Category / Aardman

by hutchwp

BAFTAs 2025 – Full list of winners

Best film
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave – WINNER!
Emilia Pérez

Outstanding British film
Bird
Blitz
Conclave – WINNER!
Gladiator II
Hard Truths
Kneecap
Lee
Love Lies Bleeding
The Outrun
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
Hoard, Luna Carmoon (director, writer)
Kneecap, Rich Peppiatt (director, writer) – WINNER!
Monkey Man, Dev Patel (director)
Santosh, Sandhya Suri (director, writer), James Bowsher (producer), Balthazar De Ganay (producer) [also produced by Alan McAlex, Mike Goodridge]
Sister Midnight, Karan Kandhari (director, writer)

Best film not in the English language
All We Imagine As Light
Emilia Pérez – WINNER!
I’m Still Here
Kneecap
The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Best documentary
Black Box Diaries
Daughters
No Other Land
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story – WINNER!
Will & Harper

Best animated film
Flow
Inside Out 2
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – WINNER!
The Wild Robot

Best children’s & family film
Flow
Kensuke’s Kingdom
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – WINNER!
The Wild Robot

Best director
Anora, Sean Baker
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet – WINNER!
Conclave, Edward Berger
Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve
Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat

Best original screenplay
Anora
The Brutalist
Kneecap
A Real Pain – WINNER!
The Substance

Best adapted screenplay
A Complete Unknown
Conclave – WINNER!
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing

Best leading actress
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths
Mikey Madison, Anora – WINNER!
Demi Moore, The Substance
Saoirse Ronan, The Outrun

Best leading actor
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist – WINNER!
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Hugh Grant, Heretic
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

Best supporting actress
Selena Gomez, Emilia Pérez
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Jamie Lee Curtis, The Last Showgirl
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez – WINNER!

Best supporting actor
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain – WINNER!
Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Best casting
Anora – WINNER!
The Apprentice
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Kneecap

Best cinematography
The Brutalist – WINNER!
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu

Best editing
Anora
Conclave – WINNER!
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Kneecap

Best costume design
Blitz
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Nosferatu
Wicked – WINNER!

Best make up and hair
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Substance – WINNER!
Wicked

Best original score
The Brutalist – WINNER!
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Wild Robot

Best production design
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked – WINNER!

Best sound
Blitz
Dune: Part Two – WINNER!
Gladiator II
The Substance
Wicked

Best special visual effects
Better Man
Dune: Part Two – WINNER!
Gladiator II
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked

Best British short animation
Adiós
Mog’s Christmas
Wander to Wonder – WINNER!

Best British short film
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing
Marion
Milk
Rock, Paper, Scissors – WINNER!
Stomach Bug

Rising star award
Marisa Abela
Jharrel Jerome
David Jonsson – WINNER!
Mikey Madison
Nabhaan Rizwan

by hutchwp

Film review – Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

It has been twenty-three years since we first saw the original Chicken Run on the big screen. A lot has happened since then. Upon its release in Britain, Tony Blair was the Prime Minister, the country was congratulating itself on avoiding the millennium bug, but we were still wondering what to do with the big dome we’d built in London. The biggest film at the box office was Gladiator, Kylie Minogue hadn’t made her golden-hot panted comeback yet and we were hotly awaiting the release of PlayStation 2. Oh, and Erling Haaland was about to be born.

Basically, it was a while ago.

So how does bringing back such an old film feel, after all this time? Honestly… like a huge big warm hug.

This is not a departure in style. Indeed, it picks up right where we left the clucky gang of misfits – on the idyllic island they’d found at the end of the first film. The opening act is something of a scene setter, introducing us to the new lead character in the film. Molly, played by Bella Ramsey, longs for everything her mum and dad ran away from in the first film. From her island, the outside world is full of wonder, delight and mystery. Frustrated by a feeling of suffocation, she escapes the island and looks for a new adventure with the first chicken she finds, a zesty Liverpudlian called Frizzle (played playfully by Josie Sedgwick-Davies).

Much speculation has been made about the refreshed voice acting cast. Only a few of the original cast have maintained their spots in the cast, with high profile names such as Phil Daniels, Timothy Spall and Julia Sawalha being recast. In their case, it was a simple move to ensure the voices sounded as youthful as the characters they were playing. It’s a distraction when the voice doesn’t match what you’re seeing, and you only need to see the first 20 minutes of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to know how skin-crawlingly dreadful it is for your brain to have to work overtime to live with it. There may be more reasons at play for some of the cast, but there’s a whole additional essay that could be written about that…

I loved the film, and the small screening I was lucky enough to attend with all agreed. The audience was a mix of older fans revisiting a childhood memory, and younger people who were being introduced to the chickens for the first time. My four-year-old daughter, well-versed in Aardman, had a fantastic time and was annoyed she couldn’t watch it again any time soon. She was restless during the first 10 minutes but a swift bribe with a Curly-Wurly and she was golden. My only concern is how many sheltered children will be asking questions about their chicken nuggets next time they eat them.

This isn’t groundbreaking material, but nor does it need to be. As the film plays out, it does feel familiar. There’s an evil plot, the protagonists need to club together to stop them. But that’s children’s animation. It’s a formula that might feel tired to some, but sometimes what you need is exactly this. A big huge warm hug. And when hugs are this good, I don’t think you need much more.