TRAILER FOR BLADE RUNNER 2049

Roger Deakins Roger Deakins Roger Deakins! Denis Villeneuve and Ridley Scott have certainly drawn together an impressive cast and crew (and Jared Leto, alas) for the Blade Runner sequel that, frankly, nobody wanted anyway. But then there's Roger Deakins, right? Out on the 6th of October in both the US and the UK.

GONZALEZ INARRITU, MCCARTHY, MCKAY, MILLER, SCOTT - DGA NOMINATIONS

In the 2015 Boys' Club nominations, five big boys got nominations for their big boy films. There's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for his angsty big-boy Western The Revenant! There's Tom McCarthy for his working-boys drama Spotlight! There's Adam McKay for his banker-boy comedy-drama The Big Short! There's Ridley Scott for his space-boy thriller The Martian! And there's George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road, which isn't rly a boys' movie, and that's why PLZ MOVIE GODS LET IT WIN! But look: a new category, for debut directors, and the movie gods are already at work, nominating a w-, a wo-, a... w-o-m-a-n? Is that what they're called? Winners announced at the ceremony on the 6th of February. Noms, including for the Documentary category, can be viewed below:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

Adam McKay (The Big Short)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Meru)
Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone?)
Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief)
Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land)
Asif Kapadia (Amy)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director

Fernando Coimbra (A Wolf at the Door)

Joel Edgerton (The Gift)

Alex Garland (Ex Machina)

Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl)

Nemes Laszlo (Son of Saul)

BRIDGE OF SPIES AND CAROL ARE SHOCK LEADERS OF BAFTA NOMINATIONS

This awards season just won't sit still! Prior to today's BAFTA nominations announcement, one might have expected Mad Max: Fury Road or The Martian to lead; instead, all films trail none other than current awards season punching bag Carol and outside contender Bridge of Spies, both of which make nine appearances! And next in line is The Revenant with eight mentions! There were major absentees too, such as Spotlight's Tom McCarthy missing out on a Best Director nod; that was taken by Ridley Scott for The Martian, though its six nominations do not include one among the Best Film top five. And Mad Max is entirely absent from all above-the-line categories, just in case the Carol sweep was too much good news for one day. It was a highly surprising slate, then, and one which promises more surprises to come, both in the BAFTA race and in the Oscar race overall. Winners will be revealed on the 14th of February. Here are all the nominees:

Best Film

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

Bridge of Spies (Kristie Macosko Krieger, Marc Platt and Steven Spielberg)

Carol (Elizabeth Karlsen, Christine Vachon and Stephen Woolley)

The Revenant (Steve Golin, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Arnon Milchan, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon)

Spotlight (Blye Pagon Faust, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Michael Sugar)

Best Director

Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant)

Todd Haynes (Carol)

Adam McKay (The Big Short)

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Steven Spielberg (Bridge of Spies)

Best Leading Actor

Bryan Cranston (Trumbo)

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

Best Leading Actress

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Maggie Smith (The Lady in the Van)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Benicio del Toro (Sicario)

Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)

Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Julie Walters (Brooklyn)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

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)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Emma Donoghue (Room)

Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short)

Phyllis Nagy (Carol)

Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)

Best Cinematography

Roger Deakins (Sicario)

Janusz Kaminski (Bridge of Spies)

Edward Lachman (Carol)

Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Editing

Hank Corwin (The Big Short)

Michael Kahn (Bridge of Spies)

Stephen Mirrione (The Revenant)

Pietro Scalia (The Martian)

Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Production Design

Judy Becker and Heather Loeffler (Carol)

Celia Bobak and Arthur Max (The Martian)

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

Rena DeAngelo and Adam Stockhausen (Bridge of Spies)

Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Costume Design

Jenny Beavan (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Paco Delgado (The Danish Girl)

Odile Dicks-Mireaux (Brooklyn)

Sandy Powell (Carol)

Sandy Powell (Cinderella)

