Harry Potter stars Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort) and Kenneth Branagh (Gilderoy Lockhart) will be honored at The Moet British Independent Film Awards, taking place on December 4th, for their contributions to British film!

Ralph Fiennes will receive the Richard Harris Award for contribution to British film by an actor.  Many other Potter stars have held this honor in the past such as Helena Bonham Carter (2010), David Thewlis (2008), Jim Broadbent (2006), and John Hurt (2003). Richard Harris (the original Dumbledore) was the first recipient posthumously in 2002.

Kenneth Branagh will be the recipient of the Variety Award for focusing the international spotlight on British cinema.  J.K. Rowling won this award in the past for Harry Potter.

Some other Harry Potter actors have been nominated in various awards.

• Gary Oldman [Sirius Black] – Best Actor for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• Brendan Gleeson [Moody] – Best Actor for The Guard
• Ralph Fiennes [Voldemort] – Douglas Hickox Award for directing Coriolanus

Jessie Cave has done a new interview with Evening Standard to promote the opening of her online store. In the interview she talks about her website, PinDippy, her upcoming film Great Expectations, what it was like when she went to Hollywood and more.

And this week she launches her own online fashion label, based on the clothes she wears in her films. “I have created a mini-factory in my bedroom,” she laughs. You can choose between 14 different T-shirts decorated with words and hearts. She has catered for all shapes, and the designs are quirky rather than overtly sexual: “I’ve got lots of messages about positive body image.” Rather than using fashion models, all designs are illustrated online.

Cave feels strongly about the cosmetic pressure put on young women. When the Harry Potter franchise was drawing to a close, she flew to LA to meet Hollywood agents. It was, she says, a “horrendous” experience: “You’re made aware of what the industry is, and what you need to conform to … I don’t fit that, and I’m never going to.”

[…]

If you look on YouTube there’s a hilarious short film (What’s in Your Shop?) that she made about meeting a Hollywood lifestyle guru. “It’s basically what happened to me, being told that you’re fat and ugly. They fire questions at you: ‘What are you doing over here?’, ‘Why are you wearing glasses?’, ‘You do have contacts lenses, don’t you?’ It’s so funny how clichéd it was. In a way I liked that, because they were so upfront.”

A new trailer for Daniel Radcliffe’s new film, The Woman in Black, has appeared online and may be viewed below. A sneak peek at the movie has also been released. You may recognize Ciaran Hinds in the trailer, who plays Aberforth Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II.

This morning we have a fun piece of news from Warner Bros.! Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick and Griphook), James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley) and Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown) will be making a special appearance, where they will be meeting with fans and giving autographs, at Harrods in London on December 1st starting at 5.30pm at The Harry Potter Shop at Harrods.  The full press release may be read here.

Due to the limited time available, access to the queue to meet the stars of the films will be strictly limited to 300. Wristbands will be issued from 10am at The Harry Potter Shop at Harrods on the day of the event on a first-come, first-served basis with a queue starting at Door 3 of the store.

Hmv will be opening up to 150 of its stores around the country especially early at 7.00am on day of release – Friday, 2^nd December, so that fans, including those travelling to work or school, are able to purchase their copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows™ – Part 2at the earliest opportunity.

Jessie Cave, best known for playing Ron’s 6th year girlfriend Lavender Brown, has opened up an online store to go along with her popular website, Pindippy. The store sells various tops, stickers and bags designed by Jessie herself [they are often seen in her self made videos]! According to the press release we were sent;

Jessie said: “I feel strongly that T-shirts are generally unflattering on girls and so decided to sell ‘off-shoots’ of T-shirts in the form of long vests, long sleeved and cropped oversized. Hopefully the designs will make people look twice and I would like to make sure that girls feel confident with ‘Ways to Wear’ to maximise their T-shirt appreciation and satisfaction. Pindippy is about being proud to be a bit different, and I really want the store to embody this. ”

All of the clothing worn in the videos on PinDippy are Jessie’s own, and she was encouraged to open a shop of her own after fans showed enthusiasm and requested to get hold of similar items.

On the launch, Jessie said: “People have been so lovely about my clothes and the styling for the videos, but when I am asked where I get the clothes from it is usually vintage or something I have made. I like the way clothes can change my mood for the day. I thought it would be nice if people who have been very kind about my dress sense could wear the same, something I made.”

Also, since I haven’t mentioned this yet, Jessie will be starring in Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell’s version of Great Expectations along with Potter co-stars Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix), Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid)! The movie will be released in 2012.

I a new interview Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II director David Yates discusses the film and Ala Rickman.  He also talks about the theme park and how he couldn’t attend the grand opening this past Spring because he was finishing Deathly Hallows 2.

We hadn’t the chance to speak at the theatrical release of the film, but I must ask what your inspiration was behind the pre-credits sequence which recaps Voldemort stealing the Elder Wand from Dumbledore’s grave, then centers on haunting images of Professor Snape in the turrets overlooking Hogwarts.  There’s no dialog, only some sound effects and music. It’s a stunning and heartbreaking way to begin a film.
DY:  I wanted to start with Snape because he’s so integral to the story and we discover so much about him in the movie.  And Alan Rickman is so amazing as an actor, and what I love about him and the way he works is he thinks rather than shows.  I know we usually open the movies with big bangs and bridges falling down and all sorts of stuff, but to open on an actor’s face, quite close was so compelling.  And it’s actually quite an enigmatic expression; he’s not giving away too much, but it completely pulls you in.  And then visually, just this notion of this shape, this black shape, and you’ve seen these Dementors just floating there in the ether and he’s almost like another Dementor.  Visually, that felt quite strong, and also we needed to remind the audience of where we left the last movie.  It was just a nice, neat reminder of our characters are in trouble, this is the guy who’s got the Elder Wand, it’s going to be scary.  So, all those things just rolled together in the first few minutes.

How did you get such completely different feel from each of the films based on this one book
DY:  It was always my intention.  I wanted the first one to feel like a European road movie.  It’s very slow, very gentle, very intimate.  Someone said to me the other day, “I can’t believe you got away with that. It felt like an art house movie, and it was like a blockbuster film. Didn’t Warner’s give you a hard time? Didn’t they watch the first film and say, ‘What are you doing? This is Harry Potter, for God’s sake!’?”  Ironically, Warner’s was so supportive, they absolutely loved that approach, and I wanted the second one to be more of an operatic spectacle and that was always the intention. I didn’t want them to feel very similar.