The 2012 Jeff Awards

The Jeff Awards are the greatest and most prestigous award show of all time. All award shows wish that they could be as amazing as the Jeff Awards. The nominees have been decided and I am very pleased with the nominations. There are 22 categories plus 1 bonus category.

For those who have never watched the Jeff Awards before, I'll explain a few things

• The number of nominees per category usually ranges from 10-12. Why 10-12? Because I fucking said so. 
• You wondering why it's called the Jeffs? Why the hell are the Oscars called the Oscars?
• The nominations were decided by the best people possible. I can promise you that.

Best Picture

 

The Artist

 

The Descendants

 

Drive

 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

 

Hugo

  

The Ides of March

 

Margin Call

 

Midnight in Paris

 

Moneyball

 

Shame

 

Take Shelter

Best Director

Woody Allen- Midnight in Paris

 

J.C. Chandor- Margin Call

George Clooney- The Ides of March

David Fincher- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Michel Hazanavicius- The Artist

Steve McQueen- Shame

Bennett Miller- Moneyball

Jeff Nichols- Take Shelter

Alexander Payne- The Descendants

Martin Scorcese- Hugo

Nicolas Winding Refn- Drive

BEST ACTOR

Demian Bichir- A Better Life

 George Clooney- The Descendants

 Dominic Cooper- The Devil's Double

 Leonardo Dicaprio- J. Edgar

 

Jean Dujardin- The Artist

  Michael Fassbender- Shame

 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt- 50/50

 Ryan Gosling- Drive

Gary Oldman- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy

 

Brad Pitt- Moneyball

 

Michael Shannon- Take Shelter

 

Best Actress  

 

Glenn Close- Albert Nobbs

   Viola Davis- The Help

Kirsten Dunst- Melancholia

 Leila Hatami- A Seperation

 

Rooney Mara- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

 Elizabeth Olsen- Martha Marcy May Marlene

 Meryl Streep- The Iron Lady

 Tilda Swinton- We Need to Talk About Kevin

 

Charlize Theron- Young Adult

 Michelle Williams- My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor

I noticed something this year. There were a lot of good supporting actors. So I did something unusual. We have 15 nominations. Yep 15. Do you think that's too many slots? Go fuck yourself. 15 nominees but only one winner nonetheless. Who will it be?

Kenneth Branagh- My Week with Marilyn

 

Albert Brooks- Drive

 Benedict Cumberbatch- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 

Armie Hammer- J. Edgar

 Jonah Hill- Moneyball

 Jeremy Irons- Margin Call

 Ben Kingsley- Hugo

 Nick Nolte- Warrior

 Patton Oswalt- Young Adult

 

Christopher Plummer- Beginners

Alan Rickman- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II

 Andy Serkis- Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Corey Stoll- Midnight in Paris

    Mark Strong- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

 Max Von Sydow- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo- The Artist

 Jessica Chastain- The Help/The Tree of Life

Judi Dench- J. Edgar

Charlotte Gainsbourg- Melancholia

 

Melissa McCarthy- Bridesmaids

  Janet Mcteer- Albert Nobbs

Carey Mulligan- Drive and Shame

 Vanessa Redgrave- Coriolanus

 Octavia Spencer- The Help

Shailene Woodley- The Descendants

Best Performance by an Actor/Actress in a minor role

 This award is for those really tiny roles that still manage to make an impact. This category is not gender specific but this year all of the nominees are male.

Michael Arden- Source Code

 Adrien Brody- Midnight in Paris

 Oscar Issac- Drive

 Matthew Lillard- The Descendants

 Michael Pena- The Lincoln Lawyer

 Best Ensemble Piece

Some films are notable for one great performance. Others are notable for having a cast makes movie magic together. This category is dedicated to the films where the large cast of characters all put in great performances

The Artist

Bérénice Bejo, James Cromwell, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell, Missi Pyle, Uggie

Contagion
Marion Cotillard, Enrico Colantoni, Bryan Cranston, Matt Damon, Jennifer Ehle, Laurence Fishburne, Elliot Gould, Chin Han, John Hawkes, Anna Jacoby-Heron, Sanaa Lathan,  Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet

 

The Descendants

Beau Bridges, George Clooney, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Nick Krause, Matthew Lillard, Amara Miller, Shailene Woodley

 Drive

James Biberi, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Ryan Gosling, Christina Hendricks, Oscar Issac Kaden Leos, Carey Mulligan, Ron Perlman

The Help
Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone

 

