10 Most Attractive Women in a 2008 Film

I'm retrospectively going back through the screen sirens, year by year! The only requirement for an actress to be on Emma's list of most gorgeous ladies, is that it has to be a 2008 film I've actually seen (as opposed to not seen and only seen images of them in the film. That's what precluded me from including Ana de Armas for Blade Runner 2049, even though from the promotional images I saw, she clearly looked stunning).

My archive of hotties from 2009 to 2019, if you fancy a peruse of my taste in guys and gals! I might conduct a statistical analysis through the years, to see if there are any actors or actresses who appear often over multiple years (spoiler alert: it'll be Rooney Mara, Dave Franco and Zac Efron), but that will have to wait until after my last exam next Wednesday!

10. Hayley Atwell, The Duchess

BAFTA Rising Star Nominees!

Gemma Arterton
Andrew Garfield
Tom Hardy
Aaron Johnson
Emma Stone

source

Haha, I remember whining two years ago of Gemma not being nominated. Well, now's her time! But although I love her, I don't think she should win this year; I just don't think she's a rising star so much as a star who's already risen. (two years ago, easily. She was in a handful of movies and starred in BBC's Tess of the D'urbevilles, which to this day is my fave performance of her's). Emma Stone carried Easy A and Tom Hardy almost made the trash that was Inception worth watching with his cheekiness. But the guy who deserves it this year is the STUNNING Andrew Garfield, or as I still think of him, "him off Sugar Rush". Get it!

BAFTA Longlist, ladies and gents!

Asterixes denote chapter selections. source

Best Film
127 Hours
Another Year
Black Swan
The Fighter
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
Made In Dagenham
Shutter Island
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Director
127 Hours *
Alice In Wonderland
Another Year
Black Swan *
The Fighter
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Inception *

The Kids Are All Right

The King’s Speech *
Made In Dagenham
Shutter Island
The Social Network *
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit

Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours *
Alice In Wonderland
Barney’s Version
Brighton Rock
Despicable Me
The Ghost
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Never Let Me Go
Rabbit Hole
Shutter Island
The Social Network *
The Town
Toy Story 3 *
True Grit *
Winter’s Bone *

Original Screenplay
Another Year
Biutiful
Black Swan *
Blue Valentine
The Disappearance Of Alice Creed
The Fighter *
Four Lions
Get Low
Hereafter
I Am Love
Inception *
The Kids Are All Right *
The King’s Speech *
Made In Dagenham
Of Gods and Men

Leading Actor
Aaron Eckhart (Howie) – Rabbit Hole
Ben Affleck (Doug MacRay) – The Town
Colin Firth (King George VI) – The King’s Speech *
James Franco (Aron Ralston) – 127 Hours *
Javier Bardem (Uxbal) – Biutiful *
Jeff Bridges (Marshal Reuben J Cogburn) – True Grit *
Jesse Eisenberg (Mark Zuckerberg) – The Social Network *
Jim Broadbent (Tom) – Another Year
Johnny Depp (Mad Hatter) – Alice In Wonderland
Leonardo DiCaprio (Cobb) – Inception
Leonardo DiCaprio (Teddy Daniels) – Shutter Island
Mark Wahlberg (Micky Ward) – The Fighter
Paul Giamatti (Barney Panofsky) – Barney’s Version
Robert Duvall (Felix Bush) – Get Low
Ryan Gosling (Dean) – Blue Valentine

Leading Actress
Andrea Riseborough (Rose) – Brighton Rock
Annette Bening (Nic) – The Kids Are All Right *
Carey Mulligan (Kathy) – Never Let Me Go *
Gemma Arterton (Alice) – The Disappearance Of Alice Creed
Gemma Arterton (Tamara Drewe) – Tamara Drewe
Hailee Steinfeld (Mattie Ross) – True Grit
Jennifer Lawrence (Ree) – Winter’s Bone
Julianne Moore (Jules) – The Kids Are All Right *
Michelle Williams (Cindy) – Blue Valentine *
Natalie Portman (Nina Sayers / The Swan Queen) – Black Swan *
Nicole Kidman (Becca) – Rabbit Hole
Noomi Rapace (Lisbeth Salander) – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Rosamund Pike (Miriam Grant-Panofsky) – Barney’s Version
Sally Hawkins (Rita O’Grady) – Made In Dagenham
Tilda Swinton (Emma Recchi) – I Am Love

Supporting Actor
Andrew Garfield (Eduardo Saverin) – The Social Network *
Andrew Garfield (Tommy) – Never Let Me Go
Ben Kingsley (Dr Cawley) – Shutter Island
Bill Murray (Frank Quinn) – Get Low
Bob Hoskins (Albert) – Made In Dagenham*
Christian Bale (Dicky Eklund) – The Fighter *
Dustin Hoffman (Izzy Panofsky) – Barney’s Version
Geoffrey Rush (Lionel Logue) – The King’s Speech *
Guy Pearce (King Edward VIII) – The King’s Speech
Jeremy Renner (James Coughlin) – The Town
Justin Timberlake (Sean Parker) – The Social Network
Mark Ruffalo (Paul) – The Kids Are All Right *
Matt Damon (La Boeuf) – True Grit
Pete Postlethwaite (Fergus ‘Fergie’ Colm) – The Town
Vincent Cassel (Thomas Leroy / The Gentleman) – Black Swan

