LONDON, Mar 28, 2010 / — It was a high-profile evening on Sunday at the Jameson Empire Awards 2010 with Gwyneth Paltrow, Ian McKellen, Jude Law, Patrick Stewart, Guy Ritchie, Simon Pegg, Ray Winstone, Jaime Winstone, Bonnie Wright, Jamie Campbell Bower, Aaron Johnson and Mark Strong, amongst others as guests.
Held in London each March and hosted by comedian Dara O Briain this year, the event took place at the Grosvenor House Hotel and deemed by many in the industry to be the most fun awards in the British movie calendar.
Sponsored by Empire magazine, the world’s biggest movie magazine with a circulation of 194,074 (ABC Jul-Dec 09) and Jameson Whiskey, the UK’s No. 1-selling Irish whiskey, this year’s Jameson Empire Awards also featured the “Done in 60 Seconds’ Competition,” which encourages budding directors or film enthusiasts to create 60-second versions of their favorite Hollywood blockbuster and upload it to www.empireonline.com or a local partner website.
Tonight, at the awards ceremony, theAvatar, scooped the top prizes with awards for James Cameron for Best Film (presented by Sony Make Believe) and Best Director and for Zoe Saldana, this year’s Best Actress (presented by Magic FM). Sam Worthington, who starred in the film, picked up the awards on behalf of the winners.
Sherlock Holmes proved the ultimate in crowd pleasing thrills and action-packed adventure, with the film winning Best Thriller. The Award was collected by director Guy Ritchie who was joined on stage by cast members Mark Strong and Jude Law. The brilliantly intense Brit vigilante crime flick Harry Brown won Best British Film (presented by IndieMoviesOnline.com), with director Daniel Barber accepting the Award.
Aaron Johnson, who starred as a young John Lennon in Nowhere Boy, beat rivals to be voted Best Newcomer (presented by Kiss 100) and the incredibly talented Christoph Waltz was honoured with this year’s Best Actor Award (presented by Citroën) for his role in Inglourious Basterds.
Sponsors Jameson Irish Whiskey and Empire magazine were delighted to acknowledge and honor one of the world’s most outstanding actors for his phenomenal body of work and variety of performances.
From Gandalf and Magneto in the Lord Of The Rings and the X-Men blockbusters to his Academy Award-nominated role as real-life filmmaker James Whale in Gods And Monsters, Ian McKellen was crowned as the Empire Icon.
When advised of the honour, McKellen said, “I couldn’t be more surprised or delighted. Middle-earth rejoices!”
In addition, special honours were bestowed on one of Britain’s most highly respected actors. For his overall contribution to world cinema and a wealth of memorable roles, Jude Law took home the Empire Hero Award (presented by Jameson Irish Whiskey), which was presented to him by his friend and co-star, Gwyneth Paltrow.
Meanwhile, horror fans will be pleased to know that director Tomas Alfredson’s Let The Right One In beat off frightful competition to win Best Horror, whilst the fantastic state-of-the-art epic Star Trek scooped Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy, with the film’s Scotty, Simon Pegg accepting the award.
On a lighter note, British humour proved itself the leader in comedy this year with the BAFTA and Academy Award-nominated In The Loop taking its rightful place as Best Comedy, with director/writer Armando Iannucci there to receive the award with the film’s stars, Peter Capaldi and Gina McKee.
This year sees the return of the hugely popular amateur filmmaking award: Done In 60 Seconds. Empire readers have stunned the voting panel this year with the incredible level of entries and phenomenal one-minute reprisals of such classics as There Will Be Blood, Reservoir Dogs and Top Gun. However, there can only be one winner, and Jameson and Empire were delighted to give Mark Wong the Award for his fantastic adaptation of Top Gun, which was presented to him by director Edgar Wright.
Finally, this year’s award for Outstanding Contribution To British Film was deservedly dedicated to actor Ray Winstone, whose roles in film span from an early career role in Quadrophenia to his award-winning turn in Nil By Mouth. Audiences have enjoyed his broad range of performances in both independent and mainstream films including Sexy Beast, The War Zone, The Departed and 44 Inch Chest and Jameson and Empire Magazine couldn’t have been happier to bestow him with the award.
Jameson Empire Awards 2010 – Winners:
Best Newcomer presented by Kiss 100 – Aaron Johnson
Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy – Star Trek
Best Comedy – In The Loop
Empire Hero presented by Jameson Irish Whiskey – Jude Law
Done in 60 Seconds – “Top Gun” by Mark Wong
Best Horror – Let The Right One In
Best Thriller – Sherlock Holmes
Best Actor presented by Citroën – Christoph Waltz
Best Actress presented by Magic FM – Zoe Saldana
Best British Film presented by IndieMoviesOnline.com – Harry Brown
Best Film presented by Sony Make Believe – Avatar
Best Director – James Cameron
Outstanding Contribution To British Film – Ray Winstone
Empire Icon – Ian McKellen
