WGA Winners: CODA, Don't Look Up, Succession, Hacks...

by Nathaniel R

The Writers Guild of America has revealed their winners for the 2021 film and television year and it's good news for Adapted CODA and Original Don't Look Up as they head towards Oscar night a week from now. But their competitive pool is different at the Oscars of course since different things are eligible at the WGA each year. Complete list of winners and a few comments after the jump...

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Oscar Volley: Split predictions in Adapted and Original Screenplay!

Team Experience is discussing the various Oscar categories. Here's Matt St. Clair, Christopher James, Lynn Lee and Josh Bierman discussing the screenplays.

MATT ST. CLAIR: Hello all. So, in Best Adapted Screenplay, I think that it remains Jane Campion's to lose but Maggie Gyllenhaal could be The Lost Daughter's sole win here instead, given the clear passion it has. What do you guys think?

CHRISTOPHER JAMES: Thanks for kicking us off, Matt! As in Best Picture, The Power of the Dog is the one to beat. I still think it will ultimately be the big winner of the night, but it is vulnerable...

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Which movies will squeeze into the last two slots of the Best Picture lineup?

by Nathaniel R

Time for Oscar chart updates. And, the way we see it there are two relatively "open" slots in Best Picture with five films either showing some form of strength at the moment or feeling like they might happen. But which will prevail?

PICTURE
If we were still in a sliding scale Best Picture situation as we were at this time last year we'd only be predicting 8 films for the top honor, and in this order: All locked up -- The Power of the Dog, West Side Story, Belfast, King Richard, Dune, Don't Look Up; The Probablies - CODA and Licorice Pizza. But the Academy has ruled that we're back to a full top ten list like we had (briefly) in 2009 and 2010. So there are two spots open...

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USC Scripter Awards honor "Dopesick", Dune", "Passing" and more...

by Nathaniel R

The USC Scripter Awards are an annual event that is a gala fundraiser for the USC Libraries. The nominations are chosen by committee. They specifically honor the adaptations of printed works as well as the original authors. As such it's usually novels and plays that are honored. We're thrilled that Rebecca Hall's smart adaptation of Passing finally got some love. We don't know if West Side Story was ineligible but given that it's primarily canon due to its incredible musical score, it might not have felt literary enough in its original form to qualify? The nominations for film and television are after the jump...

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FYC: "Drive My Car" for Best Adapted Screenplay

by Cláudio Alves

Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car, now in select theaters, is one of 2021's best films. Still, the Japanese Oscar submission is unlikely to feature much in the awards season beyond the International Film category. Or, at least, it seemed that would be the case. In a surprising turn of events, considering its fellow victors, Drive My Car won the New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Film. Whether this victory signals a shift in its fortunes is unclear. Though, if there was any justice in the world, Drive My Car would be one of the season's biggest contenders.

At the very least, it deserves strong consideration for its screenplay, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's homonymous short story. From little more than 20 pages, Hamaguchi unspooled a majestic three-hour epic…

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