Best Sound

David Acord, Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, Stuart Wilson and Matthew Wood (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Lon Bender, Chris Duesterdiek, Martín Hernández, Frank A. Montaño, Jon Taylor and Randy Thom (The Revenant)

Scott Hecker, Chris Jenkins, Mark Mangini, Ben Osmo, Gregg Rudloff and David White (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Richard Hymns, Drew Kunin, Andy Nelson and Gary Rydstrom (Bridge of Spies)

Paul Massey, Mac Ruth, Oliver Tarney and Mark Taylor (The Martian)

Best Special Visual Effects

Mark Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris and Andrew Whitehurst (Ex Machina)

Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh and Neal Scanlan (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Andrew Jackson, Dan Oliver, Andy Williams and Tom Wood (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Chris Lawrence, Tim Ledbury, Richard Stammers and Steven Warner (The Martian)

Jake Morrison, Greg Steele, Daniel Sudick and Alex Wuttke (Ant-Man)

Best Makeup & Hair

Jerry DeCarlo and Patricia Regan (Carol)

Lorraine Glynn and Morna Ferguson (Brooklyn)

Sian Grig, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini (The Revenant)

Damian Martin and Lesley Vanderwalt (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Jan Sewell (The Danish Girl)

Best Original Music

Jóhann Jóhannsson (Sicario)

Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

Thomas Newman (Bridge of Spies)

Carsten Nicolai and Sakamoto Ryûichi (The Revenant)

John Williams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Best Animated Film

Inside Out (Pete Docter)

Minions (Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin)

Shaun the Sheep Movie (Mark Burton and Richard Starzak)

Best Documentary

Amy (James Gay-Rees and Asif Kapadia)

Cartel Land (Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin)

He Named Me Malala (Davis Guggenheim, Laurie MacDonald and Walter Parkes)

Listen to Me Marlon (John Battsek, George Chignell, R. J. Cutler and Stevan Riley)

Sherpa (Bridget Ikin, Jennifer Peedom and John Smithson)

Best Film Not in the English Language

The Assassin (Hou Hsiao Hsien)

Force Majeure (Ruben Östlund)

Theeb (Naji Abu Nowar)

Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako)

Wild Tales (Damián Szifrón)

Outstanding British Film

45 Years (Tristan Goligher and Andrew Haigh)

Amy (James Gay-Rees and Asif Kapadia)

Brooklyn (John Crowley, Finola Dwyer, Nick Hornby and Amanda Posey)

The Danish Girl (Tim Bevan, Lucinda Coxon, Eric Fellner, Anne Harrison, Tom Hooper and Gail Mutrux)

Ex Machina (Alex Garland, Andrew MacDonald and Allan Reich)

The Lobster (Ceci Dempsey, Efthymis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos, Ed Guiney and Lee Magiday)

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

Stephen Fingleton – writer / director (The Survivalist)

Alex Garland – director (Ex Machina)

Debbie Tucker Green – writer / director (Second Coming)

Rupert Lloyd – producer; and Naji Abu Nowar – writer / director (Theeb)

Sean McAllister – director / producer; and Elhum Shakerifar – producer (A Syrian Love Story)

Best British Short Film

Elephant (Nick Helm, Alex Moody and Esther Smith)

Mining Poems or Odes (Jack Cocker and Callum Rice)

Operator (Caroline Bartleet and Rebecca Morgan)

Over (Jeremy Bannister and Jörn Threlfall)

Samuel-613 (Cheyenne Conway and Billy Lumby)

Best British Short Animation

Edmond (Nina Gantz and Emilie Jouffroy)

Manoman (Simon Cartwright and Kamilla Kristiane Hodol)

Prologue (Imogen Sutton and Richard Williams)

The EE Rising Star Award

John Boyega

Taron Egerton

Dakota Johnson

Brie Larson

Bel Powley

NORTH TEXAS FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION CHOOSES THE MARTIAN AS BEST PICTURE OF 2015

Ridley Scott's The Martian continues to prove its place in awards season 2015-16 with top award wins from the North Texas Film Critics Association. Although it doesn't take any other titles from the group's admittedly limited slate, the sci-fi / comedy / drama / thriller / who-knows-what-genre did pick up both Best Picture and Best Director. Check out their choices below:

