Writers Guild of America's 101 Greatest Screenplays Of The 21st Century (So Far)

Earlier this week, the Writers Guild of America released its list of the 101 Greatest Screenplays Of The 21st Century (So Far).

Taking the top spot was Jordan Peele's script for the 2017 horror Get Out. 

Aaron Mendelsohn, chair of WGAW's Publicity and Marketing Committee, said “As voted upon by the members of the Writers Guilds West and East, the list of the 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (so far) is both a celebration of the great writers and screenplays of the last 21 years and a study of how writing for the screen has evolved and diversified since the 20th Century... Plus, it's a great conversation- and argument- starter.”  

There's certainly some interesting choices on here and what I would personally consider to be some glaring omissions.

The full list can be found here, but here are some of the more interesting facts and figures:

The Top 10 films are:

• Get Out (2017) by Jordan Peele
• Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004) by Charlie Kaufman
• The Social Network (2010) by Aaron Sorkin
• Parasite (2019) by Bong Joon Ho and Han Jim Won
• No Country For Old Men (2007) by Joel and Ethan Coen
• Moonlight (2016) by Barry Jenkins
• There Will Be Blood (2007) by Paul Thomas Anderson
• Inglourious Basterds (2009) by Quentin Tarantino
• Almost Famous (2000) by Cameron Crowe
• Memento (2000) by Christopher Nolan

Of the 101 screenplays, 63 were original screenplays, whilst 38 were adapted or based on existing source material.

The most prolific writer on the list is Christopher Nolan, who has written (or co-written) four scripts: Memento (2000, #10); The Prestige (2006, #82); The Dark Knight (2008, #26), and Inception (2010, #37)

Quentin Tarantino, Joel and Ethan Coen, Alfonso Cuarón, and Paul Thomas Anderson all have three films included in the list. 

Bridesmaids (2011, Annie Mumulo & Kristen Wiig), Brokeback Mountain (2005, co-written by Diana Ossana), Lady Bird (2017, Greta Gerwig), Lost In Translation (2003, Sofia Coppola), and Promising Young Woman (2020, Emerald Fennell) are the five highest-placed screenplays by women.

Of the 101 screenplays, 20 of them were written (or co-written) by women, with Bridesmaids (2011, #12) as the highest-ranking female-written film. A further three films- Adaptation. (2002, #11), Children Of Men (2006, #18), and Jojo Rabbit (2019, #28)- were adapted by male screenwriters from source material written by women. 

Nine animated films made the list, with Inside Out (2015, #29) being the highest-ranked animated film. 

29 films on the list have won a Best Screenplay Oscar (16 for Best Original, 13 for Best Adapted). A further 51 have been nominated for one of the awards (35 for Best Original, 16 for Best Adapted), meaning 80 of the 101 films have had Academy recognition. 

Of the 101 films, I'm personally over the moon to see Brokeback Mountain (2005, #13), Sideways (2004, #15), Promising Young Woman (2020, #23), Mean Girls (2004, #34), Knives Out (2019, #49), Spirited Away (2001, #67), Call Me By Your Name (2017, #79), and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017, #80) included.

Although I do think the list is missing several very strong screenplays: personally, I'd add the following screenplays to the mix:

• Moulin Rouge! (2001, written by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce)
• Gosford Park (2001, written by Julian Fellowes)
• The Hours (2002, written by David Hare)
• Frost/Nixon (2008, written by Peter Morgan)
• Black Swan (2010, written by Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz, and John McLaughlin)
• August: Osage County (2013, written by Tracy Letts)
• Blue Jasmine (2013, written by Woody Allen)
• Love, Simon (2018, written by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker)
• Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018, written by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty) 

But what about you? Have the WGA come up with a good list, or are they wide off the mark? What would you put on your own list of the 101 Greatest Screenplays Of The 21st Century (So Far)? Let us know in the comments below.

Awards Season 2019: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions

Tonight, the great and good of Hollywood will convene to celebrate the best of film-making in 2018 at the 91st Academy Awards. 

There is no main host this year, the first time in 30 years. The last time this happened was the 61st Academy Awards and the opening number featured- and I kid you not- a duet between Rob Lowe and Snow White to the tune of 'Proud Mary'. Talk about things being seen that cannot be unseen... Here's hoping that producers Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss come up with something a little less surreal! 

It has become a tradition for me to predict the nominations and the winners in the main six categories (the four acting categories, Best Director and Best Picture).  I've done this since 2003 with varying degrees of success. Last year, I got 5 out of 6.

So, without further ado, here are my predictions for who will win.

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

With wins at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice and Independent Spirits behind her, King seems the most likely winner of the Supporting Actress Oscar. Her performance as Sharon, mother of the pregnant Tish, supporting her daughter through pregnancy and trying to prove her fiance's innocence, has been widely praised and has usually been singled out amongst the ensemble cast performances. 