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams (Charlene Fleming) – The Fighter *
Barbara Hershey (Erica Sayers / The Queen) – Black Swan *
Ellen Page (Ariadne) – Inception
Geraldine James (Connie) – Made In Dagenham
Helena Bonham Carter (Queen Elizabeth) – The King’s Speech *
Helena Bonham Carter (Red Queen) – Alice In Wonderland
Lesley Manville (Mary) – Another Year *
Marion Cotillard (Mal) – Inception
Melissa Leo (Alice Ward) – The Fighter
Mila Kunis (Lily / The Black Swan) – Black Swan
Miranda Richardson (Barbara Castle) – Made In Dagenham *
Olivia Williams (Ruth Lang) – The Ghost
Rebecca Hall (Claire Keesey) – The Town
Rosamund Pike (Lisa Hopkins) – Made In Dagenham
Winona Ryder (Beth Macintyre / The Dying Swan) – Black Swan

Make Up & Hair
127 Hours
Alice In Wonderland *
Black Swan *
Brighton Rock
The Fighter
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 *
I Am Love
Inception
The King’s Speech *
Made In Dagenham *
Never Let Me Go
Shutter Island
The Social Network
True Grit

Special Visual Effects
127 Hours
Alice In Wonderland *
Black Swan
Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 *
Hereafter
How To Train Your Dragon
Inception *
Iron Man 2 *
Kick-Ass
The King’s Speech
Monsters
Shutter Island
Toy Story 3
Tron Legacy *

Sound
127 Hours *
Alice In Wonderland
Black Swan *
Brighton Rock
The Fighter
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception *
The King’s Speech *
Made In Dagenham
Shutter Island
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3 *
True Grit *

Editing
127 Hours *
Alice In Wonderland
Black Swan *
The Fighter
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception *
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech *
Made In Dagenham
Shutter Island
The Social Network *
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit

Costume Design
Alice In Wonderland *
Black Swan *
Brighton Rock
Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1
I Am Love
Inception
Kick-Ass
The King’s Speech *
Made In Dagenham *
Never Let Me Go
Shutter Island
The Social Network
True Grit *

Production Design
127 Hours
Alice In Wonderland *
Black Swan *
Brighton Rock
The Fighter
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 *
I Am Love
Inception *
The King’s Speech *
Made In Dagenham
Never Let Me Go
Shutter Island *
The Social Network
True Grit *

Cinematography
127 Hours
Alice In Wonderland
Black Swan *
The Fighter
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1
I Am Love
Inception *
The King’s Speech *
Never Let Me Go
Shutter Island *
The Social Network
The Town
True Grit *
Winter’s Bone

Animated Film
Chico & Rita
Despicable Me *
How To Train Your Dragon *
Illusionist, The
Toy Story 3 *

Original Music
127 Hours
Alice In Wonderland *
Biutiful
Brighton Rock
Despicable Me
The Ghost
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1
How To Train Your Dragon *
Inception *
The King’s Speech *
Made In Dagenham
Never Let Me Go
The Social Network *
The Town



Notes
- Double longlist nod for Gemma Arterton! Get it, gurl.
- Double longlist nod for Andrew Garfield! Love.
- Standard Inception love-in. Vom. Original Screenplay? I mean, really?!?! You do realise they would have saved a lot of time and effort had they just asked Cillian Murphy to do it straight-out. Just sayin'.
- WAI NO ASTERIX NEXT TO MILA KUNIS?? She best get nominated.
- I love that Toy Story III is in for a shout to get nominated for Best Film. It'd best!

I need to train to see more of these movies before I can really comment though!

A Look Back at Tess of the D’Urbervilles.

Thomas Hardy’s famous novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles was not a universal hit when it was first published in 1891, and met more than its fair share of controversy. Society at that time, it seemed, were not particularly receptive a novel that sympathised with women, that sympathised with the lower class, or was willing to challenge the social and sexual codes of the time. Over 100 years on, society is a lot more accepting to the ideas raised in his novel, and, just before the release of the next Bond film, the BBC have found the perfect time to re-invigorate Hardy’s novel onto the small screen.

22-year-old Kent-born English rose Gemma Aterton, who appears in three 2008 releases – RocknRolla, Three and Out, and Quantum of Solace, plays the low-born but beautiful country girl Tess who catches the eye of the immoral Alec D'Urberville, who, after persist and failed attempts to win her heart, takes advantage of her tired state one night, leaving her wounded and broken, but also leaving her a mother, to a stillborn baby. Things get better for Tess when she meets her supposed soulmate in Angel Clare, who falls for her too (and this time, the love is requited), but her shady past (to no fault of her own) continues to catch up with her, and finally, her honest soul lets her down when she admits to her newfound husband about her past endeavours, and he hypocritically rejects her.

Having had read the novel, I knew how the story went, but that didn’t stop me from feeling for Tess as strongly as I did the first time I read the novel. In their adaptation, the BBC choose not to blur the line between whether or not it was seduction or rape – they depict the event as rape (which is also how I interpret it). Tess’ subsequent downfall is heartbreaking, not least because of the raw, gut-wrenching performance from Gemma Aterton, who, accent aside, captures all the qualities of Tess Durbyfield – kind-hearted, sincere, loyal, naïve, and prokects them into a brilliant performance. Her final scenes with Alec, in particular, broke my heart.

Overall, despite a few drawbacks, I found Tess and beautiful and moving adaptation of Hardy’s novel, and I look forward to seeing more of Miss Aterton!

So, for those of you who watched this, what did you make of it?