Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
This category has had a murky history. There used to be one award for writing, without further qualification. Some years it was an original work. Others, adaptation from a book or play. In 1956, they finally settled on one for each. But the 1957 winner epitomizes our theme this year: Michael Wilson, Carl Foreman, and Pierre Boulle won for Bridge on the River Kwai, a movie that depicts POW British soldiers building a bridge (wanna guess what it was over?) to help the Japanese military in WW II. Oh, and the writers? Wilson and Foreman were on the blacklist, so they weren't even able to receive their hardware until 1984 (you can't write this sh....well, maybe these people can. D'aoh!)
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James Mangold and Jay Cocks (easy, Roman), A Complete Unknown
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Writing is hard, but the well-documented life of the recluse/self-promoting Bob Dylan is out there. Take a moment to reflect on that paradox -- Dylan can't stand people, yet he finds ways to get his story out there more than anyone. The man is a floor wax and a dessert topping.
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Peter Straughan, Conclave
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I heard people in the theater asking how they knew what went on, if it was really only Cardinals in there. Well, Robert Harris wrote the book (you feel my adaptation?) after interviewing Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who retired in 2009. I have a feeling Murphy-O'Connor sleeps with the loaves and the fishes.
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Jacques Audiard, Emilia Perez
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Mssr. Audiard has been criticized for not knowing trans people, Mexicans, drug dealers. Sorry, appropriation police -- like acting, writing is a creative act. This was a good screenplay.
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RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes, Nickel Boys
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Tough story, but one that needed telling. I will definitely add Colson Whitehead's novel of the same name to my reading list -- as a form of self-flagellation.
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Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John "Divine G" Whitfield, Sing Sing
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Another prison movie that was under-appreciated this year (Daughters should definitely have gotten a nom for Best Documentary -- and not just because I watched this before the nominations were announced. And I'm supposed to be so smart, at least according to my mother). This is an uplifting story (from prison!) and I hope it grabs a statue -- sorry, is given a statue.
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Writing (Original Screenplay)
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Sean Baker, Anora
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Sean is a Jersey Boy, so I'm already rooting. He was born in Summit and grew up in Millburn. But then I read that he went to the haughty Gil St. Bernard school, and that silver spoon tarnishes in his mouth. Jealousy aside, it's a great screenplay, with unexpected twists and no obvious conventions (the spoiled brat billionaire's son does not have a heart of gold, if he even has a functioning heart). The story got high marks from the sex worker community. Yes, it's the second time I've mentioned that particular recognition. I am curious how that research was done.
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Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist
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A brilliant movie, but in the 3-and-a-half long hours, there was a lot of film, and slow-mo images and no dialogue. A good story, but a bloated film.
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Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
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This is a dialogue movie. And it was crisp, funny, touching. That's enough for me to know the writing made it. Give the guy who, unfortunately, looks way too much like tech douche Zuckerberg, a statue.
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Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David, September 5
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This movie is getting overlooked, only because it's been filmed several times before. But this is from the perspective of the unwitting sports journalists who found themselves in the midst of one of the most heinous and witnessed terrorist events of the 20th century. Well done!
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Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
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This movie will be remembered for acting, makeup and SFX. But the story-telling was true and I appreciate Coralie's work here.
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Back to the Future
