The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced the nominees for their annual awards on Tuesday. Seeing as the BAFTAs are the British equivalent of the Academy Awards, they are certainly worth taking note of. As was expected, The Artist leads the pack with 12 nominations, including Best Picture.

There are, however, numerous surprises, specifically the fact that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy received a whopping 11 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Leading Actor (Gary Oldman), and Best Director. This film has hardly been acknowledged this awards season, so it’s inclusion in 11 categories will likely raise some eyebrows. It ought to be noted that these awards are distinctly British and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a distinctly British movie.

Another surprise is the inclusion of Drive in the Best Picture category, but the snub of it’s leading man, Ryan Gosling, for any of his critically praised performances this year. Also interesting is Carey Mulligan’s nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Drive, despite the fact that her performance in Shame is what has garnered her accolades.

I feel it’s important to mention that Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) nabbed a Supporting Actress nod, even though she was snubbed by the Golden Globes. Bridesmaids also snagged a Best Original Screenplay nomination.

Martin Scorsese is nominated for Best Director (Hugo) as well as for his work on the documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World. Notably, Scorsese is also set to receive the BAFTA’s Academy Fellowship, which is essentially a lifetime achievement award. It will be interesting to see if that affects his chances at winning the directing trophy, either for the better or the worse.

Last year the BAFTAs swung all the momentum away from The Social Network and into the lap of The King’s Speech. With The Artist looking like this year’s runaway winner, I wonder if the BAFTAs will try to do something similar again. Perhaps a British film, such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, will be the recipient of its benevolence, as happened in 2011; or maybe one of the other Best Picture nominees (The Help, Drive, or The Descendants) will finally take a shot at being 2012′s big front runner.

The winners of this year’s BAFTAs will be announced on February 12, just two weeks before the Oscars. You can check out the complete list of nominees here.

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As with every other Top Ten list you’ve read (or may read), I’ll begin with some parameters: the films included here are ones that received a theatrical release in the calendar year of 2011. There were some I didn’t see that are ending up on other people’s lists - The Descendants, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, We Bought A Zoo - and some that I did see that were very close to making this list - Like Crazy, Being Elmo, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, and Hugo to name a few. But agree or disagree, prepare to let loose in the comments.

Here are my favorite films of 2011:

10. Fast Five

I’m as surprised as you are to find that a fifth entry into a franchise made it onto this list. But director Justin Lin brought such a high energy to this movie that I can’t help but love it. The action is completely bonkers, with a train heist and a final battle that ventures into ludicrous territory. And speaking of Ludacris (see what I did there?), he and Tyrese and the rest of the gang are all back to join Paul Walker and Vin Diesel for Fast Five, giving this movie a continuity that few action franchises take care to implement.

Throw in Dwayne Johnson as an agent hot on their trail and some homoerotic confrontations, and you’ve got yourself a hell of an action movie by a director who continually ups the ante, quickly becoming a rising star in my mind. Bonus: stick around for the post-credits sequence, which left me instantly wanting to see Fast Six.

9. The Adventures of Tintin

Spielberg’s return to the action/adventure genre is leagues above his last attempt at similar fare. Thanks to a script the spans the globe at a whirlwind pace and the vision of perhaps the world’s most beloved mainstream filmmaker, Spielberg’s first foray into animation was a blast at the theater. Herge’s original artwork is brilliantly recreated by Weta Digital with a 3D flair, and the result looks phenomenal and pays respect to the mountain of source material popular all over the world. For me, the highlight was a long continuous shot of Tintin scrambling through a city chase that lasted around three minutes; it’s my favorite shot of the year.

8. X-Men: First Class

Matthew Vaughn did the unthinkable: with a fresh cast and a new time period, he revitalized a franchise which, thanks to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, was on life support. And from start to finish, he did it in under a year. With such an effects-heavy film, that Herculean task alone is enough to earn my undying respect, but Vaughn also made a pretty damn good film that learns from the best of its genre predecessors: it’s funny when it needs to be, respects the characters, contains legitimately good storytelling, and is a lot of fun.

The casting was great, spot-on in choosing McAvoy as a young Xavier, and rising star Michael Fassbender proved that he’s not above blockbuster fare if the script is solid. Bonus: the filmmakers also pulled together an awesome selection of character actors for the military personnel, and Kevin Freaking Bacon is the villain.

7. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

A movie I had absolutely no interest in seeing, Rise of the Planet of the Apes kicked my ass and made me rethink my cynical outlook regarding franchise reboots. The motion capture technology makes the CGI apes much more interesting to watch than the humans, but the film effortlessly succeeds in convincing us that Caesar’s transformation from an intelligent pet to the leader of a revolution is justified from a character standpoint. And that character work, not just for Caesar, but for all the CGI apes, is the highlight of the film.

There are some fantastic “blockbuster” moments – the Golden Gate Bridge sequence comes to mind – but this is really a character piece, and ultimately is a movie that I don’t love with all of my heart, but also one in which I can’t find anything that I really don’t like about it. If you skipped it because the trailers looked ridiculous, do yourself a favor and check it out.

6. Warrior

Perhaps the year’s most underrated film, Gavin O’Connor’s Warrior is about as subtle as a hand grenade. It’s a tale of brothers at odds, taking the underdog story to new heights by doubling the stakes and having the two fight for MMA glory. As someone who doesn’t care at all about mixed martial arts, I was shocked to be as pulled into the story as I was, a testament to the solid writing and immersive work by lead actors Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton. Nick Nolte’s drunken father character is surprisingly effective and frankly the guy deserves more recognition than he’s getting. Warrior is not only one of my favorite films of the year, but I’d argue that it’s one of the best, too.

5. Take Shelter

It’s been almost a full year since I’ve seen Jeff Nichols’ film, but its images are still with me. Michael Shannon’s towering work as a man who may or may not be crazy is easily my favorite performance of the year, and this film also introduced me to the wonderful Jessica Chastain, an actress who is sure to have an exemplary career in years to come. A sense of dread looms over the film much like the (possibly imaginary?) storm clouds, and from the excellent cinematography to the eerie score, Take Shelter had me hooked from the start.

4. Rango

Gore Verbinski’s western is a rare gem: a kids movie almost entirely too adult for kids, with offbeat performances from a terrific cast and stunning animation in ILM’s first completely CGI feature. Hans Zimmer’s score is memorable and fits right in with the kookiness of the tone, and the production design (featuring discarded human trash as the animal city of Dirt) is inspired and original. The humor flies as quickly as the whip-smart dialogue, and the question of identity as seen through the eyes of the main character is fascinating. Rango is one for the ages, though it may be a bit too intelligent for all ages.

3. The Artist

The feeling of knowing almost nothing about a movie before going to see it and walking away awestruck is one of my favorite things in the world. Such was the case with The Artist, as I saw it before any of the Best Picture hype began and I just knew it was a silent black and white film. It’s a throwback to the silent era of classical American filmmaking and the conflicts presented with the rise of “talkies” and sound in movies. In that way, it’s essentially 2011′s Singing in the Rain, but with a dash of Sunset Boulevard thrown in since it deals a bit more with themes of obsolescence. The performances are outstanding, and though the movie is never subtle, it’s one of the most purely enjoyable films of the year.

2. Drive

Nicholas Winding Refn’s 80′s-fused tribute to all things cool is as violent as it is beautiful. Los Angeles is as much a character as any of the extraordinary cast (Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Carey Mulligan, and Ryan Gosling, who practically oozes cool). The cityscapes and valleys of the City of Angels are shot in a way that would make Michael Mann proud, and the noir story is punctuated by one of the most hypnotic scores of the year.

Some may claim there is nothing but style on display, but that’s OK with me – any film that opens with as much suspense as this one gets a pass to do whatever it wants. Refn and Gosling are planning to work together again in the future, and I can’t wait to see what else this director/actor combo has in mind for us.

1. Attack the Block

Joe Cornish’s debut is a pulsing cult classic that is exactly the kind of movie I love to watch. It has memorable characters with vibrant personalities, unique dialogue, a wet neon Amblin-on-ecstasy vibe, an awesome soundtrack, and endless rewatchability. I won’t talk it up any more since I’m seeing it on a lot of “Most Overrated Movies of 2011″ lists, but the fact that it’s my favorite film of the year should, if you’ve read this far, at least convince you to seek it out. Cornish (who co-wrote Tintin with Edgar Wright and Steven Moffat) has secured a place next to Rian Johnson on my “directors to watch” list.

Think I’m crazy? What are your favorites? Let me know in the comments. Until next time…

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Amazon has now made Drive available to pre-order via these links: DVD | Blu-ray

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has set the Drive DVD and Blu-ray release date for January 31, 2012. The movie, which was released back in September, starred Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, and Christina Hendricks, and was directed by Nicolas Winding Refn.

Drive is currently one of the best movie of the year with 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, and despite its R rating it managed to earn $34 million at the US box office, and $63 million in total worldwide. Not bad for a movie that cost $15 million.