The Ides of March

George Clooney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood

 The Lincoln Lawyer
Trace Adkins, Michaela Conlin, Bryan Cranston, Frances Fisher, Bob Gunton, John Leguizamo, Margarita Leviva, Josh Lucas, Laurence Mason, Matthew McConaughey, Michael Peña, Ryan Phillipe, Marisa Tomei

 Margin Call
Simon Baker, Penn Badgely, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas

Amir Blumefeld, John Cho, Paula Garcés, Danneel Harris, Neil Patrick Harris, Jordan Hinson, Jake Johnson, Elias Koteas, David Krumholtz, Bobby Lee, Thomas Lennon, Kal Penn, Richard Riehle, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Danny Trejo

X-Men: First Class
Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, Michael Fassbender, Jason Flemyng, Edi Gathegi, Álex González, January Jones, Caleb Landy Jones,  Zoë Kravitz, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Oliver Platt, Lucas Till





Best Dog
A category dedicated to the best canine actors of the year

Blackie- Hugo


Cosmo- Beginners

Denver- 50/50

Dolce- Young Adult


Snowy- The Adventures of Tintin

Uggie- The Artist





Best Original Screenplay
This category is for original screenplays, in other words films that are not sequels, remakes, book adaptations etc.

 50/50- Will Reiser

The Artist- Michael Hazanavicius

Beginners- Mike Mills

Contagion- Scott Z. Burns

Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen

Margin Call- J.C. Chandor

A Separation- Asghar Farhadi

Shame- Steve McQueen, Abi Morgan

Source Code- Ben Ripley

Take Shelter- Jeff Nichols

Trust- Rob Festinger, Andy Bellin

Win Win- Tom McCarthy

Best Adapted Screenplay

This category is dedicated to screenplays based off of previously published material such as books, other movies, and tv shows.

 

The Descendants- Screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings

Drive- Screenplay by Hossein Amini based on the novel by James Sallis

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Screenplay by Steve Zaillian, based on the novel by Stieg Larsson

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2- Screenplay by Steve Kloves based on the novel by J.K. Rowling

Hugo- Screenplay by John Logan based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

The Ides of March- Screenplay by George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon, based on the play Farragut North by Beau Willimon

The Lincoln Lawyer- Screenplay by John Romano based on the novel by Michael Connelly

Moneyball- Screenplay by Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin. Based on the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor (R.I.P.) and Peter Straughan, based on the novel by John le Carré

We Need to Talk about Kevin- Screenplay by Lynne Ramsay and Rory Stewart Kinnear, Based on the novel by Lionel Shriver

Best Original Score

This category is dedicated to the films with the best music. Note: The music must be made specifically for the movie to be eligible.

Ludovic Bource- The Artist

Alberto Iglesias- Tinker Tailor Soldier Soy

Cliff Martinez- Contagion

Cliff Martinez- Drive (Start at 1:50)

David Palmer, Roger Neill, Brian Reitzell- Beginners

Trent Reznor- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Howard Shore- Hugo

John Williams- The Adventures of Tintin

John Williams- War Horse

David Wingo- Take Shelter





Best Visual Effects

Captain America: The First Avenger


Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows part 2


Hugo


Melancholia


Real Steel


Rise of the Planet of the Apes


Source Code


Super 8


The Tree of Life

X-Men: First Class





Best Film Editing

The Artist

Contagion



The Descendants



Drive

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo


Hugo


Moneyball


Shame

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy


The Tree of Life





Best Sound Editing/Mixing
Unlike the Oscars, which has 2 seperate categories, the Jeff Awards combines Sound editing and sound mixing into 1 despite them being very different things. Sound editing is recording the sound effects like explosions, car crashes, background music etc. Sound mixing is combining them all together and making it sound natural. Screw it. It's one category.

The Adventures of Tintin

Drive

Hugo

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Source Code

Super 8

Take Shelter

War Horse

Warrior





Best Art Direction
Art Directors are people who are responsible for how a film looks, the locations, scenic details, sets etc. They have to be sure that their film about the Battle of Marathon looks like it's in 490 BC Greece, not 2012 Los Angeles. Art Directors oversee the Scene Designer, Set Dresser, Lighting Designer, etc.
Note: Some of these photos don't truly represent the Art Direction of these movies at their best. You really have to see them to understand.


