London, January 2004. Animated clown fish, deadly robots, hobbits, incompetent spies, love-struck Prime Ministers, mutants and swashbuckling pirates all contributed to a golden year in cinema and all have made the Orange Film of the Year final shortlist. The prestigious prize will be awarded at the Orange British Academy Film Awards on February 15th 2004 and is the only award presented at the ceremony that is voted for by the public.
The short list is made up of the top ten box office hits of 2003 and the cinema-going public can vote by mobile phone by texting the name of their number one film to 86133 (e.g. AWARD 1 for BRUCE ALMIGHTY), by going to http://www.orange.co.uk/film, or Orange users can go to Orange World. One lucky voter will also win a pair of tickets to the prestigious awards ceremony on 15 February - the most glamorous night in the British film calendar.
While recent years have been dominated by fantasy epics, with Lord of the Rings winning in 2002 and 2003, this year’s contest is one of the most open yet with a wide variety of films in the running.
2003 was a great year for science fiction films with no less than three - all sequels - making the top ten. Arnold Schwarzenegger reprised his role as a deadly cyborg in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Keanu Reeves kicked, punched and fought his way through Matrix: Reloaded whilst Patrick Stewart led his band of misfit mutants once again in X-Men 2: X-Men United
However, not all of the year’s blockbusters have been big budget Hollywood movies: Britain is well represented by an eclectic mix of bumbling special agents, naked middle-aged women and a tale of tangled love lives at Christmas. The three British films in the list, Johnny English, Calendar Girls and Love Actually, provided some of the most heart-warming and amusing cinematic moments of year.
One of the biggest family films of the year was Disney/Pixar’s blockbusting animated Finding Nemo; a family film starring a clown fish in search of his missing son. An animated film has never won the award but Finding Nemo may be a front-runner following its huge worldwide success.
One of the biggest pictures of last summer was Bruce Almighty, a comedy starring Jim Carrey as a television reporter suddenly blessed with God-like powers. Anyone wanting a slightly darker film over the summer only had to see the critically acclaimed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl for a piratical epic with a twist. The film features a star cast including a charismatic Johnny Depp and up and coming British actress Keira Knightley.
One of the favourites for this year’s award will be the third and final chapter in the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. Despite its December release date, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King could earn Peter Jackson a third Orange Film of the Year award for his 201 minute epic.
To vote for your Orange Film of the Year 2003 simply go to http://www.orange.co.uk/film
The ten films in alphabetical order are:
1. Bruce Almighty (2003)
2. Calendar Girls (2003)
3. Finding Nemo (2003)
4. Love Actually (2003)
5. Johnny English (2003)
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
7. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
8. X Men 2, The (2003)
9. Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (2003)
10. Matrix Reloaded, The (2003)
