This Sunday sees the return of the BAFTAs, or the brightly coloured Orange BAFTAs as they seem to be known as now. Over the last few years Orange have cemented themselves in the minds of anyone that goes to the cinema or loves film. Orange Wednesday’s (where Orange users can get 2 for 1 film tickets) has become an institution, the success, well beyond their own wildest expectations. The recent addition of free Thursday downloads through iTunes is picking up pace with Film To Go.

Here we take a look at the main awards at this years Orange sponsored BAFTAs, the nominees, who we think will win, but more importantly who we think deserves to win!!

BEST FILM

THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
DRIVE
THE HELP
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

Who we want to win: Drive. One of our favourite films of the last few years. Yes the Oscars maybe too stuffy and old to recognise great film for a younger generation, but we really hope that the BAFTAS will go against the trend. They did a few years ago with Slumdog and Hurtlocker, will they go that way again?.

Who will win: The Artist. Yes we hate to say it, but they will probably choose the Artist, which I am sure many of you have never seen, and have no wish too. That doesn’t make it a bad film, but it doesn’t make it a good one either. Give it it’s dues, it is original though! Just imagine Instagram in motion!

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
SENNA
SHAME
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

Who we want to win: Senna. This is a tough one, either Senna or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy would be worthy winners. But we would love to Senna get credit above and beyond a documentary to which it has been labelled, and this would be perfect!

Who will win: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Heh, we will be pretty happy at our second choice but still!! Great story, Great cast, Great film.

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

Who we want to win: Hugo – Martin Scorsese. Surprised you huh? Martin Scorsese is a living legend in the film industry, and it was great to see him back to his best with Hugo.

Who will win: Hugo – Martin Scorsese. Although Martin Scorsese will also be honoured with an Academy Fellowship, we think he might just sneak this as well for a double celebration!

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

Who we want to win: The Iron Lady. We are a bit of a sucker for ole Maggie, and this great insight into British life is our top choice. Though Midnight in Paris comes a close second and I know it is one of Dan's favourite films of last year!

Who will win: Midnight in Paris. We think BAFTAs may buck the trend here and choose good old Woody, and we for one won’t be too disappointed if they do.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

THE DESCENDANTS
THE HELP
THE IDES OF MARCH
MONEYBALL
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

Who we want to win: Moneyball. Strange choice some might think, but this really hasn’t been given enough credit. Pitt and Jonah Hill are both superb and you don’t even need to be a sports fan to watch it!

Who will win: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. We love the book, we love the film. A little bit predictable but the film is THAT good, it is sure to win.

LEADING ACTOR

BRAD PITT – Moneyball
GARY OLDMAN – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
GEORGE CLOONEY – The Descendants
JEAN DUJARDIN – The Artist
MICHAEL FASSBENDER – Shame

Who we want to win: Brad Pitt. No contest for us. Had his critics, but this is top top draw from the heart-throb turned serious actor.

Who will win: George Clooney. Although we weren’t the biggest fan of the Descendants, Clooney yet again proved he is just a next level actor. Yes some maybe cheesy, but this is real life, gripping stuff!

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

Who we want to win: Meryl Streep. The performance was world class and a very believable Margaret Thatcher!

Who will win: Tilda Swinton. With so many nominations, We talk about Kevin has got to take something, and this well may be it. Well done Tilda!!

There we have it, our thoughts on the winners, I wonder how we will do? For all the information and other BAFTA gossip head over to Orange Film Pulse.

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Set to be released later this year, this is our first real and lengthy look at the new Spider-Man Film, The Amazing Spider-Man 3D.

Although we struggle to see this films angle, as it seemingly re-writes the other Spider-Man films, it does have the added aspect of Andrew Garfield playing Peter Parker. Which gives the character an extra arrogant edge that has perhaps been lacking in the past with Tobey Maguire playing the lead.

We have tobe honest, the trailer looks good, but for die hard fans, we have the feeling, this is just a film to add to franchise, but will it add anything in terms of real content? Only time will tell.

Now, lego wouldn’t be our usual kind of feature. But you know us, we like anything quirky or that bit different. And as we are huge Lord of the Rings fans, we just couldn’t leave this alone. Combining one of the great film series of all time with our favourite childhood toy, then I am afraid you have us!

Recently leaked photos taken by a fan in Germany show just what we can expect when the official sets land later this year. As you can see from one of the shots, this was a very secret display, but they seemed to forget to put a roof on it!

