WGA Nominations: Logan, Lady Bird, Mudbound, etc...
Thursday, January 4, 2018 at 2:00PM by Nathaniel R
The WGA nominations are out as as always they must be taken both seriously and not at all when considering Oscar predictions. Due to the WGA's very strict rules they often deem films ineligible that Oscar has no such aversion to (for instance, the WGA never honors animated films... not that any of them are really in the Oscar running this year).
This year's nominees with commentary are after the jump...
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- The Big Sick Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
- Get Out Written by Jordan Peele
- I, Tonya Written by Steven Rogers
- Lady Bird Written by Greta Gerwig
- The Shape of Water Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor; Story by Guillermo del Toro
Darkest Hour and Three Billboards , which have to be considered major contenders, were not eligible for this prize. Coco wasn't either but all three will be eligible for Oscar considersation. And the WGA nominations rarely transfer 5/5. Three Billboards is very obviously getting nominated so one of these (at least) will have to go. Newspaper drama The Post was WGA eligible and we assume Phantom Thread was too since P.T. Anderson is a regular nominee at the WGA event but they just didn't vote for them in sufficient numbers.
Before dumping the Spielberg freedom of the press true story from your predictions please know that something does have to give considering that the Original Screenplay competition still has way more than 5 films in it that are still going strong in awards season. But which film(s) must sit on the sidelines after January 23rd will be a nailbiter down to the moment the nominees are announced. Again, the WGA roster never just transfers over intact (the rules are different and so is the voting body) even though all five of these WGA nominated originals look like strong contenders.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- Call Me by Your Name Screenplay by James Ivory; Based on the Novel by André Aciman
- The Disaster Artist Screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber; Based on the Book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside the Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell
- Logan Screenplay by Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green; Story by James Mangold; Based on Characters from the X-Men Comic Books and Theatrical Motion Pictures
- Molly’s Game Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin; Based on the Book by Molly Bloom
- Mudbound Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees; Based on the Novel by Hillary Jordan
Victoria & Abdul was not eligible for this prize but will be for the corresponding category at the Oscars. We might also see Wonder pop up at the Oscars since that film was such a huge hit and one or more of these might not be as strong as they look. Logan is the big surprise in this mix but kind of a welcome one since the film really was trying in the writing department and is very much "adapted" in the way it's building off or and riffing on so much of what's come before it with this character.
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
- Betting on Zero Written by Theodore Braun
- Jane Written by Brett Morgen
- No Stone Unturned Written by Alex Gibney
- Oklahoma City Written by Barak Goodman
Curiously Jane is the only one of these films that made the finalist list for the Oscar competition (another reason to assume it's our frontrunner). Betting on Zero was not even on Oscar's longlist of 170 titles.
What do you make of the Writers Guild nominations this year? Which films do you think are NOT safe for an Oscar nomination on January 23rd?
Reader Comments (29)
I remain convinced Sorkin may be in for yet another Oscar snub, ala STEVE JOBS/THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT. Wouldn't surprise me in the least if VICTORIA AND ABDUL makes a showing.
i was expecting Wonder woman as the superhero movie being recognized here. I guess I, Tonya and The Big sick will be replaced by Three billboards and The Post in the Oscar lineup
Whoever gets the final Original Screenplay Oscar nominees 5/5 deserves an award. That category is crazy hard to predict.
The Shape of Water
The Big Sick
The Post
Lady Bird
Get Out
I, Tonya
Phantom Thread
Darkest Hour
Honestly, who knows. I want to predict all of them.
Not surprised about The Post snub. There isn't much "there" there, in terms of story or dialogue.
The actors fill the voids well. But the voids in that movie are cavernous. A movie like that should place *some* intellectual demands on the viewer and I felt completely unchallenged and unenlightened by the whole two hours. And I'm not sure what could reflect on a historical drama worse.
I have the sense Big Sick and I, Tonya will be dropped come Oscar nom morning for Three Billboards and The Post.
I, Tonya script it's better than the film, whose mockumentary style I despise as old, cliched and Big Short-like irritating. Which leads me to think it will be nominated. And (Heaven Help Me!) at the most shocking snub of that evening: Three Billboards. I will keep trolling that piece of crap until it happens! At kleast, Tonya doesn't take itself TOO seroiusly like Billboards. Every time Woody Harrelson lectures from the graveyard it's screenplay so elementary it's embarrasingly coy.
PTA snubbed again. What a surprise!
Ivory and Peele or Gerwig for the win!
Original Screenplay at the Oscars typically skews more esoteric - see "The Lobster" and "20th Century Women" last year. Maybe "A Quiet Passion", the year's most eloquently literate script, gets in? "The Square" perhaps? Maybe it will be "Phantom Thread" after all.