The Artist- Gregory S. Hooper


Drive- Christopher Tandon

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Mikael Varhelyi, Pernilla Olsson, Tom Reta, Kajsa Severin, Linda Jansson


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2- Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan


Hugo- Alastair Bullock, Stuart Rose, Luca Tranchino, Martin Foley, Christian Huband


Melancholia- Simone Grau


Midnight in Paris- Anne Seibel


Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Zsuzsa Kismarty-Lechner, Tom Brown


War Horse- Gary Tomkins, Alastair Bullock, Molly Hughes, Andrew Ackland-Snow, Kevin Jenkins


X-Men: First Class- Su Whitaker, Grant Armstrong, Steve Cooper, Tom Frohling, Dawn Swiderski





Best Cinematography

The Adventures of Tintin- Janusz Kamiński



The Artist- Guillaume Schiffman

Drive- Newton Thomas Sigel

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Hugo- Robert Richardson


Rango- Mike Sanders

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Hoyte Van Hoytema

Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki

War Horse- Janusz Kamiński

Best Animated Film
In my mind, motion capture counts as animated. Piss off, Academy.

A Cat in Paris

The Adventures of Tintin

Arthur Christmas

Chico and Rita

Kung Fu Panda 2

Puss in Boots

Rango

Rio

Winnie the Pooh

Wrinkles

Best Original Song

 Albert Nobbs- Lay Your Head Down by Sinead O'Connor

Drive- A Real Hero by College feat. Electric Youth

The Help- The Living Proof by Mary J. Blige

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

The Muppets- Man or Muppet by Bret Mckenzie

Rio- Real in Rio by Sérgio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, Siedah Garrett


Best Costume Design

Anonymous- Lisy Christl

The Artist- Mark Bridges

Drive-Erin Benach 

Hugo- Sandy Powell

Jane Eyre- Michael O'Connor

Best Makeup

Albert Nobbs- Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson, and Matthew W. Mungle

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2- Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin

The Iron Lady- Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Best Foreign Language Film

There are 63 nominations for Best Foreign language film and I'm not going to post pictures of the posters for all of them but I'll copy and past all of the names from the internet.

Albania, "Amnesty," Bujar Alimani
Argentina, "Aballay, el hombre sin miedo" (Aballay, the Man Without Fear), Fernando Spiner
Austria, "Breathing," Karl Markovics
Belgium, "Rundskop (Bullhead), Michael R. Roskam
Bosnia & Herzogovinia, "Belvedere," Ahmed Imamovic
Brazil, "Elite Squad 2," Jose Padilha.
Bulgaria, "Tilt," Viktor Chouchkov
Canada, "Monsieur Lazhar," Philippe Falardeau
Chile, "Violeta," Andres Wood
China, "Flowers of War," Zhang Yimou
Colombia, "Los colores de la montana" (Colors of the Mountain), Carlos Cesar Arbelaez
Croatia, "72 Days," Danilo Serbedzija
Cuba, "Habanastation," Ian Padron
Czech Republic, "Alois Nebel," Thomas Lunak
Denmark, "Superclasico," Ole Christian Madsen,
Dominican Republic, "La hija natural" (Love Child), Leticia Tonos
Egypt, "Lust," Khaled El Hagar
Estonia, "Letters to Angel," Sulev Keedus
Finland, "Le Havre," Aki Kaurismaki
France, "Declaration of War," Valerie Donzelli
Georgia, "Chantrapas," Otar Iosseliani
Germany, "Pina," Wim Wenders
Greece, "Attenberg," Athina Rachel Tsangari
Hong Kong, "A Simple Life," Anna Hui
Hungary, "The Turin Horse," Bela Tarr
Iceland, "Volcano," Runar Runarsson
India, "Adaminte makan Abu" (Abu, Son of Adam) Salim Ahamed
Indonesia, "Under the Protection of Ka'Bah," Hanny R. Saputra
Iran, "Nader and Simin, A Separation," Asghar Farhadi
Ireland, "As If I Am Not There," Juanita Wilson
Israel, "Footnote" (Ha'erat shulayim), Joseph Cedar
Italy, "Terraferma" Emanuele Crialese
Japan, "Post Card," Kaneto Shindo
Kazakhstan, "Returning to the 'A,'" Egor Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky
Lebanon, "Where Do We Go Now?" Nadine Labaki
Lithuania, "Back in Your Arms" Kristijonas Vildziunas
Macedonia "Punk's Not Dead," Vladimir Blazevsky
Mexico, "Miss Bala," Gerardo Naranjo's
Morocco, "Omar Killed Me" (Omar m'a tuer), Roschdy Zem
Netherlands, "Sonny Boy," Maria Peters
New Zealand, "The Orator," (in Samoan!) Tusi Tamasese
Norway, "Happy, Happy," Anne Sewitsky
Peru, "October," Daniel and Diego Vega
Philippines, "The Woman in the Septic Tank," Marlon Rivera
Poland, "In Darkness," Agnieska Holland
Portugal, "Jose and Pilar" Miguel Goncalves Mendes
Romania, "Morgen," Marian Crisan
Russia, "Burnt by the Sun: The Citadel," Nikita Mikhalkov
Serbia, "Montevideo -- Taste of a Dream," Dragan Bjelogrlic,
Singapore "Tatsumi," Eric Khoo
Slovakia, "Gypsy," Martin Sulik
South Africa, "Skoonheid" (Beauty), Oliver Hermanus
South Korea, "The Frontline," Jang Hun
Spain, "Black Bread" Agusti Villaronga
Sweden, "Beyond," Pernilla August
Switzerland. "Giochi d'Estate" (Summer Games) Rolando Colla
Taiwan, "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq bale," Wei Te-sheng
Thailand, "Kon Khon," Sarunyu Wongkrachang
Turkey, "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia," Nuri Bilge Ceylan
U.K., "Patagonia," Marc Evans
Venezuela, "El rumor de las piedras" (The Rumble of the Stones), Alejandro Bellame
Vietnam, "Thang Long Aspiration," Lu'u Trong Ninh
Uruguay, "La casa muda," (The Silent House), Gustavo Hernandez