The set seems to feature all of the characters you would expect, as well as various location scenes. Check out the pictures and let us know what you think.

Source: Gizmodo

Spartacus led the gladiators of the ludus owned by the House of Batiatus, in a revolt against their masters. This followed a series of traumatic events whereby Spartacus fights his way to the top of the gladiatorial food-chain and finds out that his beloved wife is enslaved and subsequently murdered, a plot concocted by his owner – Batiatus. Its also worth knowing that, in the prequel series, Gannicus was the champion who won his freedom through combat, and will be making a return to the fore.

If you’re a fan of the show you won’t need much convincing to tune in for yet another series of blood, guts and nudity. And of course featuring the following lovelies.

Lucy Lawless – Lucretia, Batiatus’ wife

Katrina Law – Mira

Viva Bianca – Ilithyia

Cynthia Addai-Robinson – Naevia

Brooke Williams – Aurelia (Varro’s wife)

Hanna Mangan-Lawrence – Seppia

If you do need any convincing (Joe hates it!), even just a cursory glance below should be enough…

Well yesterday HBO released their latest trailer, and already hitting nearly 1 millions views, series 2 is sure to be a massive success! The trailer suggests that Season 2 will become even more of a power struggle and with the major player likely to be the awesome Peter Dinklage who plays Tyrion Lannister. And of course we are stoked to see the stunning beautfiul Emilia Clarke return to our screens as Daenerys Targaryen

Stay tuned, get ready and set your alarm for 9pm on 1 April 2012 in the US and the same local time on the 2 April 2012 in the UK.

• Over 20 million world wide subscribers
• Over 2 billion hours of TV was watched in the last 3 months of 2011
• Uses around 32% US broadband of bandwidth during peak hours
• Available in over 50 countries
• Can be streamed on majority of internet accessible devices (phones, tablets, tv’s, PC’s, consoles, etc.)

By no means is Netflix tiny, as the statistics prove. But stats don’t tell the whole, or even half of the story. What is Netflix like to use?

Signing up couldn’t be easier, and you can even register through your Facebook account if you so wish. One benefit to this is that you can share with everyone what you are watching, as well as what you’ve rated films and tv shows. On the downside, you may accidentally let it slip that you’ve spent the past few days catching up on Desperate Housewives or Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, rather than catching some kick ass Chuck Norris and losing man-points. Of course, you can quite easily choose not to share your viewing habits. So with the opt-out, I’d say this is a solid positive.

Netflix is also relatively cheap for the unlimited streaming services that it offers, at only £5.99 a month with 1 month’s free trial. With this unlimited streaming service you also get the option for HD streaming, something that can make a world of difference if your connection can handle it! You may not even miss watching DVDs or Blurays if you can stream your movies in that quality instantly. In fact, I used to be an avid DVD collector and at its peak had over 350 DVDs in my library. Whilst some of you may scoff, if you live in less than palatial settings, 350 DVDs can be a right pain in the arse for storage! What I have found to be beneficial whilst streaming through my PS3, is that it will stream in HD where possible, and if the bandwidth is being eaten up by another greedy member of the household it’ll drop down a level, yet jump back up should enough bandwidth become available again.

Netflix is great for US import TV shows of which I am a huge fan. I don’t think there are any UK shows that can hold a torch to the great drama coming from across the pond in the form of Dexter or Breaking Bad, let alone hit the height of comedy that is Arrested Development. In fact, even if you have no intention of subscribing to Netflix in the long term, the very fact it is practically giving you all of Arrested Development for free for a month is reason to sign up. Hell, Netflix is the company that is resurrecting the funniest show in TV history. Enough fanboy-ism there though. It does also have great UK shows such as the Inbetweeners, Peepshow, Top Gear and the IT Crowd on offer as well. The movie side of Netflix is, in my opinion, a let down though. They don’t seem to be on the ball when it comes to picking up new movies for streaming, especially when compared to UK alternative Lovefilm. Latest movies on Netflix currently include The Expendables, The Switch and The International – certainly not keeping pace with Lovefilm in that department, and absolutely not what one would consider world beating films you just have to watch! In fact, I’d be very careful to avoid them. Given their Netflix’s buying power I can only see them going from strength to strength in the UK acquiring movies if need be, but definitely more in the way of domestic TV shows.

