It’s definitely going to be a comedy, right? I mean come on, Woody Allen playing a pimp is amusing enough, but John Turturro? There’s no way this could be serious. If it was, it could be an incredible film, but as it is, I have a feeling that Allen (Annie Hall, Manhattan - come on, WOODY ALLEN) and Turturro (The Big Lebowski, Mr. Deeds) are going to go for humour.

The plot is thus  (feel free to judge whether my prediction was right or not – I didn’t peep, honest). Two best friends find themselves without any money. In order to remedy the situation, they decide that one of them (Allen) should pimp out the other (Turturro). They somehow manage to irk the local Hasidic Jewish community, and Turturro falls for a widowed Jewish woman. Their pimp-prostitute pseudonyms?

Virgil and Bongo.

Allen’s not taken a starring role in a film for over a decade, so it’ll be good to see him centre-stage and back in his element. If there’s one thing he does right, it’s comedy involving sex and Judaism. More on this as it happens.

It was a fairly predictable year at the Oscars, but then again, it rarely isn’t. There are however a few nice surprises in the list below, so it’s worth checking out the entire thing rather than the traditional “best actor/actress/film and nothing else” approach, whether or not our predictions turned out to be right. Personally, I think The Artist was a shoe-in for awards, as was Hugo. Read on to take a look at who won.

Best Picture: The Artist

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin – The Artist

Best Actress: Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer – Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer – The Help

Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation - Iran

Best Animation: Rango

Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash

Best Art Direction: Hugo - Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo

Best Cinematography: Hugo - Robert Richardson

Best Sound Mixing: Hugo - Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

Best Sound Editing: Hugo - Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

Best Original Song: ”Man or Muppet”, from The Muppets - music and lyrics by Bret McKenzie

Best Original Score: The Artist - Ludovic Bource

Best Costumes: The Artist - Mark Bridges

Best Documentary Feature: Undefeated

Best Documentary Short: Saving Face

Best Film Editing: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

Best Animated Short Film: The Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Best Live Action Short Film: The Shore

Best Visual Effects: Hugo - Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

Best Make-Up: The Iron Lady - Mark Coulier and J Roy Helland

I’m sure you’re here for the results more than the gossip, so I’ll make with the awards list:

Film:

Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource – The Artist

Best Original Song: ”Masterpiece” – W.E.

Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation - Iran

Best Screenplay: Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris

Best Animated Feature Film: The Adventures of Tintin

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical: The Artist

Best Director: Martin Scorsese – Hugo

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer – Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer – The Help

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical: Jean Dujardin – The Artist

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical: Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn

Best Actor – Drama: George Clooney – The Descendants

Best Actress – Drama: Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady

Best Motion Picture – Drama: The Descendants

Television:

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical: Matt LeBlanc – Episodes

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical: Laura Dern - Enlightened

Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical: Modern Family

Best Supporting Actor: Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Lange – American Horror Story

Best Actor: Kelsey Grammer – Boss

Best Actress: Claire Danes – Homeland

Best Mini-Series or Movie Made for Television: Downton Abbey

Best Television Series – Drama: Homeland

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Morgan Freeman

When I meet her to talk about the film, you’d think she’d been doing it for years. In fact, it has been just one year since Heartbeats received it’s première, but perhaps the film’s success since the 2010 Cannes Film Festival has instilled Chokri with enough confidence to last until the UK release earlier this month.

“We expect nothing,” she tells me, still delightfully modest about the whole thing. “When you come up with an artistic project, you’re so fragile. You just want people to understand it, because it’s so close to what you are and your sensibilities. [The critical reaction] was just kind of a relief. I was so proud of Xavier.”

Her fondness of the director is immediately evident, and perhaps unsurprising since she considers him to be one of her best friends. Still, despite the fact Heartbeats seems to have cemented Xavier’s place as one of Canada’s most promising new directors, the film has not been without its criticisms – the most common being it is ‘over-stylised’. From fashion-forward characters to the frequent use of super-slow motion, there’s no denying the fact that Heartbeats is somewhat image-conscious. However Chorki seems genuine in her belief that, “Xavier never does style just for style”.

“I dress a certain way, but it makes sense with how Marie (her character in the film) interacts in life. It’s not a fashion show. The same for slow motion – when you’re in love, or you think you’re in love, there’s music. It’s a thing of our generation, too. At the end, when Francis says “I love you” to Nicolas, there is no music, there is no sound. This guy just slowly goes to hell. It’s heavy. It’s never for style”.

Chokri’s also keen to distance the film from it’s numerous, and probably now tiresome, comparisons to the French New Wave style of film making.

