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MICHIGAN MOVIE CRITICS GUILD announces its Best of 2023 winners

| by Carl Wheeler

DETROIT – The Michigan Movie Critics Guild has announced its winners for the best films and performances of 2023. Barbie – also the highest-grossing film of 2023 – was the year’s big winner, taking home prizes for best picture, best director and best supporting actor. Other winners included Emma Stone for her performance in Poor Things and a tie for best actor between Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers and Jeffrey Wright for American Fiction. American Fiction writer-director Cord Jefferson was named the guild’s breakthrough of the year for his directorial debut. Comedian Keegan-Michael Key, a Detroit native, received the group’s MMCG Award for Film Excellence.

THE NOMINATIONS FOR 2023, WINNERS IN RED BOLD
(in alphabetical order)

BEST PICTURE

  • American Fiction
  • Anatomy of a Fall
  • Barbie
  • The Holdovers
  • Past Lives
  • Poor Things

BEST DIRECTOR

  • Greta Gerwig – Barbie
  • Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
  • Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things
  • Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
  • Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon

BEST ACTRESS

  • Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
  • Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall
  • Greta Lee – Past Lives
  • Carey Mulligan – Maestro
  • Emma Stone – Poor Things

BEST ACTOR

  • Bradley Cooper – Maestro
  • Zac Efron – The Iron Claw
  • Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers (tie)
  • Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
  • Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction (tie)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

  • America Ferrera – Barbie
  • Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
  • Rachel McAdams – Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
  • Julianne Moore – May December
  • Rosamund Pike – Saltburn

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

  • Sterling K. Brown – American Fiction
  • Robert DeNiro – Killers of the Flower Moon
  • Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer
  • Ryan Gosling – Barbie
  • Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things

BEST ANIMATED FILM

  • The Boy and The Heron
  • Nimona
  • Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
  • The Super Mario Bros. Movie
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

BREAKTHROUGH DOCUMENTARY

  • Beyond Utopia
  • Sly
  • Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

BEST ENSEMBLE

  • Air
  • Barbie
  • The Holdovers
  • Killers of the Flower Moon
  • Oppenheimer

BEST SCREENPLAY (ADAPTED OR ORIGINAL)

  • American Fiction
  • Anatomy of a Fall
  • Barbie
  • The Holdovers
  • Past Lives

BREAKTHROUGH AWARD

  • Sandra Hüller – Actress, Anatomy of a Fall
  • Cord Jefferson – Director, American Fiction
  • Greta Lee – Actress, Past Lives
  • Dominic Sessa – Actor, The Holdovers
  • Celine Song – Director/Writer Past Lives

STUNTS

  • John Wick: Chapter 4 (tie)
  • The Killer
  • Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (tie)
  • Polite Society
  • Silent Night

The MMCG Award for Film Excellence (presented to a filmmaker, writer, actor, crew member etc. who has Michigan ties or to a film made or set in Michigan)

  • Keegan-Michael Key – Actor Wonka/The Super Mario Bros. Movie /Migration
  • Ashley Park – Actress, Joy Ride
  • Paul Schrader – Director, Master Gardener
  • Lily Tomlin – Actress, 80 For Brady
  • J.K. Simmons – Actor, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
  • Bruce Campbell – Producer, Evil Dead Rise

The MMCG is a collective of film critics who are committed to enhancing the conversation about cinema and further establishing the state’s reputation as a film-loving community. This year’s MMCG – its first – is composed of 11 critics, who cover films for a variety of outlets across the state. From websites to newspapers and podcasts to YouTube, they capture the diversity of the field and bring a range of expertise, outlooks, and tastes.

This year’s lineup includes:

* = leadership board member

Information about the MMCG and its members is available at its website. For further information, email michiganmoviecritics@gmail.com.

You can find them on Facebook, Blue Sky, Instagram and X.