The interface for Netflix is pretty darn good. Its very simple, easily defined genres, and it makes a real attempt to get to know you and your preferences. It’ll compile lists of things you’ve already seen without their services and use the ratings you give them to suggest further viewing. It also allows you to pick genres and sub-genres of your favourite viewing habits. For example, I love a good comedy, but from time-to-time I go looking for those particularly oddball comedies which just are a little bit more bonkers: BASEketball for example. Netflix provides a sub-category on your homepage with suggestions along those lines, as well as similar shows to ones you’ve recently been watching. Considering a lot of what it has are US imports you may not know or have had the chance to see, this is a great way to get into what your American cousins are watching. Everything looks smooth as well, and is standardised across each platform. Admittedly I had some trouble having it working on my iPad, some random errors stopped it from working the first day, and then with my Galaxy S2 as well, yet my iPhone took to it like a duck to water.

This is a streaming only service. Lovefilm gives you options for receiving physical DVDs and Blurays. Plenty of you want to keep getting discs as it makes life more manageable, the quality consistently high and reliable, and it is a very easy system to understand. I get that. Also, a lot of you are pirates, lets not play games. You download torrents or use filesharing sites and forums like the now defunct MegaUpload. You are probably going to be the most interested in this service as it will be a legitmate way to get what you want. Some of you already stream like feinds, but from dodgy sites like alluc or tvlinks, which are being hounded by the authorities and legal dogs as well. This should be given a go, see if it bests the low quality streams you’re probably using at the moment.

The rest of you should at least give it a go. Its free for a month, as is Lovefilm. Hell, try one, then try the other. See what you think and let us know. If streaming isn’t for you then fair enough. For me, its the way forward and for now, it looks like Netflix is my favourite.

The Hobbit

The two-part prequel to one of the biggest selling trilogies of all time is set to release the first of its movies come Christmas time 2012. The Hobbit sees many of the cast of Lord of The Rings reappearing, as the story charts Bilbo Baggins adventures in Middle Earth in events preceding the Ring Trilogy. Once again, there is a heavy British influence on the casting of the film with Office star Martin Freeman, also known for his roles in Love Actually and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, plays the role of Bilbo, recruited by Gandalf the Grey to reclaim the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from dragon Smaug. This film has been beset with troubles, including location issues, cast and staff disputes as well as economic issues. But we still expect something magical.

Dark Knight Rises

This is Christian Bale’s last film as Batman. What a ride it has been, with the past two films begin absolutely superb, the third is likely to continue the dark and twisted themes in the Batman franchise that have done well to take a stark departure from Joel Schumacer’s travesty of a film in Batman and Robin. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman could prove a very sexy distraction though to a great film featuring Tom Hardy as Bane, the comic book character known for ‘breaking the bat’, shattering Batman’s spine. We think this will be the biggest and best film of the year, even though it is quite clearly up against some stunning competition.

The Avengers

The combination of Marvel comic book movies is set to hit our screens this year too, and its the first live action one of its kind of this generation. Pulling together all the big names of the Marvel Universe, including The Hulk, Captain America, Nick Fury, Iron Man, the Black Widow, Hawkeye and Thor, it can only be a big action blockbuster. I would expect little substance and a tenuous plot that is barely capable of pulling all of these big names together somewhat equally, with Earth in some kind of mortal peril they all need to work together to stop. It has assembled quite the cast to play out the heroes, using the main actors from the Marvel movie franchise, including Robert Downey Jr, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Jeremy Renner. This could prove to be a big smash hit, but with Scarlet Johansson squeezing back into that tight black catsuit again, I doubt many of us will remember much else of the film.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

If you saw the first one, you may well be asking yourself both how and why this movie has spawned a sequel!? Like how did the remade Pink Panther get a sequel!? If you can set aside your vitriol it may be worth a shot. Having viewed the trailer, it looks like its taking a slightly darker approach, being less cheesy and more action based. Perhaps, like many films this year, its going to try and dazzle you with set pieces like the abseiling, cliff face, sword fighting? Or will it fall back on the looks of Adrianne Palicki? Because, in honesty, she isn’t the hottest leading lady out there this summer. I’m not holding my breath, but with such low expectations, I hope it is capable of exceeding them.

