Category Confusion '24: COMEDY or DRAMA – Part One

by Cláudio Alves

Is THE SUBSTANCE a comedy or a drama? What gives?

This year, I am part of the voting body for the Golden Globes, which gives me access to a cornucopia of screeners and FYC material that was erstwhile inaccessible to me. This also means I get a front row seat for the absolute circus that is category fraud from studios and distributors alike. Not just in terms of finagling distinctions between lead and supporting performances. Because this is the Globes, there's also the matter of which films compete in Drama, and which others battle it out in the presumably less competitive realm of Musical or Comedy. Because we all need distractions right now, let's ponder these inconsequential genre divides and enjoy some benign polls whose results don't really matter beyond these awards obsessive circles of ours…

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Halfway Honors: The Gold Digger's 2024 Mid-Year Awards Have Been Announced!

by Nick Taylor

DUNE: PART TWO leads with 16 nominations, though CHALLENGERS is swaggering right behind it into that sauna with 15

As some of you may remember from last year, guest contributor Patrick Gratton has been spearheading a group known as the Gold Diggers Awards since 2018. Comprised of critics, cinephiles, festival circuit regulars and trusted besties around the globe, the organization is once again back with their Mid-Year Awards slate. As is tradition, these nominations are solely cultivated from films that received a US release in the first half of 2024. Also in keeping with tradition, these lineups are an eccentric mix of mainstream, arthouse, underground, and international cinema. Where else will you see Dune: Part Two duke it out with the likes of The People's Joker for Best Effects, or held up against Lea Seydoux's other sci-fi thrill The Beast? I love these nominations, and not just cuz I'm a member.

For the best of the best in 24 categories, follow me below the cut . . . .

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Dynamic Duos: What's Your Favorite Director-Actor Team?

by Cláudio Alves

Emma Stone x 3 in Yorgos Lanthimos' KINDS OF KINDNESS (2024).

Kinds of Kindness has just hit theaters, and Yorgos Lanthimos is back in the news cycle. It seems the Greek director's Hollywood success has set him on a path of productivity unlike anything seen in his Greek Weird Wave origins. By his side, we can find Emma Stone, who's quickly becoming Lanthimos' most emblematic collaborator. Since their first team-up for 2018's The Favourite, they have shot the silent short Bleat, the Oscar champion Poor Things, and the Cannes award-winning Kinds of Kindness. Next comes Bugonia, a remake of the South Korean Save the Green Planet, where Stone will play a CEO kidnapped by two men who believe her to be an alien.

Though it's nice to see such a burgeoning artistic partnership flourish in today's cinematic landscape, I wish I was fonder of their bond. As it stands, I'm not sure they bring the best out of each other…

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