Director Nicolas Winding Refn said he hopes to put together a ‘Queen Edition’ DVD/Blu-ray which “describes the process of the filmmaking, and answers some of the more mysterious elements of the success of that it has achieved”, but until that happens the standard edition DVD and Blu-ray will contain the following special features:

- “Drive Without a Driver”
- “I Drive”
- “Under the Hood”
- “Driver and Irene”
- “Cut to the Chase”

Ryan Gosling stars as a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie productions by day and steering getaway vehicles for armed heists by night. Though a loner by nature, Driver can’t help falling in love with his beautiful neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), a vulnerable young mother dragged into a dangerous underworld by the return of her ex-convict husband Standard (Oscar Isaac).

After a heist intended to pay off Standard’s protection money spins unpredictably out of control, Driver finds himself driving defence for the girl he loves, tailgated by a syndicate of deadly serious criminals (Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman). But when he realizes that the gangsters are after more than the bag of cash in his trunk-that they’re coming straight for Irene and her son-Driver is forced to shift gears and go on offense.

Amazon has now made Drive available to pre-order via these links: DVD | Blu-ray

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Quite a decent offering we’ve got this weekend, four new entries, all able to draw a decent audience under normal circumstances. We’ve got sports drama Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt, family adventure Dolphin Tale and action movies Abduction and Killer Elite. So, how will each one of this perform against The Lion King? The answer should be right after the break.

I have to be honest, I’m not quite sold on the box office power of Moneyball, at least not enough to declare it a clear winner against The Lion King 3D. The later has had great legs through the week so I’m positive it will have a good hold. On the other hand, Moneyball has been a long time coming, at one point having Steven Soderbergh attached to direct. Today what we have is Brad Pitt (who’s been on this for years), Jonah Hill and Philip Seymor (working with director Bennett Miller again after Capote 6 years ago). Now sports dramas in general, with the exception of the Rocky series, The Blind Side and a few others, have never been big hits at the box office so I don’t expect things to change with this movie. I’m going to say $22 million for Moneyball, maybe enough for 1st place.

The Lion King 3D has a 50/50 chance to take the top spot again, depending on how much business Dolphin Tale steals from it. You see, 2 years ago Sony released an 3D animated flick called Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs around the same time. That movie opened ridiculously similar to The Lion King 3D so obviously I’m going to base my prediction on how that movie performed on its second weekend. Thing is Cloudy had half the weekday numbers The Lion King has so it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that the 3D remastered version could potentially finish north of $25 million over the weekend. Thing is Cloudy didn’t have another 3D family movie in its second week so I’m going to say The Lion King 3D makes $21 million for 2nd place.

Dolphin Tale, the second new movie of the week, comes from Warner Bros in not as glorious as it once was 3D. Having the most theaters (3507) out of all the pictures released today, the studio is definitely expecting something north of $15 million. Given the great reviews it’s getting (86% on Rotten Tomatoes right now) I won’t be surprised if it opens with $17 million for 3rd place.

Abduction is the third movie that comes out today and Taylor Lautner’s first true box office test. We already know he’s had great success in the Twilight Saga or with an ensemble cast in Valentines Day, but can he replicate that with Abduction? Sorry fans out there but I’m thinking no. That being said, it would be ridiculous to expect that same level of success out of an utterly mediocre action movie like Abduction. Still, he should be able to pull in a good $12 million or so for 4th place.

For the last spot in the top 5 we have no less then three movies fighting, namely Contagion, Drive and new entry Killer Elite. The former stars Jason Statham, Robert DeNiro, Clive Owen and Chuck‘s Yvonne Strahovski. A $10 million opening might be enough for this since I doubt it was all that expensive to make (and if it was, well tough luck). Contagion and Drive should both gross around $7-8 million.

Next week we don’t get a break cause we have yet again four movies. Cancer drama/comedy 50/50, romantic comedy where Anna Faris gets naked again called What’s Your Number, Daniel Craig and wife Rachel Weisz amnesia thriller Dream House and christian cop drama Courageous from the same guys that brought us the christian fireman drama Fireproof.

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The Lion King 3D blew past even the most optimistic expectations and scored the second highest opening ever for a movie re-release. Seems The Lion King is still one of the most beloved Disney animated features and with this 3D version a new generation can experience this true classic. The numbers are coming right after the break.

I don’t know about you guys but I still love The Lion King and consider it just as good now as it was 17 years ago when it made $312 million in North America. Back in 2002 it was released again in IMAX and went on to gross another $15.6 million. Now, in 2011, The Lion King 3D opened with a staggering $30.1 million taking a well deserved first place at the box office over the weekend. Thanks to this new 3D remastered version, The Lion King stands at a new grand total of $361 million in North America, overtaking Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and the very recent Transformers: Dark of the Moon, both 3D features.

