IJR Awards 2018: Film Nominations Announced

It is finally time for me to announce my own personal film nominations for the I’m Jeffrey Rex Awards of 2018. Sure, we’re in 2019 now, but I needed some time to watch some of the films that were released in January in Denmark.

There will be a couple of surprises here, and I’m not just talking about the nominees. Four awards that have not previously been announced will make their debut here with their own sets of nominations. Also, one award has had its titled changed to allow for more than a small handful of nominees. Well, let’s get to it.

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Film – Documentary

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BEST DOCUMENTARY

• Jane Fonda: In Five Acts — HBO
• King in the Wilderness — Kunhardt Films
• Shirkers — Cinereach / Doc Society
• They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead — Tremolo Productions / Royal Road Entertainment
• They Shall Not Grow Old — Warner Bros. Pictures

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Film – Breakthrough

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BEST ACHIEVEMENT BY A RISING STAR: FILMMAKING

• Aster, Ari — Hereditary
• Cooper, Bradley — A Star is Born
• Finley, Cory — Thoroughbreds
• Möller, Gustav — The Guilty (Original Title: ‘Den Skyldige’)
• Zhao, Chloé — The Rider

Though Cooper is a star already, this was his directorial debut, which is why I have decided that he is eligible for the Rising Star: Filmmaking-award.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A RISING STAR: ACTING

• Aparicio, Yalitza —Roma
• Erivo, Cynthia — Bad Times at the El Royale
• Gaga, Lady — A Star is Born
• Jeon Jong-seo — Burning
• Washington, John David — BlackKklansman

Though Erivo is not new to acting (she is a well-known actress on-stage), her role in Bad Times at the El Royale was her breakout role on the big screen, which is why I have decided that she is eligible for the Rising Star: Acting-award.

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Film – Promotional

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BEST MOVIE POSTER

• Burning — Dancing in the Blue-Orange Night (LINK)
• First Man — Moon Helmet (LINK)
• Game Night — The Maze (LINK)
• The First Purge — Red Hat-Teaser Poster (LINK)
• The Meg — Food Chain (LINK)

BEST MOVIE TRAILER

• A Star is Born — Official Trailer #1 (LINK)
• First Man — Official Trailer #2 (LINK)
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters — Official Trailer #1 (LINK)
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout — Official Trailer #1 (LINK)
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — Official Trailer #2 (LINK)

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Film – Moments

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UNFORGETTABLE MOVIE QUOTE OF THE YEAR*

• “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, ‘cause they knew death was better than bondage.” — Black Panther
• “Can you imagine? A kid from Oakland running around believing in fairy tales” — Black Panther
• “Did you just look at me? Did you? Look at me. Look at me! How dare you?! Close your eyes!” – The Favourite
• “I don’t want to go.” — Avengers: Infinity War
• “It always fits. Eventually.” — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

UNFORGETTABLE SCENE OR SEQUENCE OF THE YEAR

• Dancing in the Blue-Orange Night — Burning
• The Beach — Roma
• The Bear — Annihilation
• The CCTV Sequence — You Were Never Really Here
• The Snap — Avengers: Infinity War

The first of the four new, not previously announced, awards. This one is designed to honor more unforgettable moments from a year in film.

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Film – Below-the-Line

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BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Cuarón, Alfonso — Roma
• Hong Kyung-pyo — Burning
• Ryan, Robbie — The Favourite
• Sandgren, Linus — First Man
• Zal, Lukasz — Cold War

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

• Atwood, Colleen — Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Carter, Ruth E. — Black Panther
• Powell, Sandy — Mary Poppins Returns
• Powell, Sandy — The Favourite
• Zophres, Mary — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The second new award.

BEST FILM SCORE

• Burwell, Carter — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
• Desplat, Alexandre — Isle of Dogs
• Göransson, Ludwig — Black Panther
• Greenwood, Jonny — You Were Never Really Here
• Hurwitz, Justin — First Man

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS IN A FILM

• Annihilation — Paramount Pictures / Netflix
• Ant-Man and the Wasp — Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
• Avengers: Infinity War — Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
• First Man — Universal Pictures
• Solo: A Star Wars Story — Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

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Film – Above-the-Line

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BEST VISUAL EFFECTS OR VOICE-OVER PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FILM

• Brolin, Josh — Avengers: Infinity War
• Cage, Nicolas — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• Cranston, Bryan — Isle of Dogs
• Hunter, Holly — Incredibles 2
• Johnson, Jake — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

The title of the category has been altered to allow for voice-acting performances, which would otherwise get no love at all here.

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FILM

• Driver, Adam — BlackKklansman
• Hoult, Nicholas — The Favourite
• Jordan, Michael B. — Black Panther
• Nelson, Tim Blake — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
• Yeun, Steven — Burning

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FILM

• Debicki, Elizabeth — Widows
• Erivo, Cynthia — Bad Times at the El Royale
• Foy, Claire — First Man
• Stone, Emma — The Favourite
• Weisz, Rachel — The Favourite

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FILM

• Bale, Christian — Vice
• Cooper, Bradley — A Star is Born
• Gosling, Ryan — First Man
• Hawke, Ethan — First Reformed
• Phoenix, Joaquin — You Were Never Really Here

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FILM

• Close, Glenn — The Wife
• Collette, Toni — Hereditary
• Colman, Olivia — The Favourite
• Davis, Viola — Widows
• Theron, Charlize — Tully

Though I personally think Colman’s performance is a supporting performance, I’m putting her performance in the lead category due to how the distributor has listed her on their FYC-page.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A FILM

• Bad Times at the El Royale
• Game Night
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
• The Favourite
• Widows

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING A FILM – ADAPTED

• Coen, Joel and Ethan — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
• Cole, Joe Robert, and Ryan Coogler — Black Panther
• Flynn, Gillian, and Steve McQueen — Widows
• Lord, Phil, and Rodney Rothman — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• Oh Jung-mi and Lee Chang-dong — Burning

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING A FILM – ORIGINAL

• Cuarón, Alfonso — Roma
• Davis, Deborah, and Tony McNamara — The Favourite
• Jenkins, Tamara — Private Life
• Pawlikowski, Pawel, Janusz Glowacki, and Piotr Borkowski — Cold War
• Schrader, Paul — First Reformed

Originally, I only had one category for writing and screenplay, but this year I’ve decided to split it into two. One for adapted screenplays and another for original screenplays.

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING A FILM

• Chazelle, Damien — First Man
• Cuarón, Alfonso — Roma
• Lanthimos, Yorgos — The Favourite
• Lee Chang-dong — Burning
• Ramsay, Lynne — You Were Never Really Here

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Film – Best Movies

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BEST SEQUEL, PREQUEL, OR REMAKE

• A Star is Born — Warner Bros. Pictures
• Avengers: Infinity War — Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
• Black Panther — Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout — Paramount Pictures
• Widows — 20th Century Fox

BEST ANIMATED FILM

• Incredibles 2 — Disney / Pixar
• Isle of Dogs — Fox Searchlight
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — Sony Pictures Animation

This is the final new category.

BEST NON-AMERICAN FILM

• Burning — South Korean
• Cold War — Polish
• Den Skyldige — Danish
• Roma — Mexican
• The Favourite — British

BEST FILM 

• Burning — CGV Arthouse
• First Reformed — A24
• Roma — Netflix
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — Sony Pictures Releasing
• You Were Never Really Here — Amazon Studios

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What do you think should win? What film am I overlooking? Sound off in the comments.

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– Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.