Adapted Screenplay
The Nominees Are: Borat, Children of Men, The Departed, Little Children, Notes on A Scandal
Who’s Missing: Thank You For Smoking was one of the truly underrated films of last year yet I felt sure going into nomination Tuesday, that a screenplay nomination was in its future. Sadly the Academy did not recognize this uber smart script about a tobacco lobbyist in our politically correct/corrupt world.
Who Should Win: Despite my love for Children of Men, I’m going to go with Borat partly because this is its only nomination but also because it was a genius screenplay. I think the fact that it is done documentary style will detract from it’s chances, but the format and Borat’s narration are finely scripted and it’s the key to the film maintaining it’s balance between nastiness and social commentary.
Who Will Win: This is one of the hardest categories out there. Except for The Departed none of these films were recognized for Best Picture yet The Departed has baggage as multiple screenwriters took a pass on it. I’m inclined to rule out Borat because of the documentary aspect. Little Children had very little hype so I’ll rule that out as well. That leaves Children of Men, Notes on a Scandal, and The Departed. I think Notes on a Scandal pulls through here by taking an award winning play and transforming it to screen flawlessly (from what I here).
Original Screenplay
The Nominees Are: Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, Pan's Labyrinth, The Queen
Who’s Missing: Dismiss me if you must but I’ve got to go with Clerks 2 here. Kevin Smith has epitomized the voice of my generation for the last 12 years and he showed that mastery has grown with age by revisiting the characters he introduced to us in the original Clerks. The screenplay is not only hilarious but provides some very real touching moments.
Who Should Win: Even though I’m still a little unsettled about the film itself I’m going to go with Pan’s Labyrinth here, due in large part to the sheer originality of the script. Look at all the other nominees and you’ve seen those stories before one way or the other. Pan’s is a truly unique concept and the script plays out in such a way that you always want to flip back and forth between the two worlds.
Who Will Win: Babel is again the type of film the Academy goes ga ga for and the screenplay is a big part of that. While I could not disagree more with this choice I’d say this is a slam dunk with an outside chance for The Queen.
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