“For me, it’s really modern,” she insists. “The structure of the movie is more like Woody Allen. There’s a thing of our generation in that movie, there’s something about love which is really painful, and it’s not the idea of La Nouvelle Vague.”

I’m starting to believe her. Chokri herself is certainly stylish, but much more effortlessly so. “If I was like Marie I would kill myself,” she confirms. In fact, whilst her character attempts to imitate Audrey Hepburn and never comes across as being overly comfortable in her own skin, Chokri is quite the opposite. Instead, she sites classic French film icons, such as Bridget Bardot, as being the actresses whom she most admires, and as soon as she mentions Anna Karina, I can see the resemblance.

Indeed it seems that, much like Karina herself, Chokri is unlikely to simply settle into a comfortable career as an actress, despite putting in a stunning début performance. Instead, she seems more excited about the opportunities to work within a range of creative outlets, which the success of Heartbeats will undoubtedly offer her.

“I don’t care about the medium – I am really happy if I create. I could just stop everything and do, say, photography. When I was younger I did music, then I did an exhibition of paintings when I was twenty. I am DJing too. For me, the thing that is important is creation.”

Whilst her she will act in Dolan’s upcoming film Laurence Anyways (about a man in a relationship who decides to have a sex change), Chokri revealed that she has already begun work on her own film script, which she will also co-direct with Dolan’s assistance.

“I was writing and sending the screenplay to Xavier. I was like, “my problem is that I have so [many] directorial notes on my screenplay and I don’t know what to do – it’s going to be hard to give it to someone, because I know exactly what I want”. He said, “well I could could co-direct it with you, I would love it.””

She seems thrilled, and no wonder. With Dolan’s undeniable expertise and her own creative credentials, this project has the potential to generate a huge amount of attention, as well as provide Chokri with the international recognition which she quite possibly already deserves.

Heartbeats, starring Monia Chokri, is in UK cinemas from 27th May 2011.

Although very little has been revealed about Allen‘s next directorial venture – apart from the fact that it is set in Rome – several big names are now attached to the film.

First to be enlisted was Penelope Cruz, who previously worked with Allen back in 2008 with Vicky Cristina Barcelona. A few days ago it was announced that another former collaborator was to join the cast list, in the form of Alec Baldwin, who starred in Allen’s 1990 film, Alice.

Now, however, it seems a couple of Allen first-timers have been added to the bill. Jesse Eisenberg, who recently received much critical acclaim for his performance in The Social Network, has been confirmed to star, as has actress Ellen Page, who made her name in the 2007 comedy-drama, Juno.

Meanwhile, Allen has another film soon to be released – Midnight in Paris. This upcoming romantic comedy is scheduled to première at the at the 64th Cannes Film Festival in May (which we’ve already reported on here), and stars Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams and Carla Bruni, amongst others.

We’ll keep you posted!

Organisers of the 64th festival have just announced the line up which will start with a screening of Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, which has got people talking for having France’s first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy in it, albeit very briefly.

Interestingly Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the latest instalment of the popular Disney franchise, will also be be shown at the festival.

Johnny Depp returns to play his now almost iconic Captain Jack Sparrow and he is joined by Penelope Cruz.

On the Spanish theme, Pedro Almodovar’s latest film The Skin I Live In, starring Antonio Banderas is part of the main line up.

The festival marks the reunion between Mel Gibson and his Maverick co-star Jodie Foster in Beaver, about a depressed company executive who uses a beaver puppet to communicate with his family.

Hotly anticipated The Tree of Life from Terrence Malick, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn will also be competing.

Other films out of the 19 competing include This Must Be the Place, which is Paolo Sorrentino’s English language début starring Sean Penn as an ageing rock star. Lars Von Trier, who won the prestigious Palme d’Or for Dancer in the Dark in 2000, is back again with new film Melancholia, starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kiefer Sutherland. The adaptation of the best-selling Lionel Shriver novel We Need to Talk About Kevin is also in the running.

And the tough task of chairing the main competition jury goes to Robert De Niro this year. So, what are you most excited about seeing and who sound like potential winners?

For full line up and more information visit the official website here.

There’s a lot of debate on the topic at present, so soon after the awards ceremony itself, even in The Guardian – in the Friday edition the paper asked “The Academy: Who Calls the Shots?” Apparently, Dakota Fanning, but not Woody Allen. Rupert Murdoch, but not George Lucas. That’s reassuring.

Well, let’s take a look at a few people who got royally stuffed:

Andrew Garfield for his absolutely incredible acting in The Social Network. Playing Facebook co-founded Eduardo Saverin, he is without a doubt the unsung hero of the piece. And where’s his Supporting Actor nomination? Nowhere. Justin Timberlake‘s? Nowhere. Not good.

