Michigan Movie Critics Guild to announce 2023 film awards

CLINTON — This weekend, a relatively new association of professional film critics in Michigan will announce its nominees for the best films and performances of 2023.

Then, the Michigan Movie Critics Guild will announce the winners next week.

“It’s a quick turnaround,” MMCG board member Nate Adams of Clinton said this week. “The ballots are due Thursday. The board members — there are four of us — will tally them up, and then Friday we’ll send out a press release, put it on our social medias with all the nominations. And then Monday afternoon we’ll announce the winners.”

The announcement will be at the beginning of Hollywood’s awards season that leads up to the Academy Awards in March. Adams said there are a couple of reasons to announce the MMCG’s awards now.

“It gives us an advantage because we get to be early. We’re one of the first organizations that’s going to announce our winners,” Adams said. “Not that we’re going to be trend-setters or anything, but it is kind of cool to get out ahead of the crowded field. ...

“And then we have members who are Jewish, and we want to be respectful of holidays.”

Hannukah starts Dec. 7 and ends Dec. 15.

Announcing later toward Christmas risks having the announcement get lost among Christmas events.

Giving the guild’s 11 members the weekend to consider the nominations also gives them time to see any nominees they might have missed, Adams said.

The awards cover the usual categories such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor as well as Breakthrough Award, Best Stunt and the MMCG Award for Film Excellence, which will be presented to a filmmaker, writer, actor or crew member who has Michigan ties or to a film made in Michigan.

“We felt that it was important that we had something that was very specific to Michigan,” Adams said.

Films such as "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie" will likely land some nominations, he said.

The MMCG was formed this summer and is Michigan’s only professional coalition of film critics, Adams said. Some of its members used to be in the now-defunct Detroit Film Critics Society (DFCS). They’re a group of movie lovers who’ve come together to talk about and champion film.

“We felt that it was important that there are Michigan voices amplifying the consensus what we think are the best films and performances of the year,” Adams said.

The MMCG members all work professionally across the state for print, broadcast and online outlets, though they all have full-time jobs other than being film critics. Adams writes for The Clinton Local and his website, theonlycritic.com. The guild has criteria for membership regarding how frequently the members are published as well as having their reviews appear in Michigan-based outlets. They also must live in Michigan or within 20 miles of the state.

Adams said the only film critic who is employed full time with a news outlet in Michigan is Adam Graham of The Detroit News. Graham also reports on entertainment news along with doing reviews.

“Nobody’s in it for the money because it’s just not there,” Adams said. “We’re just all in it because we’re very passionate about films. We love films.”

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Reviewing movies means watching bad movies as well as the award winners.

“People always say, ‘Well, critics don’t love movies,’ or we wouldn’t know a good movie if we saw it,” Adams said. “Gene Siskel said this back in the day: If we didn’t love movies, why would we see everything? We watch it all.”

The MMCG works with a company to arrange screenings, usually at a theater in Troy. Most of the reviewers are in Southeast Michigan, Adams said. He usually travels the furthest to attend the screenings. They were scheduled to watch three movies this past Tuesday, Adams said. They’ve already seen the movies that will be released around Christmas, such as “The Color Purple” and “Wonka.”

The MMCG members will meet and debate the merits of each film, he said. They also host screenings and judge short film competitions.

Having a critics’ organization helps give critics access to film studios and publicity companies, Adams said. Being in the DFCS boosted his film-reviewing career.

“I hope that with the formation of this new group we can give other emerging voices and critics that kind of opportunity because I would not be where I am today if not for getting in back then,” he said.

— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Michigan Movie Critics Guild to announce 2023 film awards