Helen Mirren

The Jameson Empire Awards were held in London last night and some of the UK’s brightest film stars were on hand for the big event. The big winner was Skyfall, which picked up best film, best director for Sam Mendes, and a special Empire Inspiration award. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey picked up best sci-fi/fantasy film and best actor for its lead Martin Freeman, while an absent Jennifer Lawrence was honoured with best actress for her work in The Hunger Games.

Helen Mirren’s contribution to film was acknowledged when she was dubbed an Empire Legend. Newcomers Tom Holland from The Impossible and Samantha Barks from Les Misérables were also handed statuettes, and Daniel Radcliffe won an Empire Hero award. Others who attended include Tom Hiddleston, Sam Claflin and Kevin Spacey. Click through to see the best pictures and see the full list of winners here.

Talk about being thrown in the deep end! It's only the first week back at work, but we've been inundated with a plethora of beauties stepping out looking, well, beautiful, this week. Marion Cotillard and Emily Blunt stole the show at the Critics' Choice Awards, both with skin so immaculate it could have been photoshopped, while Lea Michele and Karolina Kurkova showed off their takes on braids at various events. Taylor Swift, Allison Williams and Emily (again) upped the glamour by adding a touch of metallic to their eyes — that's one makeup look that's definitely having a moment! There's plenty more to see, just click through the gallery to get up to speed on this week's best looks!

The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival drew boldfaced Hollywood names yesterday. Stars including Ben Affleck, Naomi Watts and Bradley Cooper were honoured for their on-screen work, while Tom Hanks, Eddie Redmayne, Diane Lane and other celebs presented the evening's awards. We were on the red carpet and inside for the star-studded dinner, where several of the awardees shared moving, funny and heartfelt speeches. Naomi, who accepted the evening's Desert Palm Achievement Award for actress from her The Impossible co-star Tom Holland, thanked her long-time partner, Liev Schreiber, for inspiring her. She also expressed gratitude for their two young sons, Sasha and Kai, for "breathing life into me."

Birthday boy Bradley Cooper — who turned 38 yesterday — gave a short and humble speech when accepting the corresponding award for actor for his work in Silver Linings Playbook. Still, he couldn't escape host Mary Hart, who led the audience in a round of "Happy Birthday" in his honour before he left the stage. As Ben Affleck and his Argo cast closed the show, taking home the Ensemble Performance Award, Ben asked Mary if she'd prompt the crowd to sing "Happy Birthday" for him, as well. "When's your birthday?" Mary asked. Ben replied, "August."

It's been a jam-packed week this time round! Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart arrived at JFK together on November 24, confirming that their relationship is alive and well, while Miranda Kerr was kept with her hands full — with son Flynn and then with a couple of bras from Victoria's Secret! Leonardo DiCaprio was snapped leaning in for a big kiss with a new-on-the-scene blonde, while Mary-Kate Olsen gave her love a peck on the cheek, and Scarlett Johansson and co-star Jessica Biel hit the red carpet to premiere their new movie, Hitchcock. That's not even the half of it — there's plenty more to check out from the week, so click through the gallery and enjoy!

Jessica Biel wore Gucci to the LA premiere of Hitchcock last night. She was joined on the red carpet by two of her fellow leading ladies, a Dolce & Gabbana-clad Helen Mirren and Toni Collette, in Alex Perry. Jessica tweeted a photo of herself with Helen and Toni, captioning it, "Lemme tell you about my girl crush on these two . . . Helen and Toni!"

The trio were together for another screening Sunday in NYC with co-star Scarlett Johansson, who missed out on the West Coast event. Scarlett was at the Late Show yesterday, having stayed behind in the Big Apple ahead of her 28th birthday, which is today! Hitchcock is released in Australia on Jan. 10.

Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel attended the NYC premiere of their movie, Hitchcock, last night at the Ziegfeld Theatre. They went for very different looks on the red carpet: Scarlett was edgy in a Rodarte mini, while Jessica went for something a bit more mature in an Oscar de la Renta combo, which she paired with Lorraine Schwartz earrings.

Jessica and Scarlett posed for photos alongside their co-stars Toni Collette, Helen Mirren and Danny Huston after doing a long day of press at the junket together. Jessica joked on Twitter about how the ladies all looked at different photographers during the group shots. She wrote, "Our Hitchcock cast! Clearly no one knew where to look and when . . . " Missing from the fun was Anthony Hopkins, who plays the title role. Anthony Hopkins' Hitchcock impression looked quite good from Hitchcock's trailer, and Aussie moviegoers can see it for themselves when the picture arrives in cinemas on Jan. 10.

In the past few years braids have made quite a name for themselves. Navigating their way past the primary school gates and into stars' off-duty beauty arsenal, the popular hairstyle was the go-to choice for Lauren Conrad, Blake Lively and the Fanning sisters. But 2012 is the year that the braid gets all grown up. We've seen them at the Grammys, the Oscars and Coachella — and we're even seeing signature straight-haired Poppy Delevingne sport the style. Click through to see the new generation of plait-wearers — note the most popular version — and see how the style transcends age barriers.

A mix of Hollywood veterans and up-and-comers gathered for the National Board of Review Awards Gala in NYC today. Awards season favourite George Clooney picked up the best actor prize, while his onscreen daughter in The Descendants, Shailene Woodley, bagged the honour of best supporting actress — unlike other events, the winners find out before the gala, and George joked on the red carpet, “I’m still going to act surprised.” His girlfriend, Stacy Keibler, wore her latest glamorous dress to support him. Gorgeous newcomers Rooney Mara and Felicity Jones were both awarded the breakthrough performance honours for their respective roles in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Like Crazy. Meanwhile, other stars who enjoyed the festivities included Emma Stone and the talented cast of The Help, Naomi Watts, Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender and Helen Mirren.