Writer Guild Nominations Announced: Ineligible Films Help to Provide some Surprises

The Writers Guild Award (WGA) nominations were announced today.  One of the important thing to acknowledge is that there was a large list of films that were intelligible: The Artist, Shame, Martha Macy, Albert Nobbs, Drive, Margin Call, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Iron Lady and My Week with Marilyn.  WGA does not always state the specific reason, but sometimes it's because the writer is not a part of the guild or according to thewrap.com "scripts written for productions that are signatories to the guild's Minimum Basic Agreement" which means the films did not follow the guidelines of the WGA.  This does not make predicting the Academy Awards any easier, but it does tell us who is continually out front, and who is trailing.

Bridesmaids surges ahead once again.  This film has a PGA and WGA nomination, that's pretty major.  Bridesmaids director Greg Daniels will not score a DGA nomination, but I think (like I have stated for a while) that this film has a great chance at a Best Picture nomination.    

The other films that are locks for Best Picture at this point are: The Descendants, The Help, Hugo, and Moneyball.   I think all of these films will earn screenplay nominations like today, The Help and Hugo are more up in the air, but I think they will be nominated.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been building a lot of support.  This film could be replace by any of the adapted screenplays listed above. Steven Zaillian is also a well respected screenwriter and this could be a rubber stamp in this category come Oscar time.

The original screenplay category is always interesting here because the original films tend to not follow the WGA rules most. The Artist will replace one of these films, and I have a strong suspicion The Tree of Life will end up here as well.  I think Young Adult and Win Win are the most vulnerable (unfortunately).

Today goldderby.com had an article about the potential for Midnight in Paris winning Best Picture. Not only does Midnight in Paris look like a lock to win the WGA, but I think it will easily win the Original Screenplay award at the Oscars.  The Best Picture race is cloudy, and there is no foreseeable front runner, this movie is easily one of the best written, and most like able films of the year.  This tale of nostalgia is brilliant and will be one film I am rooting for!

Here are the WGA nominees:

Original Screenplay

50/50, Written by Will Reiser; Summit Entertainment
Bridesmaids, Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig; Universal Studios
Midnight in Paris, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics
Win Win, Screenplay by Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni; Fox Searchlight
Young Adult, Written by Diablo Cody; Paramount Pictures

Adapted Screenplay

The Descendants, Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemming; Fox Searchlight
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian; Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson, originally published by Norstedts; Columbia Pictures
The Help, Screenplay by Tate Taylor; Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett; DreamWorks Pictures
Hugo, Screenplay by John Logan; Based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick; Paramount Pictures
Moneyball, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin; Based on the book by Michael Lewis; Columbia Pictures