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Director: Luis Prieto
Cast: Richard Coyle, Bronson Webb, Agyness Deyn, Zlatko Buric
Certificate: 18

Full disclosure. I’ve never seen Pusher. Nicolas Winding Refn’s 90s drug-dealing trilogy has been sitting in a to-watch pile ever since I saw Bronson in 2008. But the year before that, Winding Refn worked on an episode of Miss Marple, the ITV series produced by Matthew Read. Fast-forward to 2012 and Read and Refn are back together to remake Pusher for the English-language crowd.

Is it a pointless cash-grab? An unnecessary retread? Surprisingly, no. The new Pusher is properly decent in its own right. Matthew Read’s script may follow the original movie’s plot beat-for-beat, but that only gives director Luis Prieto a chance to make his mark. He steamrollers the story along with all the usual tricks of the genre, driven by Orbital's pounding score, not giving you time to care if some of the characters are two-dimensional.

The 2012 BAFTA nominations have been officially announced - and Olivia Colman isn't on the list. It's a massive shame for what is undoubtedly the year's greatest performance (read our Tyrannosaur review), especially after Paddy Considine's drama also failed to make the jump from the BAFTA longlist to the shortlist in the "Oustanding British Film" category. At least Steve McQueen's Shame is on the final shortlist there, although he's still sorely missing from the Best Director race.

And yet the BAFTA list is still something of a rebel in the awards battle this year. Yes, The Artist is leading the pack with 12 nods, but Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is right behind it with 11. Third place goes to Hugo on 9, but another pleasant surprise is My Week with Marilyn notching up 6 nominations - including Kenneth Branagh and Michelle Williams for their superb performances (head this way for our My Week with Marilyn interview).

 

The Help and War Horse make their customary appearances with 5 nods apiece, but The Iron Lady has close competition from Drive - yes, Drive. Both are sitting on four nominations, with Nicolas Winding Refn even up for both Best Director and Best Film.

That's a great result for what could easily have been an overlooked gem - and it shows that BAFTA aren't afraid to buck the trend a little to reward less obvious candidates. But does it really have to come at the cost of not nominating our own British indies?

It's great to see Michael Fassbender and Gary Oldman up for Best Actor, as well as Bridesmaids up for Best Screenplay and Senna escaping its Documentary field. The Best Newcomer race, too, is rightly full of superb debuts as Joe Cornish, Paddy Considine, Ralph Fiennes and, brilliantly, Black Pond's Will Sharp all share the spotlight. It's just a shame that they're not up for more.

So while everyone debates whether Tintin should be up for both Best Animation and Best Visual Effects, people aren't talking about the Tyrannosaur in the room.

 

Read on for the full list of BAFTA nominations.

 

If you've seen David Fincher's Dragon Tattoo, the opening credits probably blew you away with their angry, sub-Bond style and loud cover of Led Zeppelin's The Immigrant Song by Trent Reznor and Karen O. At the very least, they should have made a strong impression, presuming you don't already think that it was the best title sequence of the whole year.

Now, you can watch those Dragon Tattoo opening credits online - thanks to Tim Miller and Blur Studio's superb design, it's 154 seconds of your life that you won't regret losing.

 

 

Yet to make your mind up about your favourite titles from the past 12 months? Read on for the top 5 opening credits of 2011. 

 

Get your scorpion jackets on, boys.* This limited edition Drive Scalextric set has all the thrills and car chase excitement from Nicolas Winding Refn's action-packed blockbuster. For those looking for quieter, existential drama, simply unplug the remotes and watch as Ryan Gosling's patented painted in-car expression conveys a range of emotions without actually moving. Yes, the Drive Scalextric slot car racing box set has something for everyone. Providing they like driving. Or Ryan Gosling.*

And, if you order the Drive Scalextric for Christmas in the next two weeks, as well as the authentic Ryan Gosling driving gloves, you even get a free limited edition hammer to batter people's brains in.

* Note: Ryan Gosling and scorpion jacket not included.

 

 

 

 

For more Christmas gift ideas, keep opening the i-Flicks Advent Calendar.

 

Ryan Gosling. The Gosling. Old Gozzles. Whatever you call him, it's undeniable that at the moment, he's the sexiest guy on the big screen (and that doesn't depend on the big screen).

Yeah, that Ryan Gosling is so hot right now. But he's been hot for some time. Since The Notebook, he's been a heartthrob for girls (and boys) around the world, but with The Ides of March out this year and Drive and Crazy, Stupid, Love making a glorious Gosling sandwich this week, he's getting everyone's love juices flowing more than ever.

So what's his secret? Allow us to introduce the Ryan Gosling acting masterclass. After careful detailed analysis of Old Gozzle's performances, we have distilled his entire acting technique into a few easy-to-follow tips. Here are seven simple steps to make you as cool as Ryan Gosling.

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Ron Perlman, Albert Brooks, Christina Hendricks
Certificate: 18 
Trailer

"What do you do?" asks Carey Mulligan, sitting nervously in the kitchen. Ryan Gosling stands still. He says nothing. Then, after a few seconds, he smiles slowly. "I drive," he says. That's pretty much all there is to Drive: Nicolas Winding Refn's thriller is made up of 10% car chases, 20% Carey Mulligan, and 70% Ryan Gosling standing still, saying nothing, pausing for a few seconds, and then smiling slowly. Needless to say, it adds up to one big load of awesome. 

Doors are opening everywhere these days for Carey Mulligan - car doors, in this case. Yes, Mulligan is making a move to join Universal's upcoming action thriller, Drive.

The movie, which also stars Ryan Gosling and Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, will mark a slight departure from drama for the actress, who made her name in An Education. Directed by Pusher's Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive will follow a stunt driver (Gosling) working on the odd bank job, who ends up on the run from hit men - with a former prisoner's girlfriend in the passenger seat.

It's got a promising cast and an interesting director, so Drive might well be something more than your average brainless actioner. It's written by Hossein Amini (who wrote the naff Killshot, but the pretty decent Wings of the Dove) so it marks a rare time when Winding Refn works from someone else's screenplay. Is he selling out? Has he spotted something special? Either way, at least we won't end up with Valhalla Rising again.

Drive starts shooting in LA next month.