The Film Experience

The Oscar Volleys continue. Today, EUROCHEESE and ABE FRIEDTANZER discuss the Oscar race for Best Adapted Screenplay

Why can't Park Chan Wook get any Oscar love?EUROCHEESE: Excited to chat with you again Abe, though I must admit, this doesn't feel like the most suspenseful category. There's a clear frontrunner, one arguable spoiler and then a few also-rans. It's too bad we get a snoozy 5/5 match with Best Picture when there were so many exciting options. I know you weren't as big a fan of this film, but I really wish we could have made room for No Other Choice here - Park Chan-wook can't seem to get Oscar love in any form. I've seen ads for Pillion leading up to its wide release - what a fresh, provocative script, which received far more love than I expected through the awards season. I was also surprised how charming I found Nouvelle Vague - if only Oscar voters loved it as much as the Globes! I could name several more, but don't want to steal your thunder - any outstanding "wish you were here" honors you'd like to bestow?

ABE: It's true this is a done deal and one of the categories I would be most surprised to see a different winner than the juggernaut we're all expecting. Pillion is a great call that maybe wasn't ever going to click with mainstream American audiences, but I loved it! I did like No Other Choice even if it wouldn't have made my list here, and it's a shame that it was the only NEON international title not to make the International Feature cut...

If you ask me, however, I wish NEON had invested much more in another one of its films, The Life of Chuck. It's also not the only Stephen King adaptation I would have included here, since The Long Walk benefits not only from an excellent ensemble but also from a formidable script. Focus did well with three of its films across the board but couldn't find any love for The Ballad of Wallis Island, which would have made for a spectacular nominee.

Bugonia and its source material Save the Green Planet (2003)

Moving on to the films that *did* get nominated, one consideration here is the source material. I'll admit that I haven't seen the original film on which Bugonia is based and I haven't read any of the four books that serve as inspiration for the other titles. That said, I've seen other Frankenstein stories, and I like that this one takes an approach that feels both traditional and creative at the same time, even if I wouldn't have isolated the screenplay for a nomination from among the many impressive achievements of that film. I can appreciate how Hamnet feels very Shakespearean while being a film about the author, and the sparing nature of the Train Dreams script is undoubtedly an asset. I'm fine with a victory for One Battle After Another, however, since the dialogue is indeed witty and inventive and there's so much rich storytelling going on within this spiraling rollercoaster of a film. What do you make of the nominees?

EUROCHEESE: Even as someone who really enjoyed Frankenstein, the script feels like an odd place to reward it. The techs and Elordi's performance stood out, but there are scenes that went on too long, especially for such a long movie. I felt similarly about Train Dreams - gorgeous to look at and the acting was solid, but I can't say the dialogue stood out to me. In either of those cases, if someone walking out of the theater with me praised the script before anything else, I would be surprised.

As someone who is not drawn to films tied to Shakespeare, and was not excited to watch Hamnet given the subject matter, I was impressed by how much it won me over. It would not have landed as well without stellar acting, but the story has a strong emotional bent without tipping into pure melodrama; it feels like we are watching the genuine struggle that would come from a tragedy. This script does feel like a traditional winner for the category, and if Hamnet was closer in the Best Picture race (or even if it was up against Sinners instead of One Battle), this would be more of a contest. These nominations are a victory lap for Chloe Zhao - after Nomadland's triumph during COVID, too many were dismissive of her talents, and this film showcases her ability to expand on her sensory, intuitive work.

Bugonia did much better than I expected throughout the season, and I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on that nomination. It's not surprising that Will Tracy, who also wrote The Menu (which had similar vibes, and I actually preferred) and Eddington (haven't seen it so going off reputation), scored a nomination for such an odd script. The acting was fantastic and I could see why Yorgos was drawn to this material, but in another decade or so this nomination will feel puzzling.

ABE: Bugonia is interesting for me since my first association is Yorgos Lanthimos, who didn't write it (he also didn't write Poor Things and The Favourite, two of my favorites of his alongside The Lobster and Dogtooth). But Tracy is the better comparison. I enjoyed The Menu quite a bit even though it's not really my typical genre, and I'm still a little mixed on Eddington, which he produced and which I watched very late in the game as a possible Oscar contender shortly before nominations were announced. Though I find plenty about Bugonia strange and off-putting (as is often the nature for Lanthimos projects), the dialogue itself is quite sharp and memorable, especially as delivered by the two leads. I would actually say that I like the script more than the plot, if that makes sense. There are rewarding and enlightening exchanges throughout a whole that feels less satisfying overall, and therefore the mention for Tracy here is more deserved than I initially thought.

The entire awards season run for Bugonia has been a bit perplexing since it's always been under-the-radar and never materialized all that much, but Plemons still got a SAG nomination and some people were even predicting Lanthimos for a Best Director bid (not that far off given that BAFTA nominated him). Frankenstein's place here is its reward, and I see Train Dreams as a very low-key contender that, recent Spirit Awards performance aside, isn't going to make a big mark beyond its nominations haul.

That brings us to Hamnet, which you said feels like a traditional winner in this category. To me, it pulling off a Best Picture win seems more feasible than a victory here, because popular appeal for the film could put it over the top there whereas this category feels more cut-and-dry. One Battle After Another is *the* film of awards season, even if Sinners, competing in the Original Screenplay race, got more nominations overall. That Paul Thomas Anderson has yet to win an Oscar is wild, especially since almost half of his eleven previous nominations come from screenwriting. It's his third adapted screenplay bid after There Will Be Blood (which lost to No Country for Old Men) and Inherent Vice (which lost to The Imitation Game). There's so much going on in this film and it's a rich, fascinating adaptation. There is a scenario where Sinners surges enough to take both Best Picture and Best Director and this is the only prize that One Battle After Another wins.

What do you think? And which would be your pick of these five?

EUROCHEESE: The same answer most voters would give, I expect - I'd consider a vote for Hamnet for half a second before giving it to One Battle After Another. While Anderson has proven himself to be such a brilliant director over the years, this might be my favorite script ever from him. So many surprising moments, thrown into the middle of a plotline from the jump and then so many clever side storylines: a burnt out protagonist who is hardly keeping it together (maybe Anderson's funniest character?), Lockjaw's overall cartoonish strangeness, Sensei's fascinating underground network, Perfidia Beverly Hills (best character name in years) hovering over the fate her initial domino seemed to create for everyone... For such a long film, the time flew by and I wouldn't cut anything. I'm back and forth on whether I consider this Anderson's best film or not (There Will Be Blood remains an all time favorite), but if we're talking script alone, no notes. Usually I find pockets of brilliance in PTA films, but here it was consistent.

It is wild that Anderson now has 14 (!) personal nominations, and I have every confidence that this win will put that to an end. Excited to see him try to top this one in the coming years.

ABE: I would personally choose Magnolia as PTA's best, though I also enjoyed Licorice Pizza quite a bit. Going into this, I would probably have gone with Hamnet as my pick, but I think I've moved over to One Battle After Another in the end. As you said at the start, this is far from the most suspenseful category, and I think we'd all be shocked to hear anyone other than PTA announced as the winner.

Congratulations to him in advance! Thanks for a great conversation.

Previous Oscar Volleys:

Nathaniel's Ballot in this category