Best Picture

The Martian

Best Director

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Best Actor

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Best Actress

Brie Larson (Room)

Best Supporting Actor

Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Best Cinematography

Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

Best Animated Feature

Inside Out

Best Documentary

Amy (Asif Kapadia)

Best Foreign Film

Son of Saul (Nemes Laszlo)

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD WINS FIRST AWARD OF SEASON - NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW

The National Board of Review often bestows its top award of the year on a film based on a literary source; this year, they chose a film based on a legacy of action films and a genius filmmaker's imagination. Mad Max: Fury Road is the (slight) surprise winner of the NBR's Best Film award, joining other less-than-expected choices on their list such as Sicario and Straight Outta Compton on their Top 10 list, major showings for late-breakers Creed and The Hateful Eight, but not for Joy nor The Revenant, and no love for critics fave Carol. Last year, this group chose A Most Violent Year as their Best Film pick - a film that went on to secure zero Oscar nominations total. Check out their full list of winners and other citations below:

Best Film

Mad Max: Fury Road

Bridge of Spies

Creed

The Hateful Eight

Inside Out

The Martian

Room

Sicario

Spotlight

Straight Outta Compton

Best Director

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Best Actor

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Best Actress

Brie Larson (Room)

Best Supporting Actor

Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight)

Best Original Screenplay

Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Drew Goddard (The Martian)

Best Ensemble

The Big Short

Best Animated Feature

Inside Out

Best Documentary

Amy

Best of Enemies

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution

The Diplomat

Listen to Me Marlon

The Look of Silence

Best Foreign Language Film

Son of Saul

Goodnight Mommy

Mediterranea

Phoenix

The Second Mother

The Tribe

Best Independent Film

'71

45 Years

Cop Car

Ex Machina

Grandma

It Follows

James White

Mississippi Grind

Welcome to Me

While We're Young

Best Directorial Debut

Jonas Carpignano (Mediterranea)

Best Breakthrough Actor

Abraham Attah (Beasts of No Nation)

Jacob Tremblay (Room)

NBR Freedom of Expression Award

Beasts of No Nation

Mustang

Spotlight Award for Outstanding Collaborative Vision

Sicario

William K. Everson Film History Award

Cecilia de Mille Presley

REVIEW - THE MARTIAN (RIDLEY SCOTT)

A scientific spectacular that gets too much right to be truly wrong. Ridley Scott is a filmmaker as gifted with brilliance as his films are often blighted with bloat - The Martian is so many different films in one that it's hard not to enjoy at least some of it, even if it's hard to recommend all of it. It's a popcorn movie, or it is until your popcorn runs out, whereupon you wish they'd found a little more excess weight to jettison to make the journey that bit smoother. A gargantuan ensemble of A-listers occupies two planets and one spaceship in between them, travelling through comedy, suspense and corporate drama, the whole film approaching each individual moment, as well as the entire enterprise, with a gusto that makes this mish-mash surprisingly affable. Early scenes establish the kind of speedy pace that suggests less a Mad Max style full-throttle thriller, more a film that's bitten off way more than it can chew. Kudos to The Martian - it makes it through the whole meal, though the gristly bits that appear as the film stumbles its way toward some sort of climax still can't be rescued by Pietro Scalia's expeditious edit job. Drew Goddard's dialogue does good work making the science palatable for the muggles among us, but does better work when dealing in quick comic quips; Goddard's ear isn't fine enough to pick up on a large number (everything in The Martian is large, though) of clangers in his own script, however. An artless piece of work made with an immense amount of artistry, The Martian at least boasts an excellent climactic sequence to save it from the sag that has otherwise set up shop by this point. It's winning details like this that do save The Martian - it's fun, both in spite of and because of itself.