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...

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Doc Corner: 'Barbie Nation' and 'Black Barbie'

By Glenn Charlie Dunks

If the box office is anything to go by, there is a very solid chance that most of The Film Experience’s readers have seen Greta Gerwig’s Barbie by now. You probably haven’t seen Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour, a documentary from the time of VHS in 1998 that made comparatively far less noise but which is returning for its 25^th anniversary with a new so called “director’s cut” (I’ve never seen the original so can’t vouch for how different it is) and a digital release. It bares all of the hallmarks of an independent work of documentary from the ‘90s, from its video aesthetics to its barely-an-hour-long runtime. But that’s partly why it is so entertaining.

The other part is because it takes a remarkably similar tone to Gerwig’s film. Reverent, but critical and with interesting narrative avenues that are there because they, presumably, tickled its directors fancy.

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Ever After @25: A Timeless Cinderella Story

by Cláudio Alves

A quarter century ago, Hollywood remade the Cinderella story as it often does. Only this time, the fairytale was without fairies or any inkling of magic beyond the mystery of love. And Leonardo da Vinci, of course, for he's something of a wizard figure in the restyled narrative in which Perrault's classic tale is reworked through the Grimms' imagination and 1990s 'girl power' impetus. Da Vinci is also the movie's Achilles Heel, a miscalculation by the writing team of director Andy Tennant, Susannah Grant, and Rick Parks. Not that the misfortune wrecks the picture – Ever After is too charming for that. 

Indeed, the Drew Barrymore vehicle remains an entertaining period rom-com all these years after its release, its strengths only glowing brighter in retrospect. How can one resist Jenny Beavan's costume designs, George Fenton's impassioned score, Anjelica Huston's sharp spin on the evil stepmother archetype, and so much more? This Ren-Faire Cinderella deserves celebration…

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Streaming: "Heartstopper" Delivers An Equally Strong Season Two

by Christopher James

Who’s ready to get emotional? Season one of Heartstopper won raves for bringing to life the acclaimed graphic novels, which present a coming-of-age queer love story between the nerdy and shy Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and the sensitive jock Nick Nelson (Kit Connor). Alice Oseman’s tale does a wonderful job of capturing the butterflies and emotions of falling in love for the first time, while centering it within the anxieties of coming out and defining one’s sexuality. Though it's meant to appeal to a teen audience, Heartstopper excels at placing adults back in their teenage years, where every text and fleeting glance can feel like an earth-shattering event.

Season two has not lost any of the magic. In so many ways, it examines what happens after “happily ever after” in teen worlds. Charlie got the guy that he wanted, but anxieties and hangups don’t vanish after one triumph. The show’s lovely, delicate touch never gets in the way of tackling hard topics in a realistic manner. Thus, season two is just as deep, emotional and swoon-worthy as its predecessor...

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What did you see this past weekend?

by Nathaniel R

Since I'd already seen Barbenheimer, I opted for a repertory screening (Under the Tuscan Sun, which I'd actually never seen. Why isn't Diane Lane in more things these days?), a play (Let's Call Her Patty starring Rhea Perlman, suddenly busy again considering she's also in Barbie), and a TV season I've always meant to watch (Happy Valley season 1. All of you who raved about it several years ago were correct). Over lunch on Saturday, I ran into two friends who were on their way to see Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One which surprised me since neither of them had seen Barbie or Oppenheimer! 

Were you part of the moviegoing throngs that hit Barbie or Oppenheimer in their strong second weekends or did you opt to catch an older film, a different wide release, or did you hit the arthouse theater? 

Weekend Box Office July 28-30 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (Over 600 Screens)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
DISNEY'S THE HAUNTED MANSION	THE FIRST SLAM DUNK
1 ★ BARBIE $93 (cum. $351.4) 4,337 screens	1 🔺 THE FIRST SLAM DUNK (Japan, anime) $645k *NEW* 581 screens

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