Imagine your ideal awards ceremony. It wouldn't be four hours long. There would be no awkward/sexist/lame musical numbers. Winners would be allowed to take as long as they want, and thank whomever they want in their speeches, and would be positively encouraged to tell us shaggy dog stories about their experiences on set. And the whole thing would be irreverent, laidback, relaxed and very funny. In other words, The Jameson Empire Awards.
Yes, the show we're calling the antidote to Oscar fever is back — on Sunday March 24, to be precise. As ever, the majority of the categories will be decided by our readers, so we need YOUR votes for the best films and performances in the period running from January 27, 2012, to January 25, 2013.
It's a very open race, with box office behemoths Avengers Assemble, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey all in contention. Then there are the smaller yet no less deserving entries like The Raid, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Sightseers, Argo, Looper and Django Unchained – as well as many, many more.
The individual categories will be hard-fought too. For example, fancy choosing between Looper, Prometheus, Avengers, The Hobbit and Dredd in Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy? Nope, us neither.
Best Male and Female Newcomers always throw up some interesting faces, including everyone from Beasts Of The Southern Wild’s Quevenzhane Wallis to Steve Oram for Sightseers, while Best Director will see a battle of the heavyweights with Christopher Nolan, Joss Whedon, Sam Mendes, Peter Jackson and Quentin Tarantino battling it out.
To vote, simply select your favourites in each category below — and don't forget, you'll be entered into a ballot to win a pair of tickets to the Jameson Empire Awards, where you could find yourself rubbing shoulders with this year’s nominees and special guests.
