Read about my favourite Original Screenplays after the cut.
Amour
by Michael Haneke:
Brevity
and minimalism is the key to Haneke's meditative screenplay. Using
efficient vignettes to evoke the gradual decline of Anne's condition
keeps the film's stillness from boring the viewer, building his story
with soft-spoken tact.
Looper
by Rian Johnson:
This
genre-bending film constantly keeps you guessing in terms of the
direction it may go, largely in part to Johnson's innovative
screenplay, which elegantly (but also not so elegantly) avoids the
paradox of time-travel.
Moonrise
Kingdom by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola:
As
precious as the story is, Anderson does not shy away from
undercurrents of more severity. But it's clear that he has no
intention of making weighty themes a burden on his charming romance,
writing throughout with his typical brand of exacting humour.
Wreck-It
Ralph by Phil Johnston,
Jennifer Lee, Rich Moore, & Jim Reardon:
Some
childish humour aside, the story has universal appeal because of the
themes it writes to. It's an exemplar of narrative construct, one
that is often hilarious and occasionally quite moving (and wisely
quits while it's ahead on the video game in-jokes).
Zero
Dark Thirty
by Mark Boal:
While some elements are naturally
fictionalized, the vast majority of this propulsive script is a
straight-laced, doggedly researched piece of cine-journalism,
condensing several firsthand accounts into a tightly-wound docudrama.
Just missed: Django Unchained, Flight, The Master, Rust and Bone, War Witch
