9 Days of Oscar 2006: Screenplays

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Who’s nominated? Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck, Match Point, The Squid and the Whale, Syriana

Who should have been nominated? The 40 Year Old Virgin. I know it’s a comedy. I know parts were adlibbed. However this is still a damn tight script that’s both funny and touching without going into crappy romantic comedy territory.

Who will win? Crash. I think Crash is going to come up short in most the other categories but look there’s no Brokeback in this one. Syriana had amazing pre award season buzz but that was quickly dispelled once the reviews started coming in. The Squid and the Whale seems like a potential underdog that could pull off the upset; however I know the Academy voters want to recognize Crash with a win and this is the safest bet.

Who should win? Crash. I love this script. It may be a little clichéd and I thought some of the sharks Haggis had to jump to tie the stories together my have been a bit much but honestly he pulls it off.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Who’s nominated? Brokeback Mountain, Capote, The Constant Gardener, A History of Violence, Munich

Who should have been nominated? Sin City. You might be sensing a trend on which two films I thought got the shaft this year. Sin City was the greatest adaptation of a comic book. Not only that but by taking the original stories and splitting them up Miller and Rodriguez came up with a new way to tell them.

Who will win? Brokeback Mountain. Have you seen the size of the original work? To take such a short piece and elaborate on it without missing any of the beauty of the original is a true accomplishment. This seems like a runaway winner.

Who should win? Munich. This is a tough call but I’m going with Munich over Brokeback. This script finds away to walk a difficult tightrope without taking flat out sides in the Palestinian conflict. Perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that it takes both sides and throws everything at the audience so you see the flaws in both arguments.