2nd was Contagion with $14.5 million and after 11 days it has amassed $45.2 million in North America. New release Drive (that I though would finish first) was a bit underwhelming with $11.3 million for 3rd place. I have not seen it yet so I can’t comment on the qualities (or lack of) that are present in Drive. What I can say is, while critics seem to love it, audiences are not as impressed giving Drive a disappointing “C-” CinemaScore (market research firm that surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades “F” to “A+”, with the average grade for most movies being a “B+”). The CinemaScore of a movie is usually a good indication of the word of mouth it will get and for Drive, it ain’t looking pretty. I’m estimating it will end up with just $25 million when all is said and done, almost doubling the estimated production budget of $13 million (good thing it was so cheap).

The Help finished in 4th place with $6.5 million for an incredible $148 million after 41 days. Just to give you an example, this movie got an “A+” CinemaScore and with fantastic word of mouth came great legs at the box office and look where it is now after opening with just $26 million.

Straw Dogs was a bit down on its luck, only $5.1 million and among similar revenge flicks, that means half as much as the opening of the recently released Colombiana. The last new opener of the weekend was I Don’t Know How She Does It with $4.4 million and 6th place. For Sarah Jessica Parker this is one of her worst openings in recent years, definitely not a good sign for the 46 year old actress.

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Another batch of movies coming out this weekend, another box office forecast from me. This Friday we have four newcomers yet again, Drive, I Don’t Know How She Does It, The Lion King 3D and Straw Dogs. I’m telling you guys right now, my money is on Drive.

So yeah, I see Drive in first place at the box office over the weekend simply because it looks like the best offering of the new wide releases. Right now it holds an outstanding 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and an average rating of 8.4/10. That lands Drive way up at the top, among the best reviewed movies of the year. Seems Ryan Gosling has scored another great motion picture in his portfolio that might just become a box office success. I’m going high on this one, $16 million opening weekend and I’m predicting great legs coming from good word of mouth. Obviously that means first place this week at the box office.

Either former leader Contagion or The Lion King 3D could land in 2nd place. Contagion might be looking at $12-13 million for a $42 million or so total after 10 days. Now the 3D re-issue of The Lion King is a bit tricky and here’s why. This, as expected, is a 3D conversion made by Disney to milk the beloved classic some more. Some of you guys might remember that 2 years ago, Disney also re-released Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D. That was obviously in anticipation of Toy Story 3. That combo had a $12.5 million opening weekend so I’m expecting a similar performance from The Lion King 3D, maybe even more since we are talking about an arguably even more loved movie here.

The third movie opening today is Straw Dogs, another remake in a very long line of recent ones. Reviews are all over the place with this and like Fright Night a few weeks ago, I’m not expecting more than $8 million and 4th place. The final new release is I Don’t Know How She Does It and if you haven’t guessed yet based on the title, it’s a romantic comedy and stars Sarah Jessica Parker. I don’t think this is good for more than $7 million and that should mean 5th place. Personally, I won’t be surprised if The Help ends up making more than that thing.

Next week the four releases a week trend continues with, yeap, another line of epic movies for me to rip apart, starting with wolfie’s Abduction, Dolphin Tale (bad title, I bet Epic Dolphin Story 3D would sell more tickets), awesome looking Killer Elite (I’m watching this one) and long time coming Brad Pitt sports drama Moneyball.

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Certain shots in the beginning of Drive beg the question – or song lyric from the Cranberries – “Do you have to let it linger?” The first act of the 100 minute feature is running idle for the most part. Long drawn-out scenes, with just a handful of words, dominate this story early on, and the script does not rationalize why it is doing this. Ryan Gosling’s stoic and confident persona intrigues right away, but it gets to a point where this plodding along character study needs to snap into it. And snap it does.

When a thumping gun shot goes off, the wheels start to spin. Within seconds of the script revving up, the elements one dealt with in the raw opening segments begin to pay off. Isolated acts of merciless violence enter the arena as our main character – who is indirectly paying homage to “Johnny” from 1984’s Karate Kid’s with regards to his threads – gives off a vibe of “You don’t know what he’ll do next.” Gosling goes through just about every emotion in this multi-genre montage, save for a pure comedy.

