 |  It's our final newsletter of 2013, which means it's time for us to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. We hope your Christmas holidays are as beautifully relaxing as all the grass shots in a Terrence Malick film, as fun-filled as the cameos in an Anchorman movie and as exciting as the bits with the explosions in a Michael Bay movie. Our giant Review of 2013 will continue right up to Christmas Eve, covering every possible aspect of this year's film highlights (and occasionally lowlights as well), but after you've finished off the turkey and its leftovers, come back and look at our Preview Of 2014 and start filling the new diary you got for Christmas with next year's viewing schedule. Let's hope it's even more epic than this year's crop. Helen O'Hara
Deputy Online Editor, Empire
 
Transformers: Age Of Extinction Exclusive! Subscribe Today And Get Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag!
Bizarre incidents with air-conditioners aside, Michael Bay's Transformers: Age Of Extinction is coming together nicely in China and Michigan. This month's cover star, Optimus Prime, granted us an access-all-areas pass to Bay's latest, ahem, mechsterpiece to get the skinny of the next phase of the blockbuster auteur's empire building. Prepare the awesome. VIP print and digital packages Subscribe to Empire magazine Take a look inside this issue of Empire magazine Buy single iPad editions on the App Store View all subscription offers
  New Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Teaser Slams In
After the teases and viral pics, leaked footage and Comic-Con reactions, the new, Gareth Edwards-spawned version of Godzilla is finally ready to make his grand entrance in the shape of a trailer. Take a gander, but watch out for flying debris... More: Two New Trailers Arrive For Transcendence Johnny Depp gets artificial intelligence. New How To Train Your Dragon 2 Trailer Arrives The wyrm has turned. New Trailer For Bad Neighbors 'Some lives will always matter more than others...' Grand Piano Trailer Hits The Web's Stage Elijah Wood must play for his life. 3 Days To Kill Trailer Shoots In Kevin Costner is gunning for retirement. 22 Jump Street Red Band Trailer Struts In Sup, dawg?
  The British Video Association Santa sent us this lovely stocking full of festive goodies and we thank him for it. There's even a copy of The Wolverine in there, because nothing says Christmas like a beclawed man-beast with anger issues.
 I'm going to have trouble buying him a monkey.  Ally faces problems when trying to get James the perfect present.
Vote For Your Favourite Movies Of 2013!
Looking for gift ideas this Christmas? Here's one: a 2014 calendar. And the minute you get your hands on it, put a big red circle around March 30. For that's the date on which the Jameson Empire Awards 2014 - the most irreverent and fun awards show around - will take place. As ever, it'll be an amazing night filled with A-listers galore, as we reward the best films of the year (and the people who made them). But we couldn't do it without you. Voting for the 2014 Awards is now open, which is where you come in. Simply plump for your favourites in each category in the following form, and you could be chosen at random to attend the awards. | |
|  | | The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Spoiler Podcast
There are many charming people in The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, but two of the most charming, Martin Freeman and Jimmy Nesbitt, dropped by the Empire Podcast to speak in spoiler-filled detail about the Middle-earth middle movie, and you can hear their thoughts on unsinkable barrels, New Zealand slang and meeting Ian Holm in the podcast after the click. |
|  | | Empire Presents the New York Film Academy
New York Film Academy has built a reputation as one of the premier film schools in the world. With its innovative hands-on approach to teaching, students find themselves completely immersed in their course of study, surrounded by award-winning faculty and working with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. Learn Filmmaking, Acting for Film, Photography, Musical Theatre, Game Design, Animation and more. |
|  | | The 30 Best Trailers Of 2013
Good trailers, bad trailers, you know we've had our share. Here, then, are just the most tantalising teasers that got us stomping our feet this year, from palm-moistening horrors to riotously ridiculous action spectaculars. And remember, even if you didn't like the film at the end of the day, sometimes the trailer can still get your metaphorical engines revving all the same... |
|  | | The 30 Worst Posters Of 2013
There have been many great posters this year - here are 50 of them, to get you started - but there have also been many terrible posters too. From characterless character banners to good ol' fashioned Photoshop cock-ups, quite a few one-sheets have got the ignominious one star from Empire. Here are a few of our 'favourites'. |
|  | | Film Studies 101: The 30 Camera Shots Every Film Fan Needs To Know
The cinematographer's art often seems as much black magic as technique, taking a few actors milling around a set and turning it into something cinematic, evocative and occasionally iconic. Amidst all the voodoo and mystery, however, there is concrete science behind those money shots so we've identified thirty of the most important to help you distinguish your dolly zooms from your Dutch tilts. |
