside Out
Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Spotlight

alt: Sicario

Best Director

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Adam McKay (The Big Short)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

alt: Todd Haynes (Carol)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Steve Carell (The Big Short)

Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

alt: Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

alt: Jennifer Lawrence (Joy)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Benicio del Toro (Sicario)

Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

alt: Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

alt: Helen Mirren (Trumbo)

Best Original Screenplay

Matt Charman, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen (Bridge of Spies)

Josh Cooley, Pete Docter and Meg LeFauve (Inside Out)

Alex Garland (Ex Machina)

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)

alt: Taylor Sheridan (Sicario)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Emma Donoghue (Room)

Drew Goddard (The Martian)

Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short)

Phyllis Nagy (Carol)

alt: Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)

Best Cinematography

Roger Deakins (Sicario)

Edward Lachman (Carol)

Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

Robert Richardson (The Hateful Eight)

John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road)

alt: Janusz Kaminski (Bridge of Spies)

Best Editing

Hank Corwin (The Big Short)

Tom McArdle (Spotlight)

Stephen Mirrione (The Revenant)

Pietro Scalia (The Martian)

Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

alt: Joe Walker (Sicario)

Best Production Design

Judy Becker (Carol)

Rick Carter and Darren Gilford (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Dante Ferretti (Cinderella)

Colin Gibson (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Adam Stockhausen (Bridge of Spies)

alt: Eve Stewart (The Danish Girl)

Best Costume Design

Jenny Beavan (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Paco Delgado (The Danish Girl)

Odile Dicks-Mireaux (Brooklyn)

Sandy Powell (Carol)

Sandy Powell (Cinderella)

alt: Daniel Orlandi (Trumbo)

Best Sound Mixing

Bridge of Spies

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

alt: The Hateful Eight

Best Sound Editing

Inside Out

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

alt: The Hateful Eight

Best Visual Effects

Jurassic World

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The Walk

alt: Ex Machina

Best Makeup

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Revenant

alt: Mr. Holmes

Best Original Score

Alexandre Desplat (The Danish Girl)

Michael Giacchino (Inside Out)

Johann Johannsson (Sicario)

Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

Thomas Newman (Bridge of Spies)

alt: John Williams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Best Original Song

'Feels Like Summer' (Shaun the Sheep Movie)

'Grip' (Creed)

'The Mystery of Your Gift' (Boychoir)

'See You Again' (Furious 7)

''Til It Happens to You' (The Hunting Ground)

alt: 'So Long' (Concussion)

Best Animated Feature

Anomalisa

The Boy and the World

Inside Out

Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet

Shaun the Sheep Movie

alt: When Marnie Was There

Best Documentary

Best of Enemies

Listen to Me Marlon

The Look of Silence

Meru

We Come as Friends

alt: Amy

Best Foreign Language Film

The Fencer

Mustang

Son of Saul

Theeb

A War

alt: Embrace of the Serpent

Best Live Action Short

Against the Grain

Ave Maria

Day One

Shok

Winter Light

alt: Stutterer

Best Animated Short

Bear Story

If I Was God...

Prologue

Sanjay's Super Team

World of Tomorrow

alt: We Can't Live Without Cosmos

Best Documentary Short

Body Team 12

Chau, Beyond the Lines

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

My Enemy, My Brother

The Testimony

alt: Last Day of Freedom