With 17 different citations, Wes Anderson's ASTEROID CITY is the nomination leader.Since 2018, Patrick Gratton has been organizing the Gold Digger Awards, welcoming fellow critics and cinephiles to vote on the year's best achievements in film. Though no such voting was done in 2021 or 2022, the Gold Diggers are back with a new group of over forty folks who write about the cinematic arts, including some members of Team Experience, like Nick Taylor, Ben Miller and myself. Diversity of identity and thought is prized above all else, a plurality of opinions coming together in idiosyncratic fashion, widely different ballots all around, even if just the first half of 2023 was considered. Specifically, US release dates were judged, despite the voting body including numerous nationalities. Whether they opened in theaters or streaming, these films reach nearly 800 eligible titles – a fantastic bounty of cinema.
Without further ado, I leave you with the 2023 Gold Digger Mid-Year Awards nominations in 24 categories. Enjoy the ride...
BEST FEATURE FILM
- ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET., Lionsgate
- ASTEROID CITY, A24
- BEAU IS AFRAID, A24
- HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE, Neon
- JONH WICK: CHAPTER 4, Lionsgate
- JOYLAND, Oscilloscope
- PACIFICTION, Grasshopper Films
- PAST LIVES, A24
- SHOWING UP, A24
- SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, Columbia Pictures
A24 leads the pack in terms of nomination number by distributor. It scored a total 22 nods, six of which went to Kelly Reichardt's SHOWING UP.
BEST DIRECTING
- Wes Anderson, ASTEROID CITY
- Ari Aster, BEAU IS AFRAID
- Kelly Reichardt, SHOWING UP
- Albert Serra, PACIFICTION
- Celine Song, PAST LIVES
BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
- ALCARRÀS, Spain & Italy
- THE BLUE CAFTAN, Morocco & France
- DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA, France & Switzerland
- JOYLAND, Pakistan & USA
- OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN, France
- PACIFICTION, France, Spain & Portugal
BEST ANIMATED FILM
- ELEMENTAL, Denis Ream
- SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, Avi Arad, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal & Christine Steinberg
- SUZUME, Kôichirô Itô & Genki Kawamura
DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA is the only documentary to score nominations outside its particular category.
BEST NON-FICTION FILM
- DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA, Pauline Gygax & Max Karli & Valentina Novati
- THE PLAINS, David Easteal
- REWIND & PLAY, Arnaud Dommerc, Alain Gomis & Anouk Khelifa
- STILL: A MICHAEL J- FOX MOVIE, Will Cohen, Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan King & Annetta Marion
- THE STROLL, Matt Wolf
BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT
- CREED III, Michael B. Jordan
- JOYLAND, Saim Sadiq
- PAST LIVES, Celine Song
- RYE LANE, Raine Allen-Miller
- A THOUSAND AND ONE, A. V. Rockwell
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
- AIR
- ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET.
- ASTEROID CITY
- SHOWING UP
- SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
PAST LIVES earned three nominations in the traditional Oscar acting categories, the most of any film on the ballot.
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
- Virginie Efira, OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN
- Abby Ryder Fornston, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET.
- Greta Lee, PAST LIVES
- Teyena Taylor, A THOUSAND AND ONE
- Michelle Williams, SHOWING UP
BEST LEADING ACTOR
- Joel Edgerton, MASTER GARDENER
- Benoit Magimel, PACIFICTION
- Joaquin Pheonix, BEAU IS AFRAID
- Jason Schwartzman, ASTEROID CITY
- Teo Yoo, PAST LIVES
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Hong Chau, SHOWING UP
- Viola Davis, AIR
- Scarlett Johansson, ASTEROID CITY
- Patti LuPone, BEAU IS AFRAID
- Rachel McAdams, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Glenn Howerton, BLACKBERRY
- John Magaro, PAST LIVES
- Jonathan Majors, CREED III
- Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, GODLAND
- Donnie Yen, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
Two categories resulted in six-way ties. In both cases, PACIFICTION scored a nomination.