The handful of dark-grins if you will are reserved for L.A. underground mob kingpins Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman. These two are doing just above cameo work here and the same can be said for Gosling’s quasi-handler in Bryan Cranston. All of the players are rugged individuals who wear their past “battle” scars proudly. Nothing is glamorous about their lifestyle yet each of them carries themselves as if no one should mess with them. They all have gritty charisma that balances out Gosling’s deadpan persona.

By now you’re probably asking yourself what is this flick about? Telling you would be a disservice to how the filmmakers set this genre conglomerate up. In the efforts to provide a few cinematic references: this piece encompasses tones from flicks such as Shoot’Em Up, The Transporter and Kill the Irishman; there’s even a horror aesthetic toward the end when factoring in the movie mechanics. The revenge tale that weaves its way in could summon up references to The Crow. It also has a throwback execution to it that can remind you of past crime-dramas done twenty years ago.

What is fascinating is how the cinematography can juxtapose when transitioning to a different genre. Sometimes it’s during the same scene. The linear glue is Gosling’s character that stays steady no matter if he’s on a silent rampage or dealing with a love interest angle that ushers in Carey Mulligan. For once, Mulligan’s moping around actually fit’s the bill here. That said, is anyone else tired of seeing her depressed demeanor on-screen? Is this all she can do? Cry?

Based on all the above, this flick seems to have a little bit of everything. By having patience, every emotional vibe in the viewer’s body will get a decent jolt once the story is allowed to show its true bloody colors throughout the less glamorous spots in Los Angeles.

Overall, Drive is a dark-horse that truly knows what it’s made of. There’s nothing flashy or finesse about the product or the crafting behind the lens. It’s pretty much a gloomy character drama that splices in audacious action at all the right moments.

RATING: 4 out of 5

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FilmDistrict have released an excellent new red band trailer for Drive, which comes from Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson) and stars Academy Award nominees Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan.

Watch below:

Ryan Gosling stars as a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie productions by day and steering getaway vehicles for armed heists by night. Though a loner by nature, Driver can’t help falling in love with his beautiful neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), a vulnerable young mother dragged into a dangerous underworld by the return of her ex-convict husband Standard (Oscar Isaac).

After a heist intended to pay off Standard’s protection money spins unpredictably out of control, Driver finds himself driving defense for the girl he loves, tailgated by a syndicate of deadly serious criminals (Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman). But when he realizes that the gangsters are after more than the bag of cash in his trunk-that they’re coming straight for Irene and her son-Driver is forced to shift gears and go on offense.

Drive will be released September 16, 2011.

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A big screen remake of the 1976 film Logan’s Run has been in various stages of discussion and pre-production for years, most notably in the mid-2000s when X-Men director Bryan Singer was set to bring the project to life. Now Deadline reports that the film will indeed be made, with Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson) behind the camera and Ryan Gosling in front of it. More details after the jump.

After Singer’s version fell through, director Carl Erik Rinsch – a protege of Ridley Scott who made a big splash with his short film The Gift and was once slated to direct the Alien prequel – was attached to direct the Logan’s Run remake, but he’s moved on to the Keanu Reeves vehicle 47 Ronin. Nicolas Winding Refn isn’t yet a household name, but the Danish director has some excellent movies on his resume: the Pusher trilogy is gritty and entertaining, and his upcoming movie Drive, starring Gosling as a Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a wheelman for robberies, sounds imminently watchable.

Writer Alex Garland (Never Let Me Go, Sunshine, the upcoming Dredd) wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of Logan’s Run, and though the director’s chair has seen its share of rotation in recent years, Garland’s script will apparently be the one Warner Bros. sticks with. Some may argue that we don’t need a new adaptation of Logan’s Run since Michael Bay practically told the same story back in 2004 with The Island; I used to be one of those people. But now that Refn and Gosling are attached, I’m definitely interested to see what this movie ends up evolving into.

Now it’s your turn. Sound off in the comments section and let us know what you think about the Logan’s Run remake, especially with these two involved.

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According to Variety Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks will be joining Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan in Drive.

Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson) is directing the film which is an adaptation of the James Sallis novel about a nameless Hollywood stuntman (Gosling) who moonlights as a freelance getaway driver during robberies. When a bank heist goes wrong, he ends up on the run with a contract on his head and an ex-con’s girlfriend (Mulligan) in his car. Hendricks’ role has not been revealed.

Hugh Jackman was attached to star at one point with The Decent director Neil Marshall set to direct, however that incarnation never came into function and we now have Ryan Gosling as the lead.

Drive will begin filming in Los Angeles later this month, and is expected to be released sometime next year. No studio is currently involved so it will be looking to seek distribution once it has some footage to show.

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