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

He's won the BAFTA, the Golden Globe, SAG, and Crtics Choice Awards so I don't see the Oscar going elsewhere. Ali's performance as Dr. Don Shirley, the quiet, reserved, classical pianist who butts heads against the brasher Tony Lip, is superb. It's nuanced, sophisticated, and precise. He would be an incredibly worthy winner (and only the second Black actor to win two Oscars; the other being Denzel Washington). 

Best Actress: Glenn Close (The Wife)

If any other name than Glenn Close is announced for Best Actress, I will be most surprised. The Golden Globe, SAG, Independent Spirit, and Critics Choice Awards have all gone her way- and only BAFTAs British slant to spoil the clean sweep. Her performance as Joan Castleman- devoted wife and mother who starts to question her life when her husband wins the Nobel Prize for Literature- is superb. There's a scene where she's being questioned by an interviewer and it's a masterclass in subtext; so much going on behind her eyes. Surely, on the seventh time of asking, it's time for Glenn Close to get the Oscar? 

Best Actor: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

I just want to say this before I start. I have several issues with Bohemian Rhapsody as a film- but none of them are to do with Rami Malek's central performance as Freddie Mercury. He is just sublime. Flamboyant, edgy, camp without being grating, and exuding a sensuality that's difficult to ignore, Malek's performance helps bring the larger-than-life personality of Mercury to life. He is good; the film not so much. But I do feel he should be duly recognised for his performance. 

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Cuarón's second directing Oscar seems fairly secure, after winning the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, the Critics Choice, and the Directors' Guild (DGA) Awards for his work on Roma. It's an intensely personal project for Cuarón- not only directing but writing, producing, and acting as cinematographer and co-editor. The direction is clear, and he gets strong performances for a cast largely comprised of first-time actors. Much like with Glenn Close, any other name will be a surprise. 

Best Picture: Roma

Like last year, this comes down to two films: for me, it's between Roma and Green Book for Best Picture. Both films are well-made and have strong performances and a strong aesthetic style. That said, there's arguments to be made against both too: there's been a load of negative stories about Green Book (from Viggo Mortensen using a racial slur during an interview, to the writer's re-tweeting of Donald Trump's lie about Muslims celebrating 9/11, and director Peter Farrelly's previous less-than-professional on-set behaviour) which might put the mockers on it. On the other side, a foreign language film has never won Best Picture, and the fact that it's been made for Netflix has got some cinema purists up in arms. But I think it might be time for a shake-up. Of the two films, I preferred Green Book, but I do think Roma will take the top prize tonight. 


In terms of some of the other categories, I'm thinking that Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse will take Best Animated Feature, Roma will almost certainly get Best Foreign Language Film (if it doesn't take the top prize as well) and 'Shallow' from A Star Is Born will probably get Best Original Song. 

I'll be watching the broadcast live from the Dolby Theatre tonight (well, early hours of tomorrow morning) and I'll do a post about the ceremony and my thoughts as soon as I can afterwards. Now, time for a power nap and then a vat of something caffeinated!

Awards Season 2019: Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) Winners

This is just a quick awards season update, as the Directors' Guild Awards (DGAs) were handed out over this past weekend (Saturday 2nd February). The film winners are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Films: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director: Bo Burnham (Eighth Grade)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Miniseries: Ben Stiller (Escape At Dannemora)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Tim Wardle (Three Identical Strangers)


Cuarón can add the DGA to his Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for directing and I'm fairly certain this all but seals the Oscar win. He wasn't nominated for the BAFTA or Independent Spirit Awards for directing, but the DGA win is a pretty good bellwether. 

Congratulations to all winners!

Next in awards season will be the 2019 BAFTA Film Awards, which will be handed out this coming Sunday (10th February)

Awards Season 2019: Critics' Choice Movie Award Winners

Last night (13th January), the Critics' Choice Awards were handed out. Here's a full list of film winners:

Best Picture: Roma

Best Actor: Christian Bale (Vice)

Best Actress: Glenn Close (The Wife) and Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) (tie)

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Best Acting Ensemble: The Favourite

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Best Original Screenplay: First Reformed

Best Adapted Screenplay: If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Comedy: Crazy Rich Asians

Best Actor In A Comedy: Christian Bale (Vice)

Best Actress In A Comedy: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Best Action Movie: Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie: A Quiet Place

Best Foreign Language Film: Roma

Best Score: First Man

Best Song: 'Shallow' (A Star Is Born)

Best Production Design: Black Panther

Best Editing: First Man

Best Costume Design: Black Panther

Best Hair & Makeup: Vice

Best Visual Effects: Black Panther

Best Cinematography: Roma

Best Young Actor/Actress: Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade)


Roma was the big winner of the night with four awards, whilst Vice and Black Panther took home three apiece (and Vice winning two awards for Christian Bale's performance as Dick Cheney). 

