It is that time of the year once again. It is time to reveal what superhero films, video games, songs, and television shows I enjoyed the most in 2017. Now, do note, this year the announcement of the awards is a bit different. This is only the first half of the awards — the more in-depth film nominations won’t be announced until late February. But we do have a lot to get to today. To see the full list of nominees for this first part of the 2017 I’m Jeffrey Rex Awards go here.
Song of the Year
- “Looking For An Answer,” – Performed by Linkin Park at the ‘Linkin Park & Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington’ tribute concert at the Hollywood Bowl amphitheater – October 27th, 2017.
Were “Galway Girl,” “Hard Times,” and “Cut to the Feeling” more catchy pop songs? For sure. Was “Occidentali’s Karma” a more interesting societal commentary track? Definitely. But in a year where the world lost one of its best voices — my favorite voice in all of music — I just had to award Linkin Park for this performance.
Chester Bennington was very special to me, and you can read more about my reaction to his death here. What this performance by Mike Shinoda did was encapsulate the raw, unfiltered emotion of the Linkin Park fanbase in one performance of an as of yet unreleased and unpolished song. Seeing Shinoda open up like this was unique for Linkin Park fans such as myself, and “Looking For An Answer” is my song of the year.
Best Performance by a Voice Actor in a Gaming Experience
- Ashly Burch – Horizon Zero Dawn.
Ashly Burch gave my favorite video game performance in 2015 in Dontnod Entertainment’s Life Is Strange, but with the character Aloy in Guerilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn she has found the major franchise character that will make her’s a household name among video game aficionados.
Game of the Year
- Horizon Zero Dawn – Guerrilla Games.
Horizon Zero Dawn is the most complete game that I played this year, which is to say that each and every element of the game was at or close to the utmost quality. It is a beautiful game. It has great gameplay. It has an expansive and interesting world. The main character — Aloy — is a great new protagonist, and her story is fascinating. Something quite unique would have to come out this year to top Horizon Zero Dawn, but, ultimately, nothing came close to the quality of Guerrilla Games’ great new franchise.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Superhero Film or Television Show
- Hugh Jackman – Logan.
From my review:
“Hugh Jackman has never been better as this character […]. Logan is aging and he is sick, and you can see it in the way his claws won’t always come out entirely. You can also see it in the way Jackman walks, you can almost hear it in the way he talks.”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Superhero Film or Television Show
- Gal Gadot – Wonder Woman.
From my review:
“I wasn’t ever sure about Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman before I watched this film. Even her scenes in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hadn’t convinced me. But Gadot really does a great job with the character here.”
Superhero Film of the Year
- Logan – 20th Century Fox.
From my review:
“It pleases me to be able to state that Logan is an amazing final chapter for Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. It is an uncompromising, grounded, and emotionally satisfying film.”
Unforgettable Television Quote of the Year
- “Mr President, due to advancements in plastic surgery anyone with enough resources can copy a person’s face. But your, uh, your penis, sir. Well, they’re not going to go to that length.” – The Leftovers: The Most Powerful Man In The World (And His Identical Twin Brother).
If that scene doesn’t, at the very least, make you a little bit interested in watching the show, then I don’t know what will.
Best Guest Performance by an Actor in a Television Show
- Cameron Britton – MINDHUNTER.
From my review:
“Cameron Britton gives, perhaps, the best performance in the entire season. He doesn’t appear in many episodes, but he is the most memorable thing about the season. Britton plays the very articulate and creepy serial killer Edmund Kemper. Kemper towers above Holden, and he isn’t afraid to get in his face — but not like you think he might. The interrogation scenes with him can be both extremely fascinating and intriguing, but also just as frightening and chilling as the fantastic basement scene in Fincher’s Zodiac.”
Best New Television Show
- FEUD: Bette and Joan – FX.
The first season of Ryan Murphy’s newest anthology series was something quite spectacular. It contained two of the best performances on television in 2017, and the two final episodes are among the year’s very best. Keep an eye on FEUD as the next season begins at some point in 2018.
Best Performance by a Cast in a Television Show
- The Leftovers: Season Three – Jovan Adepo; Amy Brenneman; Jasmin Savoy Brown; Brett Butler; Bill Camp; Kevin Carroll; Carrie Coon; Ann Dowd; Lindsay Duncan; Christopher Eccleston; Damien Garvey; Michael Gaston; Scott Glenn; Natalie Gold; David Gulpilil; Katja Herpers; Regina King; Mark Linn-Baker; Janel Molony; Joel Murray; Turk Pipkin; Margaret Qualley; Justin Theroux; Liv Tyler; Chris Zylka.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Show
- Carrie Coon – The Leftovers: Season Three.
Carrie Coon’s performance on The Leftovers isn’t just the best female performance on television, it is the best performance on television in 2017, and it might even be the best performance I’ve seen in 2017 if you were to combine television and film.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Show
- Justin Theroux – The Leftovers: Season Three.
Although the final episode of the series relies mostly on Carrie Coon, it is Justin Theroux’s character who has been our not-so-sane-or-stable ‘guide’ since the very first episode. Theroux has been fantastic for the entire series. To me, it is Theroux and Coon’s heartbreaking scene at the end of G’Day Melbourne that made these two choices very easy for me.
Television Episode of the Year
- “The Most Powerful Man In The World (And His Identical Twin Brother),” – The Leftovers: Season Three.
This episode, which just happens to be the penultimate episode of the series, is basically a highly anticipated sequel to what many believe is the best episode of the entire series. It gave us a very satisfying end to the fantastical elements of the show and thus managed to set us up for the equally stunning, but very different, series finale.
Television Show of the Year
- The Leftovers: Season Three – HBO.
At this point, you can’t be surprised by this pick. The third and final season of The Leftovers was, quite simply, the best show on television in 2017. Heck, it might be my favorite television show of all-time. This was actually a discovery for me in 2017. I had seen some episodes of the first season prior to 2017, but it didn’t hook me until I bingewatched the first two seasons the week before the third season premiered. The series is almost flawless, and the third season is a masterpiece.
Television Legend – Lifetime Achievement
- Michael J. Fox – Actor, Director, Author, Producer, Activist.
Although he is probably best known for his work in the iconic Back to the Future films, Michael J. Fox has also been known as a great television actor. Shows like Family Ties, Spin City, and The Good Wife have all proven that Michael J. Fox is a true television legend.
The second half of the 2017 I’m Jeffrey Rex Awards will be revealed in February 2018. The second half of the awards are focused entirely on film awards.
– Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen
I'm Jeffrey Rex 
2 thoughts on “5th I’m Jeffrey Rex Awards, Part One – 2017”