The Writers Guild of America have made public their choices for the best film scripts of '06.
Variety's Dave McNary writes:
Opting solely for first-time nominees, the Writers Guild of America has tapped "Babel," "Little Miss Sunshine," "The Queen," "Stranger Than Fiction" and "United 93" for its original screenplay award and "Borat," "The Departed," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Little Children" and "Thank You for Smoking" for the adapted award.
WGA noms, announced Thursday, showed a strong preference for comedies. Laffers rep half the selected films, including all but one in the adapted category.
"Little Miss Sunshine" scribe Michael Arndt said he was delighted at the presence of laffers in the WGA results. "Even though there's a belief that dramas portray the world more accurately, I think that comedies actually often present a truer picture of reality," he told Daily Variety.
The credited writers in the orginal category are Guillermo Arriaga (Par Vantage's "Babel"); Arndt (Fox Searchlight's "Little Miss Sunshine"); Peter Morgan (Miramax's "The Queen"); Zach Helm (Sony's "Stranger Than Fiction"); and Paul Greengrass (Universal's "United 93").
In the adapted category, the scribes are Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer (20th Century Fox's "Borat"); William Monahan (WB's "The Departed"); Aline Brosh McKenna (Fox's "The Devil Wears Prada"); Todd Field and Tom Perrotta (New Line's "Little Children"); and Jason Reitman (Searchlight's "Thank You for Smoking").
Winners will be announced Feb. 11 in simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. The nominations were based on voting by the guild's 13,000 members from films released in 2006 and produced under WGA jurisdiction, with 147 eligible in original screenplay and 105 in adapted.
Guild voters passed over several well-known contenders, including Eric Roth for "The Good Shepherd" in the original category and Bill Condon for "Dreamgirls" and Paul Haggis for "Flags of Our Fathers" in the adapted category. Other notable omissions included "World Trade Center" in the original category and "Children of Men," "Letters From Iwo Jima" and "Notes on a Scandal" in the adapted category...
Article Continues complete with the full list of nominees
Meanwhile, our friends across the pond, at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts have also chosen the contenders for the best cinema of the past year as well...
Variety's Adam Dawtrey reports:
"The Queen" leads the nominations for this year's British Academy Film Awards, but that's the most predictable aspect of a list that honors an unexpectedly rich and varied blend of British, American and international talent.
"The Queen," with 10 nods, is competing for best film against "Babel" (seven), "The Departed" (six), "Little Miss Sunshine" (six) and "The Last King of Scotland" (five).
Other heavily nominated pics include "Casino Royale" (nine), "Pan's Labyrinth" (eight) and "United 93" (six). "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" received five apiece.
An eclectic best actor race pitches Daniel Craig's impersonation of James Bond in "Casino Royale" against Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland," Leonardo DiCaprio's undercover cop in "The Departed," Richard Griffiths as a schoolmaster in "The History Boys" and Peter O'Toole's decrepit actor in "Venus."
The best actress list has a more predictable air, with hometown favorites Helen Mirren ("The Queen"), Judi Dench ("Notes on a Scandal") and Kate Winslet ("Little Children") running against Penelope Cruz ("Volver") and Meryl Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada").
The Alexander Korda Award for best British film is a contest between "Casino Royale," "The Queen," "Notes on a Scandal," "The Last King of Scotland" and "United 93."
Paul Greengrass, director of "United 93," is also in the running for the David Lean Award for achievement in direction, against Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu ("Babel"), Martin Scorsese ("The Departed"), Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Little Miss Sunshine") and Stephen Frears ("The Queen")...
This year's awards will be held on Feb. 11 at the Royal Opera House in London.
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