The Writers Guild of America has picked its favorite scripts of the past year. And as usual, many of the films that will no doubt be nominated for Best Screenplay at the Oscars are conspicuously missing since they are ineligible, and all because they were penned by non-WGA signatories or are (gasp!) animation. (Winter’s Bone, The King’s Speech, Toy Story 3 and several other wonderful scripts fall into this category.) So it really just comes down to the Guild picking their favorites from their members. And not a lot of surprises here.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Black Swan, Screenplay by Mark Heyman and Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin; Story by Andres Heinz; Fox Searchlight
The Fighter, Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Paramount Pictures
Inception, Written by Christopher Nolan; Warner Bros.
The Kids Are All Right, Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg; Focus Features
Please Give, Written by Nicole Holofcener; Sony Pictures Classics
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 Hours, Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy; Based on the book Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston; Fox Searchlight
I Love You Phillip Morris, Written by John Requa & Glenn Ficarra; Based on the book by Steven McVicker; Roadside Attractions
The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin; Based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich; Sony Pictures
The Town, Screenplay by Peter Craig and Ben Affleck & Aaron Stockard; Based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan; Warner Bros.
True Grit, Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen; Based on the novel by Charles Portis; Paramount Pictures
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Freedom Riders, Written, Produced and Directed by Stanley Nelson; International Film Circuit
Enemies of the People, Written, Directed, Filmed and Produced by Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath; International Film Circuit
Gasland, Written and Directed by Josh Fox; HBO Documentary Films and International WOW Company
Inside Job, Produced, Written and Directed by Charles Ferguson; Co-written by Chad Beck, Adam Bolt; Sony Pictures Classics
The Two Escobars, Written by Michael Zimbalist, Jeff Zimbalist; ESPN Films
Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)?, Written and Directed by John Scheinfeld; Lorber Films
The winners will be announced at the 2011 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 5, 2011.
I haven’t seen any of those docs, but I hear that “Inside Job” is very good.
As for the screenplay and adapted screenplay categories… that’s actually a really tough call!