BEST ACTING NEWCOMER
- Grace Edwards, ASTEROID CITY
- Andrew Barth Feldman, NO HARD FEELINGS
- David Jonsson, RYE LANE
- Pahoa Mahagafanau, PACIFICTION
- Vivian Oparah, RYE LANE
- Rina Sawayama, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY (Stunts, Dance, or Other)
- CREED III, Clayton J. Barber, Eric Brown & Mark R. Miscione
- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, Isaac Hamon, Samuel Le, Heidi Moneymaker & Micah Karns
- JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, Koji Kawamoto, Laurent Demanioff, Stephen Dunlevy,
- Ralf Haeger, James M. Halty & Scott Rogers
- POLITE SOCIETY, Crispin Layfield & Rob Lock
- WILL-O'-THE-WISP, Madalena Xavier
BEST SCREENPLAY
- Kelly Fremon Craig, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET.
- Wes Anderson, ASTEROID CITY
- Celine Song, PAST LIVES
- Nathan Byron & Tom Melia, RYE LANE
- Kelly Reichardt & Jonathan Raymond, SHOWING UP
GODLAND is the only Best Cinematography nominee absent from the Best Picture lineup.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Maria von Hausswolff, GODLAND
- Dan Lautsen, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
- Pawel Pogorzelski, BEAU IS AFRAID
- Artur Tort, PACIFICTION
- Robert D. Yeoman, ASTEROID CITY
BEST EDITING
- Mike Andrews, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
- Keith Fraase, PAST LIVES
- Daniel Garber, HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE
- Nathan Orloff, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
- Barney Pilling, ASTEROID CITY
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE earned ten nominations, including in categories usually bereft of animated films.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
- ATEROID CITY, Adam Stockhausen, Kris Moran & Gabriel Picola
- BEAU IS AFRAID, Fiona Crombie & Paul Hotte
- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, Beth Mickle & Rosemary Brandenburg
- JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, Kevin Kavanaugh, Rand Abdeinour & Mark Rosinski
- SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, Patrick O' Keefe, Dean Gordon & Araiz Khalid
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
- Milena Canonero, ASTEROID CITY
- Oliver Garcia, CHEVALIER
- Judianna Makowsky, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3
- Amanda Monk, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOUR AMONG THIEVES
- PC Williams, POLITE SOCIETY
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
- ASTEROID CITY, Julie Dartnell, Claire Burgess & Julia Vernon
- BEAU IS AFRAID, Félix Larivière, Colin Penman & Steve Newburn
- EVIL DEAD RISES, Jason Docherty, Vanessa Hurley & Hannah Wilson
- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, Alexei Dimitriev, Cassie Russek & Lindsay MacGowen
- JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, Antoinette Adertoye, Petra Schaumann, Neil Gorton, Stephen Kelley & Kerrie Smith
With eight nominations, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 is the most recognized title without a Best Picture citation.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
- ASTEROID CITY, Jep Hill, Tim Ledbury, Pau Costa & Carlos Laguna
- DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOUR AMONG THIEVES, Khalid Almeerani, Scott Benza, Axel Bonami, Mark Bortolotto, Dave Dalley, Ben Snow, Sreejith Venugopalian, John L. Weckworth & Shane Mahan
- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, Ross McCabe, Guy Williams & Lindsay McGowan
- JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, Janelle Ralla, Jonatha Rothbart, Rafiq Kamhawi, Devin Maggio, Gerd Nefzer & Charles-Axel Vollard
- SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, Mike Lasker
BEST SOUND MIXING
- ASTEROID CITY, Wayne Lemmer & Christopher Scarabosio
- DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA, Bruno Ehlinger
- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, Christopher Boyes & Gary A. Rizzo
- JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, Casey Genton & Andy Kayoma
- SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, Vinii Khullar, Jessica B. Schultz, Ryan Collins & Gary Summers
BEST SOUND EDITING
- ASTEROID CITY, Wayne Lemmer & Christopher Scarabosio
- FAST X, Paul Aulicino
- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, Dave Acord & Cheryl Nardi
- JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4, Paul P. Soucek & Mark P. Stoeckinger
- SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, Geoffrey G. Rubay
ELEMENTAL's Thomas Newman has been nominated for the Oscar 15 times and never won. Will the Gold Diggers be kinder to the composer?
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
- Nicholas Britell, CARMEN
- Alexandre Desplat, ASTEROID CITY
- Thomas Newman, ELEMENTAL
- Daniel Pemberton, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
- Christopher Bear & Daniel Rossen, PAST LIVES
BEST USE OF MUSIC
- ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET.
- ASTEROID CITY
- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3
- SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
- WILL-O'-THE-WISP
Check out Nathaniel's own Mid-Year honors and share your thoughts on the Gold Digger nods. The winners will be announced in the coming weeks.