World War Z

Could a zombie film contend for a best picture at the Oscars? This could well be the first and only chance to see it happen. A book written by Hollywood legend Mel Brooks’ son, Max Brooks, sees the main character interviewing survivors of a global zombie outbreak, which charts its outbreak, progress, all out war and eventual ending. Brad Pitt went head-to-head with Di Caprio’s picture studio to get the rights to this, and with Pitt in the leading role, I firmly believe this will be one of the very best films of the year.

The Expendables 2

This is unlikely to have much in the way of a plot. The dialogue will no doubt be riddled with cheesy one-liners and awful attempts at witticism. But nobody seemed to care when the first Expendables came out. Its all about the cast and the action – all of the greatest names in action movies, coming together, kicking ass, shooting stuff, and with a body count likely to be the combined sum of their own cult films, this will most likely kick ass. Stallone, Statham, Li, Lundgren, Couture, Shwarzenegger, Norris, Willis, Van-Damme, Crews… Amazing. The only one missing is Seagal, who simply refuses to work with the director.

Taken 2

Liam Neeson has won around audiences with his rather unassuming action hero status in the original Taken, and again in a similar vein with Unknown. An actor whose career has included some amazing performances in great films, he is set to reprise his role as Brian Mills. Whilst this man doesn’t have money, he does have a very particular set of skills. We are very much looking forward to seeing this skills being put to use again! Story wise it looks as though his daughter (Maggie Grace) will this time have to save Neeson, well let’s see how that pans out…

The Bourne Legacy

The original trilogy of books has ended, as have the films starring Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. However the franchise refuses to die, with Robert Ludlum and Eric Van Lustbader continuing the books and a film adaption to follow. Yet this will not be the confused secret assassin and agent we know and love, as Jason Bourne will not even feature in the film. No, it isn’t a prequel, or a sequel – more of a parallel film. Another agent? Another story? Either way, with Edward Norton and Rachel Weisz involved, we are expecting big things. Treadstone may never die it seems.

The Amazing Spider-man

Another Brit pulls on a mask this year, as Andrew Garfield dons the blue and red costume of the web-slinger Spider-man. This reboot began when the 4th sequel to Toby MacGuire’s franchise was pulled, and it looks like a much darker and gritty story is going to unfold, with recently released posters citing it as “The Untold Story”. The Lizard will be Spider-man’s villain in this piece. Stan Lee, creator of the comic book, will once again have a cameo, so keep an eye out for a dancing librarian…

Skyfall

The latest Bond film is set for release at the tail end of 2012. Having recently begun filming after announcing the cast and title, its set in various prominent locations across the world and has a cast including some rather tasty women (as is expected). Daniel Craig has been a revelation as Bond and as long as this original story can exceed its rather tawdry Chicken Little title, it’ll easily reach the top 10 of the year.

The Dictator

With rather taboo subject matter, The Dictator could prove to be a poignant mixed biopic of the falling dictators around the world. Sacha Baron Cohen takes the lead role, supported by Ben Kingsley, Anna Farris and Megan Fox. It could be rather good, but as long as Farris and Fox get plenty of screen time I probably won’t notice!

Moonrise Kingdom

With little knowledge of the plot, this is based purely on those involved. Written by the excellent Wes Andersen and Roman Coppola, featuring legends Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Harvey Keitel and the solid talents of Ed Norton; it sounds very promising. Bill Murray has very few awful films next to his name (Garfield, his only regret), and so hopes are high.

Dredd and Total Recall

I put these two together simply because they are remakes of films I believe are pretty good in their own right. Ok, maybe “good” is over doing it, but I loved them first time round and am a little apprehensive about any remakes. For example, how on earth can Colin Farrell live up to Shwazenegger’s Quaid and his incessantly daft one-liners? And how could you expect Karl Urban to bellow “I AM THE LAW” like Stallone? I worry these have an air of Conan the flopping Barbarian remake about them…

American Reunion

They’re back. Together again. One of the best teen comedy franchise returns to its former glory, reuniting the original cast for yet another outing of gross out, sexual based comedy and slapstick antics. Years later the kids we once saw falling over themselves to get laid are back together for their high school reunion. Naturally, there is great scope for comedy, but has it all been done before? If all else fails, the initial chemistry we saw back in 1999 should be enough to keep us entertained, and the fact that there will be some form of ‘female upper body nudity’ doesn’t hurt either.

Did we miss any? What are you looking forward to most? Use our poll below and hit us up on twitter!