Christopher Nolan. Seriously, guys, really? Inception is all over the list! Apparently, a cosy drama about yet another king with issues is grounds for a board-sweep, but not one of the most visually creative and imaginative directors of the year, for a film he even wrote? Ouch.

Mark Whalberg‘s probably not thrilled, either, given he was the lead in The Fighter, and both supporting actors (Christian Bale and Melissa Leo) got Oscars for their work. Then again, lets be honest – Mark Whalberg just tends to play Mark Whalberg.

And lets not forget the cast members in Black Swan, Mila Kunis as evil rival ballerina Lily and Barbara Hershey as the hauntingly vicarious mother of Nina, played by the now Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman.

Bit of a sting-fest for all involved, but better luck next year, right? Hopefully there won’t be a Queen’s Dialogue or Princesses’ Twitter Feed to usurp all the truly original stuff. Agree? Disagree? Debate, people! Debate!

That’s not to say it’s not worth watching, but it’s probably not one for someone who’s feeling a little bit…fragile. Biutiful has been nominated for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film at a whole host of award ceremonies – and perhaps it is – but Sunday afternoon feel-good it ain’t.

Spanish actor, Javier Bardem, was critically acclaimed for his performance in 2007′s No Country for Old Men before playing the bilingual smoothie Juan Antonio in Woody Allen‘s Vicky Christina Barcelona. This time around, he gives an undeniably intense and, at times, fairly uncomfortable performance as a single father, Uxbal, desperately trying to get his affairs in order after a diagnosis with cancer gives him just two months to live.

This film manages to constantly jar against where you want it to go. If this was director Alejandro González Iñárritu‘s intention, it is certainly impressive, if not it’s a little unpleasant. Yes, the central predicament of the plot is Uxbal’s terminal illness, but the tragedy is scattered elsewhere – everywhere – throughout the film. There’s the plight of the Senegalese family-man (and drug dealer) who is about to deported, the terrible living and working conditions endured by illegal Chinese factory workers, the erratic and abusive behaviour of an alcoholic mother and the corruption of the city’s police force – all of which merely reside on the surface of this film’s deeper, darker themes.

It’s no wonder, then, that this film has already been accused of being overloaded with subplots. However, Bardem does a exceptional job of holding them all together and is saved, to a certain extent, by the fact that his character is entirely believable as Biutiful‘s tragic hero. Uxbal is a good and loving man, but he is flawed through and through, which is precisely what makes him so interesting to watch.

Biutiful might take Bardem back to his native language, but the Barcelona we’re presented with is a world away from where we last saw him in Vicky Christina. The flats are small and grim, and shared by too many people. The streets are dirty and dangerous, and powered by a criminal underworld. That said, visually, it’s not quite as bleak as it sounds. There are just enough moments of ice cream and dancing and snow to make this film bearable. And, of course, there’s Maricel Alvarez who, in her first major film performance, makes a stunning début. Her role as Uxbal’s troubled partner provides, perhaps, the most enjoyable whirlwind of chaos within the world he is urgently trying to calm down.

However, much like it’s characters, this film is far from perfect. One of the biggest risks it takes is the inclusion of Uxbal’s supernatural spiritualism, which manifests itself on-screen by showing dead people floating sinisterly against the ceiling. Yes, really. But luckily, thanks to a few subtle, corner-of-your-eye shots, it pays off and actually works remarkably well. On the other hand, the fact that the homosexual relationship of a Chinese trafficker is never properly explained or explored, makes it’s association with human depravity pointless and even offensive.

Biutiful takes you on a journey, but don’t expect it to be an easy ride. In fact, about halfway through it reaches a point where you want to get off; there the ability re-order life’s most complex circumstances still seems possible. But then, in terms of film-making, that would be nothing new. Instead, Biutiful drags you kicking and screaming beyond that point, for a look at what might be salvageable if everything you knew were to fall apart. I’d watch it again… but not for a bit.

Biutiful is released in UK cinemas on 28th January 2011.

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is a romantic comedy staring Josh Brolin, Naomi Watts, Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Gemma Jones, Lucy Punch, and Freida Pinto.

The film seems to be not too dissimilar to ones we have seen from him before – the classic tale of tangled love lives and the search for happiness.

The trailer has already set tongues wagging due to the dead pan narration which explains the situations of various characters in the film.

The film, which is Allen’s 44th, comes as production has already started on his 45th film. It was originally screened at the Cannes Film Festival where it received mixed reviews.

It will be released in America on September 22nd.

Check out the exclusive trailer at yahoo. What do you think of it?

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810096268/video/20967189