'The Artist,' 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,' 'Shame' and 'My Week with Marilyn' among contenders not eligible for WGA
Another year, another wave of films that won't get a boost from the guild
"Martha Marcy May Marlene" is one of the many titles not eligible for the WGA's original screenplay prize.
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A copy of this year's WGA ballot made its way to my inbox today, so naturally the process of sussing out what screenplays did and didn't make the cut was in order. There are 33 adapted screenplays on the ballot and 55 originals.
However, even with considerably more contenders, the original field was gutted the most. Contenders in the thick of the Oscar hunt that aren't on the ballot (due typically to not being in accordance with paperwork guidelines or signatory stipulations) are: "The Artist," "Beginners," "The Iron Lady," "The Lady," "Like Crazy," "Margin Call," "Martha Marcy May Marlene," "Melancholia," "Rango," "Shame" and "Take Shelter." Ouch. What does that even leave? I'll get to that in a moment.
In the adapted field, the notable absences are: "Albert Nobbs," "Carnage," "Drive," "Jane Eyre," "My Week with Marilyn," "Sarah's Key," "The Skin I Live In" and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." There are others, but each of those lists, I think, is being a bit liberal as it is with what's considered in Oscar play this year.
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So, I suppose it's time maybe to make a few predictions. The guild will not announce the nominees until January 5, but let's get it out of the way anyway.
In the adapted category, I would say "The Descendants," "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," "The Help," "Moneyball" and "War Horse" are all formidable. So those are my picks. Outside chances exist for "Hugo" and "The Ides of March," while the gutting could pave the way for entertainment efforts ("The Lincoln Lawyer," "The Muppets") or things landing more in the critical darling framework ("We Need to Talk About Kevin").
I should point out that "The Adventures of Tintin" is on there, the only animated film of the year present on the ballot (simply because typically animation companies are not guild signatories, but "Tintin" is in a different boat).
In the original field, boy, what a waste land. I'll say "50/50," "Bridesmaids," "Midnight in Paris," "Win Win" and "Young Adult," making for a very comedy-heavy slate. "J. Edgar" could still score, and "Contagion" is actually a strong play here. I just wouldn't know which one to toss out.
Indies from "Cedar Rapids" to "Pariah" to "Rampart" to "The Tree of Life" could score, as could summer blockbuster "Super 8" and early fall entry "Warrior." So I guess it's not much of a waste land, really. Just a smattering of possibilities that ought to be thankful for the added exposure.
As mentioned, the WGA announces its nominees on January 5, 2012. The guild's awards show will be held on February 19. Feel free to offer up your own predictions in the comments section below.
For year-round entertainment news and awards season commentary follow @kristapley on Twitter.
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Spearheaded by editor Kristopher Tapley, In Contention represents a collective of awards obsessives who comment and reflect upon, muse about and attempt to decipher the Oscar season on a daily basis throughout the year, and especially during the Oscar crunch of the fall. Regular contributors include Guy Lodge, Roth Cornet and Gerard Kennedy.
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2011-2012 OSCAR NOMINATIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupAndrej
December 2, 2011 at 9:09PM EST Reply to CommentMan. Talk about raining over wet for Martha Marcy May Marlene.
Trex
December 2, 2011 at 9:13PM EST Reply to CommentNo Moneyball for adapted? Why?
Kristopher Tapley Moneyball is on the ballot.
December 2, 2011 at 9:15PM ESTHoustonRufus
December 2, 2011 at 9:15PM EST Reply to CommentWow. That's a lot of good films not eligible. Bummer.
DylanS
December 2, 2011 at 9:26PM EST Reply to CommentAdapted:
"Moneyball"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"
"War Horse"
"We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Original:
"50/50"
"Bridesmaids"
"Shame"
"Midnight in Paris"
"Win, Win"
It's a shame that "Tinker, Tailor" is absent, I'm reading the novel right now, and it's such a dense, complex and lengthy (all in good ways) piece of work, and I just can't imagine how they could adapt it into a normal length feature, but the reviews suggest that Straughan and O'Connor succeeded.
DylanS Wow, I totally missed "Shame" in the headline as ineligible. I'd happily swap it with "Young Adult", which I probably should have given more consideration anyway.
December 2, 2011 at 10:59PM ESTalessandro_zanchin
December 2, 2011 at 9:28PM EST Reply to CommentI bet "Drive" for adapted... if it's eligible.
Kristopher Tapley That's one I forgot to mention. It's not on the ballot.
December 2, 2011 at 10:05PM ESTJP
December 2, 2011 at 9:28PM EST Reply to CommentKris, Have you seen Extremely Loud and Incredibly close or heard anything related to it? It has been on the top of my predictions for months but I'm really not sure if Warner is doing things right in this awards season... Almost no one has watched this and we are in December already.