Jonathan
If Terence Davies gets an Oscar nomination, we all gays will have to unite and pilgrimage barefoot to the altar of Good Taste. Not happening. Hollywood at large may be liberal, but they are like Neanderthal Liberal. They like Three Billboards!
OT:
The British Academy has announced the Bafta nominees for Rising Star (the winner will be chosen by public vote)
_The Nominees are:
Timothee Chalamet
Daniel Kaluuya
Josh O’Connor
Florence Pugh
Tessa Thompson
http://ee.co.uk/why-ee/ee-baftas
Mark Harris, one of the cleverest men out ther in twitter. Follow his thread:
"Re I, Tonya and Three Billboards: Many people, including those who proudly count themselves as Trump haters, are nonetheless very entertained by white anger, and willing to not look too closely at it."
He's my man. Preach it.
Three Billboard is this year's Hacksaw Ridge. I Tonya, not far behind.
Entertained by white anger? That is a very glib and frankly tasteless post. "Three Billboards" and "I, Tonya" definitely give voice to white disenfranchisement and poverty, and there is nothing wrong with that. Many groups in this country are marginalized. Both films, especially the latter, are quite attuned to the anger and frustration many in the country are feeling, and they are legitimate feelings worth exploring.
Btw Aaron, The Florida Project is also possible...
Why was Victoria ans Abdul disqualified?
Aaron: You didn't list Three Billbosards either! The task is even harder than you thought. (Sorry!...)
Correction: I guess you didn't list Three Billbosards because no such film exists! Three BILLBOARDS, on the other hand...
I'd say:
Original:
1. Three Billboards
2. Get Out
3. Lady Bird
4. The Big Sick
5. The Shape of Water
6. The Post
7. I, Tonya
8. The Florida Project
9. Darkest Hour
10. Phantom Thread
Adapted:
1. Call Me By Your Name
2. Mudbound
3. Molly's Game
4. The Disaster Artist
5. Logan
6. Wonder Woman
7. Wonder
8. Victoria & Abdul
Jonathan
they are legitimate feelings worth exploring.. YES. But not at the expense of what such anger provokes collaterally. Much less as a punchbag of cheap jokes!!
I really hope LOGAN can happen with the Academy. I wish it were at the expense of something as terribly written as MOLLY'S GAME, but that category is so bereft this year that seems unlikely.
Jonathan -- OOh, The Square. I could totally see that happening in a less competitive year or if the movie had been pushed harder.
I don’t want to jinx it, but I’m irrationally happy that Adapted Screenplay has only one strong contender, my favorite movie of the year, as written by a director (Ivory) who has at least two films (Howards End, Room with a View) among my favorites in their respective years.
As for Original Screenplay, I wish people would take the writing of “Lady Bird” and Greta Gerwig herself more seriously. It’s a witty screenplay with a well-modulated woman’s perspective, vivid and youthful and wise, with superb male characters to boot. After what happened in Hollywood last year, shouldn’t there be a “deserving woman” narrative to hang an Oscar campaign on? If so, Gerwig is the best bet because she’s actually deserving.
Why is no one considering Dunkirk for Original Screenplay?
It's fun that my wish list is closer to the consensus this year. I'd be happy to see:
ORIGINAL:
Get Out
Ladybird
The Shape of Water
The Florida Project
A Fantastic Woman
ADAPTED:
Call Me By Your Name
Their Finest
Blade Runner 2049
Mudbound
Logan
Craver: Because literally EVERY dialogue moment in Dunkirk is pure narrative function, not emotive or character or flavour?
Volvagia: But screenplays aren't just dialogue. They are also structure, character arcs, and so on. Dunkirk does have a vivid use of structure and several well-drawn character arcs that contribute to the overall effect.
The one I'm really sad about, actually, is FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER in adapted. It fits so easily into that category given how thin it is and also how effective it is. Plus, it's Angelina bloody Jolie! They should want her there.
"Re I, Tonya and Three Billboards: Many people, including those who proudly count themselves as Trump haters, are nonetheless very entertained by white anger, and willing to not look too closely at it."
I can't speak to I, Tonya as I haven't seen it yet, but I don't think 3 Billboards neatly fits into this "white anger/ Trump voter" narrative that Mark Harris is proposing. Ultimately I think the film is about the rage of a mother fighting against a system that devalues the lives of young girls, which is why the film has struck a chord with so many people.
I do think it's pretty shocking that The Post didn't make it here, and think they've got to be concerned in Spielbergland. Will people just take it for granted as something that others will vote for?
Aaron, thank you. Three Billboards has been unfairly maligned. It has a lot to say that's valid.
I hope I, Tonya doesn't make the cut, as its screenplay is its biggest weakness. It lays the foundation for the film's biggest fault, which is turning abuse into a punchline and then scolding you for laughing.