Writers Guild nominees

The WGA nominees need always be taken with a grain of salt. They're the most exclusively insular of the guilds, only qualifying guild signatories for their awards, so several Oscar-bound screenplays are deemed ineligible every year. So don't take the absence of Django Unchained, Amour, and Beasts of the Southern Wild as particularly bad omens for their chances with the Academy. They weren't in the running with this guild, along with several others.

For the ten screenplays that did make it, it's a solid crop all around.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Flight, Written by John Gatins
Looper, Written by Rian Johnson
The Master, Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
Moonrise Kingdom, Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty, Written by Mark Boal

With Amour and Django being ineligible, I'm thinking two of these will be left out of the Oscar race. I'm really crossing my fingers for Looper to eke it out, because despite a healthy showing of critics prizes so far, it just feels like an Oscar snubee in the making.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Argo, Screenplay by Chris Terrio; Based on a selection from “The Master of Disguise” by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article “The Great Escape” by Joshuah Bearman
Life of Pi, Screenplay by David Magee; Based on the novel by Yann Martel
Lincoln, Screenplay by Tony Kushner; Based in part on the book “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Screenplay by Stephen Chbosky; Based on his book
Silver Linings Playbook, Screenplay by David O. Russell; Based on the novel by Matthew Quick

Strangely enough, these are the same five scripts that were nominated by the BFCA, and actually, the only five adapted scripts to receive any type of critics awards this season. Beasts of the Southern Wild, Les Mis, and The Sessions still have a shot, I feel. Which of these five would get bumped out? Sadly, I fear it may be the wonderful Perks of Being a Wallflower, which skews much younger than the Academy's main demographic. But I'll be whistling Dixie if Chbosky somehow manages to make the cut.

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

The Central Park Five, Written by Sarah Burns and David McMahon and Ken Burns

The Invisible War, Written by Kirby Dick
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Written by Alex Gibney
Searching for Sugar Man, Written by Malik Bendejelloul
We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists, Written by Brian Knappenberger
West of Memphis, Written by Amy Berg & Billy McMillin

The Invisible War, Mea Maxima Culpa, and Searching for Sugar Man are all on the Oscar shortlist, and are all solid bets to be nominated.