So all of these films have about a 1.5% chance of winning but we all know who's going to win anyways.

Best Comeback
Admittedly not the most prestigous of the Jeff Awards. To get a Best Comeback nomination basically means that you're career was a piece of shit but you ended up being in a good movie so now you're famous again. Most actors prefer never having to worry about this category because they'd rather just have a strong career throughout the years instead of having a downfall and then an uprising. But it's better to fall and then rise instead of falling and staying down. This is not really an official award category and more of a bonus section. Winning this will not make you classified as a "Jeff Award Winner" in future movie trailers.

Kenneth Branagh- My Week with Marilyn (actor) Thor (director)

Branagh was still active but his recent films lacked the impact that his films from the late 80s and 90s had. With My Week with Marilyn and Thor, Branagh has ressurected both his acting and directing career. 

Albert Brooks- Drive

Albert Brooks hadn't done any acting since 2007's The Simpsons Movie where he voiced main antagonist Russ Cargil. His last live action film was Looking for Comedy in the Muslim world which was released in 2006 and was shown in less than 200 theaters. In Drive, Albert Brooks is like nothing that you've ever seen before. At one moment, he's terrifying, at another he's sympathetic. Sometimes he's both at the same time. An unforgettable performance.

Glenn Close- Albert Nobbs

She's remained strong on tv due to her excellent work on Damages but Albert Nobbs marked Glenn Close's strongest performance on the silver screen in over 15 years.

Matthew McConaughey- The Lincoln Lawyer

McConaughey had promise in the 90s but eventually ended up doing dull rom-com after rom-com. He brought some good laughs in 2008's Tropic Thunder, but he ultimately wasn't the most memorable part of the film. His starring role in The Lincoln Lawyer is charismatic, funny, and well executed. It's hard to imagine anyone else in the role. 

Nick Nolte- Warrior

In Warrior, Nick Nolte plays a former alcoholic trying to reconcile with his sons. Might sound a bit too much like Nick's real life but that might be what made his performance all the more powerful. It's suggested that Nolte's character was an awful father but his remorse makes you feel so sorry for him. A truly heartbreaking peformance. Nolte hasn't been this good in over a decade.

There we go. That's all of them. I think. So let's see which films got the most nominations

Drive- 15 nominations

Hugo- 12 nominations

The Artist- 12 nominations

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- 10 nominations

The Descendants- 8 nominations

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- 8 nominations

Moneyball- 6 nominations

Midnight in Paris- 6 nominations

Shame- 6 nominations

Take Shelter- 6 nominations

Margin Call- 5 nominations

Harry Potter - 5 nominations

The Adventures of Tintin- 5 nominations

The Help- 5 nominations

Albert Nobbs- 4 nominations

Beginners- 4 nominations

Contagion- 4 nominations

The Ides of March- 4 nominations

Melancholia- 4 nominations

Tree of Life- 4 nominations

Source Code- 4 nominations

The Lincoln Lawyer- 3 nominations

J. Edgar- 3 nominations

50/50- 3 nominations

Rise of the Planet of the Apes- 3 nominations

x-men first class- 3 nominations

Young Adult- 3 nominations

A Separation- 3 nominations

Iron Lady- 2 nominations

My Week with Marilyn- 2 nominations

We Need to Talk about Kevin- 2 nominations

Warrior- 2 nominations

Super 8- 2 nominations

Rango- 2 nominations

The Winners will be announced....eventually....Who do you want to win?