Coming out at an appropriate time during Movember, Cancer Comedy 50/50 will make you laugh and it may very well make you cry. You did read that right, it is a “cancer comedy”, and although mixing the two might at first seem like insanity, 50/50 manages to pull the two together to create an emotional ride that keeps your head above the depressing waters with a low-key humour best suiting the sombre tone of the overall message. Personally, I didn’t cry, but then I am an Englishman and we are most reserved with these things women call ‘emotions’.

The film tracks the ups and downs of Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a 24 years young man, who is diagnosed with a rare type of aggressive cancer, whose eponymous chances of survival are 50/50. He is only beginning the prime of his life, works a job he enjoys, rents a quaint house, has a artist girlfriend called Rachael (Bryce Dallas-Howard) and a shameless player of a best friend (Seth Rogen), an overbearing mother (Angelica Huston) and an ill father, an insensitive doctor and a rookie therapist (Anna Kendrick). After suffering some back pain, a trip to the doctor results in the horrifying news that he has cancer. Through the journey of the film, we follow Adam’s course of chemo and surgery, track his relationships with his friends, family, girlfriend and therapist, and all the way are reminded that cancer is an unpredictable disease that, in spite of our best efforts, can afflict any one of us.

The film was written by Will Reiser, based on part of his own experiences of overcoming cancer as a young man, and produced by co-star Seth Rogen. The film and the characters aren’t the typical caricatures you may have come to expect from a Rogen film, and instead are entirely believable and understated in everything they do. The humour isn’t over the top and comes at precisely the right moments to remind you that amongst all the sadness, confusion and uncertainty, there is still a sense of humour to it all. The misadventure of shaving Adam’s head before he undergoes chemotherapy, using cancer as a way to pick up women, and enjoying the pleasures of high grade medicinal marijuana show that there is room for humour in all this. In fact, without humour, making it through such trying times would be neigh impossible, and the script most definitely wouldn’t have been picked up for production!

Will Reiser’s story is only partly his own, lending from the experiences of those around him. Its a harrowing tale at times that ultimately produces an awkward and emotional journey for the viewer. Whilst I would say that it isn’t the most comforting film to watch, it is something you need to see. It’ll hit you hard, remind you that things could be worse, that you shouldn’t take your youth for granted, and that life is all about sharing moments with family and friends.

One thing you’ll definitely take away from the film is a heightened awareness of cancer in men, and if Movember hasn’t already got you doing so, you’ll check your balls for lumps… probably then and there in the cinema.

Tom Cruise has had the pleasure of playing some of the coolest characters in cinema. Maverick from Top Gun, Joel from Risky Business, Lestat from Interview with a Vampire, and of course the all action American hero Ethan Hunt from Mission Impossible (ahem, Jerry Maguire from erm Jerry Maguire! – Joe). We recently had a poster for the movie released and this has been followed up by a cinematic trailer for his Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

Mission Impossible went down well, the sequel was a travesty, the third a return to form. The fourth in the series has a lot to live up to. With a budget of $140 million, support from Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner our homegrown favourite Simon Pegg, and the rather alluring Léa Seydoux, as well as Paula Patton things could go pretty well for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

There is already great publicity supported by images of Tom Cruise scaling the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Of course one of the real PR winners for a film that probably doesn’t need such support, is that for IMAX viewers only, there will be a 6 minute preview of the highly anticipated Dark Knight Rises film.

What do you think of this trailer? Has it been worth the wait? I’m trying to reserve judgement, but without having high expectations I imagine it’ll be mildly enjoyable and merely tread water in the world of action movies. Of course, I am more than happy to be proven wrong!

No, this isn’t our latest competition where you have the chance to spend the night with two AJB writers of your choice (interesting concept though…). Instead it is a preview of the new British Comedy, Threesome, which airs tonight for the very first time on Comedy Central at 9:30PM.

Now I have seen the adverts a fair bit, so someone is doing a pretty good job on getting the programme out there. And after a succession of poor UK comedy spanning back years, we hope this one may well be able to put us back on the map!

Featuring Amy Huberman (who is actually married to Irish Rugby Star Brian O’Driscoll), Stephen Wight and Emun Elliot. Expect a grown up version of Skins (with a mix of cringe-worthy inbetweeners), for us late twenties and early thirties who have all been there and done that, and still keep on doing it every week.

With a title of the first episode as ‘No eye contact, no cock touching‘ – you can be sure it’s pretty much going to be no holds barred.

Check out the trailers below:

And you can also view the whole first episode online now!