With awards season basically over, it's very easy to look back and feel for those whom we felt were snubbed, but there was at least one gong-athon that allowed the public to vote for their favorites. Each year the Jameson Empire Awards exists to celebrate those movies that weren't otherwise recognized, including categories for genres like Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller and Horror. This Sunday evening, the stars set foot on the red carpet in London for the 21st annual ceremony by 'the world's biggest movie magazine' - to find out what the ordinary fans thought were the best motion pictures of the last year.
Having been nominated at the Oscars in solely production categories, Star Wars: The Force Awakens dominated these public awards, winning five out of its nine nominations. Apart from the film beating Mad Max: Fury Road in the Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy section, the movies' stars John Boyega and Daisy Ridley walked away with Best Male and Female newcomers - not to mention Best Director for JJ Abrams. Also of note, Mad Max: Fury Road went away with four prizes in production, whilst Spectre won both Best Thriller and Best British Film.
While The Revenant rode off with Best Film, the biggest surprise of the night was probably not seeing Leonardo DiCaprio win Best Actor. Instead the cinema-going public gave it to Matt Damon for his performance in The Martian. This arguably adds to the argument that DiCaprio won his much yearned for Oscar this year not specifically for his performance in The Revenant, but more because the Academy wanted to reward him for his impressive career in film. The glitzy evening also included an emotional tribute to the late, great Alan Rickman - as he was awarded this year's Empire Legend award posthumously.
The full list of winners and nominees is below:
BEST MALE NEWCOMER
Winner: John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Abraham Attah (Beasts Of No Nation)
Thomas Mann (Me And Earl And The Dying Girl)
Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton)
Jacob Tremblay (Room)
BEST FEMALE NEWCOMER
Winner: Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Olivia Cooke (Me And Earl And The Dying Girl)
Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation)
Maika Monroe (It Follows)
Bel Powley (The Diary Of A Teenage Girl)
BEST SCI-FI/FANTASY
Winner: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
BEST COMEDY presented by Absolute Radio
Winner: Spy
Ant-Man
Me And Earl And The Dying Girl
Trainwreck
Inside Out
BEST HORROR
Winner: The Hallow
Crimson Peak
Insidious: Chapter 3
It Follows
Krampus
BEST THRILLER presented by Corinthia Hotel London
Winner: Spectre
Bridge Of Spies
The Gift
Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation
Sicario
BEST BRITISH FILM presented by The Hollywood Reporter
Winner: Spectre
45 Years
Legend
Macbeth
Suffragette
JAMESON BEST ACTOR
Winner: Matt Damon (The Martian)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Michael Fassbender (Macbeth/Steve Jobs)
Tom Hardy (Legend/Mad Max: Fury Road)
Michael B. Jordan (Creed)
BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
Emily Blunt (Sicario)
Brie Larson (Room)
Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)
BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Ryan Coogler (Creed)
Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant)
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Ridley Scott (The Martian)
BEST FILM presented by Sky Movies
Winner: The Revenant
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
BEST TV SERIES
Winner: This Is England ’90
Marvel’s Daredevil
Fargo
Game Of Thrones
Marvel’s Jessica Jones
BEST SCREENPLAY
Winner: The Big Short — Adam McKay, Charles Randolph
The Hateful Eight – Quentin Tarantino
Spotlight — Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer
Steve Jobs – Aaron Sorkin
Trainwreck — Amy Schumer
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Winner: Inside Out
Minions
Shaun The Sheep The Movie
Song Of The Sea
The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Winner: Amy
Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief
He Named Me Malala
The Jinx: The Life And Deaths Of Robert Durst
Making A Murderer
BEST SOUNDTRACK
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
The Hateful Eight
The Martian
Sicario
Straight Outta Compton
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Carol
Cinderella
Crimson Peak
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
BEST MAKE-UP AND HAIRSTYLING
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road Crimson Peak
The Danish Girl
The Revenant
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Winner: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Ant-Man
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant
BEST SHORT FILM presented by Jameson Irish Whiskey
Winner: World Of Tomorrow
Kung Fury
Lava
Sanjay’s Super Team
Stutterer
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Winner: Mad Max: Fury Road
Crimson Peak
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2
The Martian
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
BEST GAME
Winner: Batman: Arkham Knight
Bloodborne
Fallout 4
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
EMPIRE INSPIRATION
Paddy Considine
EMPIRE LEGEND
Alan Rickman
EMPIRE HERO
Stanley Tucci
Source: Empire