|  | | The Last Of Us: The Best Film Of The Year (That Wasn't Actually A Film)
The Last Of Us is not a film, but if it were a film, it's a safe bet it would have appeared in more than a few of Team Empire's Top 10 lists. On the surface, it's an action-adventure survival horror game about zombies, fungal spores and the unlikely duo of a jaded 40-odd-year-old apocalypse survivor called Joel and a 14-year-old orphan called Ellie. Dig a little deeper and it's one of the most emotionally-affecting stories of the year, an intensely cinematic tale of fear, survival and friendship. We spoke to developer Naughty Dog's Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann about putting together the greatest film you've ever played, and how it all started with a screening of No Country For Old Men... |
|  | | The Biggest Movie News Of 2013
A lot happened in 2013, even leaving aside the Edward Snowden revelations, the birth of a royal heir and that scary clown who popped up all over Northampton. We had announcements, surprises, the usual slew of big, exciting trailers and, of course, awards. Here, continuing our review of the year, we boil down the biggest stories in film... |
|  | | The 50 Best Posters Of 2013
Which of 2013's posters will pass the test of time? It's hard to tell from this vantage point, but we like to think of these 50 promos as a good place to start. From budget-blowing blockbusters to the tiniest indie beauties, there are all sorts here, with variety very much to the fore. Take a look through the list and post your additional picks in the comment box below... |
|  | | The Soundtracks Of The Year
It was a year when both we at Empire and the good folk of BBC Radio celebrated the ground-shaking majesty of the movie soundtrack. But which fresh scores and soundtracks caught our ear during the 12 months just past? It may not have been a vintage period for soundtracks, but any year that boasted efforts from John Williams and Hans Zimmer, had Jay-Z overseeing the soundtrack to an F. Scott Fitzgerald adaptation, Tom Tykwer and Shane Carruth adding the role of composer to already arduous directorial gigs and Danny Boyle reuniting with one half of Underworld can't be bad. Here's our pick of the ten records you'd want under the Christmas tree. |
|  | | 2013: 25 Great Behind-The-Scenes Photos
As Empire's Big-Massive-End-Of-Year-Shindig-Review-Thing heads towards the bit where Samuel L. Jackson turns up and everyone cheers, it's time to take a look at the stories behind the stories. In a gallery of behind-the-scenes images so compelling, curious and revelatory we recommend you don't drive or operate heavy machinery immediately after looking at them, here's the movie year in on-set photos. Welcome to our, if you will, shoot-enanny. |
|  | | Naomie Harris Talks Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom
Following the respectfully subdued gala screening of Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom at the Dubai Film Festival, Empire spoke to Harris about the challenges of playing Winnie Mandela an icon to millions, but a deeply controversial figure nonetheless. |
|  | | The Weirdest Character Names Of 2013
For some reason, 2013 saw a wealth of genuinely bizarre character names onscreen. A few of these we can blame on books or comics, but many others come with no good excuse. Here are our favourite bizarre films of the year. |
|  | | The Worst Films Of 2013
Well, they can't all be Gravity. This may have been a largely fragrant year for film, but there had to be some stinkers. The law of averages demands it, and, as laws go, that one's a stickler. Here are the dirtiest dozen of the films released in cinemas this year... |
 Forget Turkey, this Christmas the Empire office gorged on the festive classic that is Papa John's Pizza. Thanks to their generosity, we don't need to eat for another 364 days.
 
Juliette Lewis doesn't own a TV. 
Martin Freeman claims that he met his wife of 13 years on set of Sherlock. So it's been filming for a while then. 
There's a 15th anniversary edition of Hudson Hawk. 
Steve McQueen doesn't likes the word 'buff'. 
Chiwetel Ejiofor is watching The East on his next flight.
 |  | |  | |  | |  | | | You know what, they're absolutely right. | | Meet the Superman double back-flip. | | Minions Vs. Monsters. | | The Clauses Plan Christmas. |
If you have any timewasters to share, then e-mail them in to us. |  Not one, not two or three but all four of CBeebies' Cloudbabies - the obsession of all pre-schoolers. They talk when you squeeze their stomachs, which is either incredibly cute or utterly terrifying depending on how many times you've seen Child's Play.
 
American Hustle 
An extremely entertaining, brilliantly acted, highly diverting film which - like all hustles - delivers less than it promises. Still, it's worth being taken for the ride. Also Out
 
Jurassic Park 3D 
The effects have barely aged and the joy is timeless. Take a child who's never seen it and watch their imagination expand before your eyes. Also Out
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