The 2023 Gold Digger Mid-Year Awards: "Past Lives" and "Asteroid City" Win Big!

by Cláudio Alves

Earlier this month, I shared the Gold Digger Mid-Year Awards nominations, and now it's time to talk winners. First, one should mention that the group, organized by Patrick Gratton, comprises over forty people, spanning from cinephiles to critics and historians, including some members of Team Experience. Second, between nods and victories, the voting process took around a month, with hundreds of films mentioned and much love for cinema. Now, the final results are in, with Celine Song's Past Lives confirming itself as the season's grand winner – the film is currently available on VOD for those interested in experiencing its bittersweet resolutions. 

Though they didn't take the top prize, Asteroid City and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse were also big champions in the final ballot...

Click to read more ...

The 2023 Gold Digger Mid-Year Awards: Nominations Announced!

by Cláudio Alves

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...

Click to read more ...

Weekend Box Office: Spider-Verse Superiority

By Ben MIller

To absolutely no one's surprise, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse won the box office weekend.  The sheer amount of money the film made might have been a bit surprising.  With $120+ million, Spider-Verse had the second biggest opening weekend of 2023, only behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie.  What's even more impressive is the improvement over its predecessor.  Into the Spider-Verse only made $190 million its entire domestic run.  This sequel should easily surpass that number.

Weekend Box Office (actuals) June 2nd-4th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (Over 800 Screens)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE	PAST LIVES
1 🔺★ SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE $120.6 *NEW* 4,313 screens	1 🔺 ★ PAST LIVES $232k *NEW* 4 screens

Click to read more ...

Oscar Predictions, 1st Round: Best Animated Feature

by Nathaniel R

It's time to begin the annual April Foolish Predictions debacle. We say debacle and we call them "Foolish" not just as a pun on April Fools (even though yes, the bulk of these will be in May - shut up!) but because we know so little about the year's contenders this early in the year. After the jump the list of animated pictures that might be in play and the possibility that the two female breakouts from 2021's West Side Story may go head-to-head in this category as musical protagonists... 

THE CHART IF YOU WANNA SEE IT. BUT HERE IS MORE INFO...

Click to read more ...