In terms of the acting awards, Golden Globe winners continue their streak (and take another step towards the Oscars) - although, sadly, Olivia Colman may get overshadowed when the awards body doesn't separate comedy and drama as the momentum is certainly behind Glenn Close at the moment. In other categories, nothing seems massively controversial. I was pleased with the wins for Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, 'Shallow', and A Quiet Place (in a bit of a oh-that's-nice kind of way). 

Congratulations to all winners!

So, next up with awards season, it's the PGA Awards this coming Friday (19th January) so I'll do a quick post about that over the weekend. 

Awards Season 2019: BAFTA Film Awards Nominations

Morning all!

In recent years, the British Academy have started taking a cue from their American counterpart by announcing the nominations for their annual film awards at an early morning press conference (although, thankfully, not as early as 5:30am). But it was at the slightly more respectable time of 07:30 this morning (9th January) that Will Poulter and Hayley Squires announced this year's BAFTA Film Award nominees.

Here's a selection of the nominees:

BEST FILM

BlackKkKlansman

The Favourite

Green Book

Roma

A Star Is Born

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

Beast

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

McQueen

Stan & Ollie

You Were Never Really Here

LEADING ACTOR

Christian Bale (Vice)

Steve Coogan (Stan & Ollie)

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)

LEADING ACTRESS

Glenn Close (The Wife)

Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Viola Davis (Widows)

Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)

Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Timothee Chalamet (Beautiful Boy)

Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)

Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Sam Rockwell (Vice)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams (Vice)

Claire Foy (First Man)

Margot Robbie (Mary Queen Of Scots)

Emma Stone (The Favourite)

Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

DIRECTOR

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)

Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)

Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

The Favourite is indeed the favourite with a staggering 12 nominations, with Bohemian Rhapsody, First Man, Roma, and A Star Is Born with seven apiece. Interestingly, of Roma's seven nods, Alfonso Cuaron is nominated for six of them! (Must be some kind of record, surely?). Mind you, of A Star Is Born's seven, Bradley Cooper has five. 

Pretty much the same names that you've come to expect throughout the season- although Steve Coogan's nod was a nice touch, and it was interesting to see the director choices (this is Pawlikowski's first nomination in this awards season). This is also Viola Davis' first nomination this season. Widows as a whole seems to have been overlooked somewhat. That said, it's been a strong year for film, so not everything is going to get the recognition it perhaps should.  

This year's EE Rising Star nominees are Jessie Buckley, Cynthia Erivo, Barry Keoghan, Lakeith Stanfield, and Letitia Wright. This award is voted on by the general public and you can vote for your favourite here.

The BAFTA Film Awards will be handed out on Sunday 10th February with the utterly radiant and sublime Joanna Lumley hosting for a second year.

Congratulations to all nominees!

Next up is the Critics' Choice Awards on Sunday 13th January, so there'll be a post about that on Monday (14th January)

Awards Season 2018: Writers' Guild Awards (WGA) and Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) Nominations

A double dose of awards news today, with the recent announcement of two Guild Awards nominations, so let's dive straight in.

WRITERS' GUILD OF AMERICA (WGA) AWARDS NOMINATIONS

This year's nominees for the WGA Awards were announced yesterday (7th January). Here they are:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Eighth Grade

Green Book

A Quiet Place

Roma

Vice

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BlacKkKlansman

Black Panther

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

If Beale Street Could Talk

A Star Is Born

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Bathtubs Over Broadway

Fahrenheit 11/9

Generation Wealth

In Search Of Greatness

With the Documentary category, the WGA have opted to highlight documentaries that haven't so far had much (if any coverage). In fact, I've only heard of one of them, which is Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 11/9. But, as has been stated before, the WGA's eligibility rules for what can be nominated are incredibly stringent (much more so than the Academy's) which has meant that several films which might expect a Screenplay nod aren't eligible (such as The Favourite, Isle Of Dogs, and Incredibles 2). It's entirely possible that the Academy will go their own way with the Screenplay nominations, although I'd expect to see Green Book, Roma, Vice, If Beale Street Could Talk, and A Star Is Born get Oscar nods. 

-------------

DIRECTORS' GUILD OF AMERICA (DGA) AWARDS NOMINATIONS

The nominees for this year's Directors' Guild Awards were announced today (8th January). Here are the nominees in the Feature Film category:

Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)

Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Peter Farrelly (Green Book)

Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)

Adam McKay (Vice)

No 'surprises' here as all five directors have had multiple nods throughout the season to date. I'm sure fans of The Favourite may consider Yorgos Lanthimos' exclusion a 'snub' but, you never know, the Academy may see things differently. We'll find out in two weeks' time. Bradley Cooper also received a nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director. 

