2010 WGA Awards (of 2009 Films) Announced
The Writers Guild of America has announced nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during the past year. Winners will be honored at the 2010 Writers Guild Awards held on Saturday, February 20, 2010. Our Movie Smackdown poll winners will be announced earlier than that.
No one could ever call the Writers Guild Awards predictable. Even the most enthusiastic Avatar booster admits to having some issues with that film’s script (or at least, with the occasionally clumsy dialogue). The brilliantly scripted In the Loop makes for a glaring omission that can be explained; the film was not included in the list of candidates for nomination.
Original screenplays nods are certainly original and
surprising this year; all-over-the-map choices vary in tone from lightest to
darkest. Nominated screenplays include: light romantic comedy of (500) Days of Summer, gross-out funny with a heart of gold The
Hangover, ambitiously epic Avatar, searing war drama in The Hurt Locker, and the equivocating comic-spiritual journey of A
Serious Man. Comedies may be ignored by
other awards, but writers know better than anyone. Comedy is hard.
Adapted screenplay nominations include obvious choices from industry darlings Nora Ephron (Julie & Julia) and Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) and the clumsily titled Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire. Joining them in the race are two slightly darker horses, Crazy Heart and Star Trek.
These WGA nominations may not be the tip-off to the eventual Oscar picks because several high-profile films that might ordinarily get a nom -- like Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," Nick Hornby's "An Education," and Tom Ford and David Scearce's "A Single Man" -- didn't qualify because they weren't filmed under the WGA's contract or covered by guilds in Great Britain, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand. Why they weren't, well, that's another post.
Vote for your favorite screenplay (or at least your perception of the writing)…not your favorite film. There is a difference.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Crazy Heart, Screenplay by Scott Cooper; Based on the novel by Thomas Cobb; Fox Searchlight
Julie & Julia, Screenplay by Nora Ephron; Based on the books Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme; Sony Pictures
Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher; Based on the novel Push by Sapphire; Lionsgate
Star Trek, Written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman; Based upon Star Trek, Created by Gene Roddenberry; Paramount Pictures
Up in the Air, Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner; Based upon the novel by Walter Kirn; Paramount Pictures
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
(500) Days of Summer, Written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber; Fox Searchlight
Avatar, Written by James Cameron; 20th Century Fox
The Hangover, Written by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore; Warner Bros.
The Hurt Locker, Written by Mark Boal; Summit Entertainment
A Serious Man, Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen; Focus Features