Kristopher Tapley Next week.
December 2, 2011 at 10:04PM ESTKyle
December 2, 2011 at 9:29PM EST Reply to CommentHey Kris, I'm a little confused. So Shame is or isn't on the WGA ballot? It says it's not eligible in your article's title but in the actual article Shame isn't listed as being excluded from the ballot.
Kristopher Tapley Forgot to list it for some reason in the article, but it is indeed NOT on the ballot.
December 2, 2011 at 10:03PM ESTWill
December 2, 2011 at 9:43PM EST Reply to CommentI would be THRILLED to see Contagion score a nom.
Kyle Agreed, I loved Contagion. That was Soderbergh's best film in years. The way it was shot and edited definitely reminded me of Traffic a lot.
December 2, 2011 at 11:25PM ESTDooby That script was so tight and well-thought out, would be so deserving.
December 3, 2011 at 1:14AM ESTGraysmith
December 2, 2011 at 10:16PM EST Reply to CommentA link to where one can view a list of all the eligible screenplays would be nice, I can't find anything on the WGA site.
Kristopher Tapley It's not available online. I received the ballot from a source.
December 2, 2011 at 11:25PM ESTDylanS If you click on some of the adds you can find links to the scripts.
December 3, 2011 at 11:12AM ESTDavid B.
December 2, 2011 at 10:24PM EST Reply to CommentKris, since I can't seem to remember from years past, any chance you could explain a bit more - or point toward an explanation - about the kinds of "paperwork guidelines or signatory stipulations" that result in so much work being ruled ineligible? Thanks...
I wonder if Warner's push for Harry Potter will pay off here. Steve Kloves is a respected writer who capped off a challenging but generally successful decade-long project this year. Maybe he's got a shot.
Kristopher Tapley Good place to read up:
December 2, 2011 at 11:32PM ESThttp://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=2946
One can become signatory retroactively in some cases, I believe, but sometimes studios don't file that paperwork.
matthias_zucker
December 3, 2011 at 6:24AM EST Reply to CommentWhile I acknowledge that any award-giving body is allowed to have its own rules and that I get why they do this eligibility exclusion thing every year (You want an award? You join the guild!), it's also a crying shame that this process whittles the list of contenders down to so few titles of quality that the nominees are rather obvious.
The good thing, though: This way, some screenplays that otherwise get no attention in the awards circuit (the category "sorry, yours is only the sixth-best script of the year") have a chance of being rewarded.
Jan
December 3, 2011 at 8:13AM EST Reply to CommentIt seems almost certain now that Bridesmaids will become yet another hit comedy that was nominated for the WGA Award but not for the Oscar. Of the $100+ million grossers in the 2000s alone, there have been The Hangover, Burn After Reading, Knocked Up, The Devil Wears Prada, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Mean Girls, Bridget Jones's Diary. Some of them would have been deserving, but I'm still glad the Academy ignored The Hangover even in the weak year (for Oscar-y films) that was 2009.
Joe7827
December 3, 2011 at 9:28AM EST Reply to CommentYou could make a great list from the excluded titles. You could also make a great list from the eligible ones. The nice thing about this is that it gives those really good, eligible movies that otherwise wouldn't register (such as "50/50" and "Contagion") a chance to be in the race.
Liz
December 3, 2011 at 3:02PM EST Reply to Comment"Shame" is an adapted screenplay? I know it's not on the ballot, but Kris has it listed as being missing on the adapted side.
Kristopher Tapley It's original. My fault when re-inserting it.
December 3, 2011 at 3:21PM ESTRG Serna
December 5, 2011 at 2:42PM EST Reply to CommentNo, HArry potter for adapted???
RG Serna
December 5, 2011 at 2:43PM EST Reply to CommentNO, Potter for Adapted?
RG Serna
December 5, 2011 at 2:43PM EST Reply to CommentNO, Potter for adapted screenplay???
Elder
December 5, 2011 at 2:58PM EST Reply to CommentCan someone tell me why Harry Potter never gets a mention in adapted screenplay? Steve Kloves has been nominated for an Oscar before, yes? And those books are quite long.
I'm not saying it deserves one, but I would like to hear from someone more experienced in the awards race than me, as I'm a relative newbie.
Tom C
December 14, 2011 at 7:55PM EST Reply to CommentWhat's really funny about this is that a few weeks later, your guesses for the Original Screenplay category are looking less and less like just WGA contenders but Oscar nominees as well. Obviously "The Artist" will make the Academy's final cut, but with "Bridesmaids," "50/50" and "Win Win" building a lot more steam, the WGA might not be far off from the Oscars, after all.