So that's the major guilds news up to date. It might be an early morning for me tomorrow (9th January), as the BAFTA Film Awards nominations are being announced at 7:30am by Will Poulter (The Revenant) and Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake). There'll be a post discussing the nominations at some point tomorrow: might be summat to read over breakfast, might be one for your dinner/tea/supper. I like to keep you on your toes. 

Awards Season 2014: DGA and WGA Awards

We are over halfway through the awards season this year- four major ceremonies still to take place (BAFTA Film Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, the Razzies, and the Academy Awards)- but there have recently been more Guild awards handed out. 

DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS (DGA)

The DGAs were handed out on 25th January. The film winners are:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Jehane Noujaim (The Square)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television: Steven Soderbergh (Behind The Candelabra)

With the DGA win, it would be a big surprise if anyone other than Cuaron gets named Best Director at the Oscars. He's consistently won the Director prizes throughout the awards season and, for the technical achievements in the film, he would be a worthy winner.

The Square is nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars so this bodes well for a win there.

WRITERS GUILD AWARDS (WGA)

The WGA were given out yesterday (1st February). The film winners are:

Original Screenplay: Her

Adapted Screenplay: Captain Phillips

Documentary Screenplay: Stories We Tell

Both Her and Captain Phillips are nominated in their respective categories for the Oscars but there are strong alternatives in both categories (American Hustle, Blue Jasmine, Dallas Buyers Club and Nebraska in Original Screenplay and Before Midnight, 12 Years A Slave, The Wolf Of Wall Street and Philomena in Adapted Screenplay). However, this does give them both a boost.

There is no category for Documentary screenwriting in the Oscars, but Stories We Tell was not nominated for Best Documentary Feature (neither was We Steal Secrets: The Story Of WikiLeaks, which won the Producers Guild Award). Just goes to show that documentary film-making is a broad and vibrant field, which is a good thing.

The next major awards to be handed out are the BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday February 10th.

PS. I sadly missed it on Wednesday 29th January, but just a quick note to say Happy 2nd Birthday to The Watchers Film Show Blog! 

We've had over 26,000 pageviews in the two years we've been going, with an audience that spans the globe- from Russia to Brazil, China to Australia- so a great big thank you to everyone who reads and watches our reviews and features!

Review: Gravity (UK Cert 12A)

Finally, there's a film that's actually worth seeing on the biggest screen you can find. Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity.

There's been a lot of debate about whether this film counts as sci-fi or not. To me, it's not sci-fi exactly. We're not dealing with alien worlds or Death Stars here- we are rooted in a world of science fact. The ISS, Hubble and space exploration are all real. But this isn't a documentary: the story is fictional and, no doubt, some of the effects have been heightened to increase the drama and the tension of the situation. So I'm going to back away from calling this a sci-fi movie and instead call it a psychological drama with thriller elements that's set in space.

Plot-wise, it's quite straightforward- Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are two members of a team of astronauts that are servicing the Hubble space telescope. It's Stone's first trip and Kowalski's last. However, disaster strikes when debris from a defunct Russian satellite damages their craft, leaving them stranded in the vast darkness of space.

Visually this film is absolutely stunning and at times utterly breath-taking. The first twelve minutes is an unbroken shot, focusing on Earth and the vastness of space and then introducing the Explorer and its crew. The scenes of destruction and the impression given of zero gravity, with things like tears and sparks floating, just look amazing. Cuaron, cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and visual effects supervisor Tim Webber pull out all the stops to make this film look sublime.

Sandra Bullock's performance is sterling for the most part, with a few shaky script choices responsible for her dips away from greatness. Misfortune piles on misfortune for Stone and I found myself hoping she would catch a break at some point. She carries the film emotionally, mentally and physically and its a bravura turn from her (for the most part). Clooney kind of phones it in- playing a suave, charismatic raconteur is hardly a stretch- but it's fun and there's a particularly poignant scene between Clooney and Bullock about half an hour in that will bring a lump to the throat.

That's not to say that the film is perfect: some of the character points are a bit cliched, there's an ill-advised hallucination scene, plus some maudlin stuff about Stone's daughter which shone through as blatant emotional manipulation. There's also one particularly bizarre scene involving barking like a dog which really brought me out of the palpably tense mood created up to that point. I also wasn't particularly sold on one particular aspect of the ending but think I may have missed something in the lead-up to it which would explain Stone's actions, so it seems disingenuous to mark it down just on that.

There's a lot to like about this film and I admire the ambition and the end result. There are just a few niggles that stop this being truly great for me, and that's a shame. But if you are going to watch this, do try and see this on a cinema screen- you will appreciate the visual spectacle all the more.

Review: 4 out of 5

Tez