Hitchcock Still


We look at Oscar-nominated animated romp Wreck-it Ralph and Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren in Hitchcock

Awards season continues to crank up with Argo taking the lead in the homestretch. Ben Affleck's true 1970s thriller has won the top prizes at the actors, producers and directors guilds, which makes it the favourite to win Best Picture on Oscar night February 24th, even though Affleck isn't nominated as Best Director. On the other hand, he is up for director, as well as film and actor, in this Sunday's British Academy Film Awards, better known as the Baftas.

This weekend also sees the release of the season's final awards-contending titles in the UK, including Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren in Hitchcock and the Oscar-nominated animated romp Wreck-it Ralph. There are also two acclaimed foreign films: Pablo Larrain's inventive Oscar-nominated political black comedy No, and the gorgeous Japanese drama I Wish.

A Good Day To Die Hard Still

With those out of the way, audiences are focussing on the arrival next week of a fifth Die Hard movie, A Good Day to Die Hard, and cast members Bruce Willis and Jai Courtney have been travelling the world to meet the press. Rising star heart-throb Courtney (last seen alongside Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher) was caught by paparazzi in Berlin this week meeting fans outside a restaurant where he was about to be joined by Willis. They play father and son in the movie.

Speaking of which, an extended trailer for A Good Day to Die Hard was released this week, showing a lot more of the plot, as well as giving us a glimpse of some seriously impressive action sequences.

Staying in action mode, we also got our first glimpse of Fast & Furious 6 with a new teaser trailer. The film teams up meathead franchise stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (back from part 5) for more crazed automotive mayhem. We even get a glimpse of back-from-the-dead Michelle Rodriguez.

Iron Man 3 Poster

And finally, even though it isn't out until April, there's a new trailer for Iron Man 3 this week, and shows a bit more of the plot and characters than we've seen before, including a harrowing plane disaster. Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle are all back, with Ben Kingsley as the villainous Mandarin.

Rich Cline