Film Obsessive
The calendar reaching July has us movie audiences halfway through 2023. While the usual fall and winter seasons are backloaded to hold many of the eventual awards contenders, there have been more than enough quality films in 2023 to note and celebrate. Annually, the Hollywood Critics Association takes a moment to honor those very films and their quality. The Hollywood Critics Association has announced the 2023 HCA Midseason Movie Awards nominees.
The HCA Midseason Movie Awards honor the best in cinema from the first half of each calendar year. For a film to be eligible, a film must have been released between January 1, 2023 and June 30, 2023. Nomination ballots for the HCA Midseason Awards were tallied from the 178 members of the Hollywood Critics Association. Film Obsessive Assistant Editor and Content Supervisor Don Shanahan is one of those voting members.
Celine Song’s directorial debut Past Lives received seven HCA nominations. The A24 film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress for Greta Lee, Best Actor for Teo Yoo, Best Supporting Actor for John Magaro, Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Indie Film. Ben Affleck’s Air tied Past Lives with seven nominations of its own. The Amazon Studios film’s nominated honors include Best Picture, Best Actor for Matt Damon, dual Best Supporting Actor nominations for Chirs Messina and Ben Affleck, Best Supporting Actress for Viola Davis, Best Screenplay, and Best Director.
Not far behind, Lionsgate’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, adapted from Judy Blume’s beloved book of the same name, received a total of six nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for newcomer Abby Ryder Fortson. Another Lionsgate film that also did well at the HCA
Midseason Movie Awards was John Wick: Chapter 4, with a total of three nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Stunts.
The winners of the HCA Midseason Awards will be announced on the official Hollywood Critics Association Twitter page on Friday, June 30, 2023.
The full list of nominated films can be found below:
BEST PICTURE
Air
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Asteroid City
Blackberry
Creed III
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick: Chapter 4
Past Lives
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-verse
BEST ACTOR
Joaquin Phoenix – Beau Is Afraid
Matt Damon – Air
Michael B. Jordan – Creed III
Taron Egerton- Tetris
Teo Yoo – Past Lives
BEST ACTRESS
Abby Ryder Fortson – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Greta Lee – Past Lives
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – You Hurt My Feelings
Mia Goth – Infinity Pool
Teyana Taylor – A Thousand and One
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Affleck – Air
Chris Messina – Air
Glenn Howerton – Blackberry
Jason Momoa – Fast X
John Magaro – Past Lives
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kathy Bates – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Patti LuPone – Beau Is Afraid
Rachel McAdams – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Scarlett Johansson – Asteroid City
Viola Davis – Air
BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck – Air
Celine Song – Past Lives
Chad Stahelski – John Wick: Chapter 4
Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Kelly Fremon Craig – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
BEST STUNTS
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Extraction 2
Fast X
John Wick: Chapter 4
Polite Society
BEST SCREENPLAY
Alex Convery – Air
Celine Song – Past Lives
Kelly Fremon Craig – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Dave Callaham – Spider-Man Across the Spider-verse
Wes Anderson – Asteroid City
BEST HORROR
Evil Dead Rise
Infinity Pool
Knock at the Cabin
M3GAN
Scream IV
BEST INDIE
A Thousand and One
Blackberry
Past Lives
Rye Lane
You Hurt My Feelings
MOST ANTICIPATED FILM FOR THE SECOND HALF OF 2023
Barbie
Dune: Part Two
Killers Of The Flower Moon
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
ABOUT THE HOLLYWOOD CRITICS ASSOCIATION:
The Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) was established in 2016 with one goal in mind: to
highlight and elevate diverse and underrepresented voices within the world of entertainment
criticism and journalism. Since its inception, the HCA has made history as the most diverse
group of critics in the country celebrating groundbreaking entertainment, visionary storytellers,
and incomparable artists that reflect today’s multifaceted global audiences. The current HCA
membership is comprised of 176 critics and entertainment journalists who represent a new era
in Hollywood.
For additional information about The Hollywood Critics Association, please visit their website or follow them on social media:
#HCAFilmAwards
#HCAMidseasonAwards
#HCATVAwards
