Solzy at the Movies presents the Solzy Awards for 2023…so far, which spotlights the best films and performances of the first half.

While I had a chance to screen a few July releases in late June, they are not listed below because of not being released between January and June. Anything not released yet that I screened during a film festival will be listed below under Festival Favorites.

There are cases here where I also had to make a judgement call in whether someone is lead or supporting. It is not an easy call. If the distributor feels differently, I’ll go with their decision for lead or supporting. And then you have comedies like Theater Camp and First Time Female Director that are true ensemble comedies and it is really, really hard to pick out the best performances in the movie.

Narrative Features

• Are You There G-d? It’s Me, Margaret.
• Cocaine Bear
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• No Hard Feelings
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• You Hurt My Feelings
• Sanctuary

Animated Feature

• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Documentaries

• STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie
• Bill Russell: Legend
• It Ain’t Over
• Pretty Baby
• Pamela, A Love Story
• Judy Blume Forever
• Being Mary Tyler Moore

Actor in a Leading Role

• Matt Damon, AIR
• Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• Christopher Abbott, Sanctuary
• Taron Edgerton, Tetris
• Jay Baruchel, Blackberry

Actress in a Leading Role

• Abby Ryder Fortson, Are You There G-d? It’s Me, Margaret
• Florence Pugh, A Good Person
• Margaret Qualley, Sanctuary
• Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings
• Jane Fonda, Moving On

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Mads Mikkelson, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• Ben Affleck, AIR
• Morgan Freeman, A Good Person
• Glenn Howerton, BlackBerry

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Viola Davis, AIR
• Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• Lily Tomlin, Moving On

Bear in a Leading Role

• Cocaine Bear

Director

• Kelly Fremon Craig, Are You There G-d? It’s Me, Margaret
• James Mangold, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• Ben Affleck, AIR
• Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear
• Gene Stupnitsky, No Hard Feelings

Film Festival Favorites

Narrative Features

• Flora and Son
• Theater Camp
• Eileen
• Cat Person
• A Little Prayer
• First Time Female Director
• Bucky F*cking Dent
• Cold Copy
• Eric LaRue

Documentaries

• The League
• Chasing Chasing Amy
• Rather
• The Saint of Second Chances
• A Disturbance in the Force

Performances

• Actor in a Leading Role
  • Alex Wolff, The Line
• Actress in a Leading Role
  • Thomasin McKenzie, Eileen
  • Anne Hathaway, Eileen
  • Eve Hewson, Flora and Son
  • Emilia Jones, Cat Person
  • Jane Levy, A Little Prayer
  • Judy Greer, Eric LaRue
  • Bel Powley, Cold Copy
  • Tracee Ellis Ross, Cold Copy
  • Karen Gillan, Late Bloomers
• Actor in a Supporting Role
  • Noah Galvin, Theater Camp
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Flora and Son
  • Orén Kinlan, Flora and Son
  • David Strathairn, A Little Prayer
  • Nicholas Braun, Cat Person
  • Paul Raci, The Secret Art of Human Flight
• Actress in a Supporting Role
  • Anna Camp, A Little Prayer

The Solzy Awards for 2023 will be announced this December. All films released January 1-December 31, 2023 are eligible.

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