One Category at a Time: Original Screenplay

This will probably the second year in a row that the Oscar winner here was not eligible for the WGA. (Silly me. Totally thought Basterds won WGA last year. Doi!)
While last year's showdown between Inglorious Basterds and eventual Oscar winner The Hurt Locker was cause for legitimate indecision before the outcome, this year's perceived showdown between WGA winner Inception and Best Picture juggernaut The King's Speech is probably not much of a fight.

You can't help but be happy for David Seidler. Having long since overcome his own stammer, it's clear his attachment to the story he tells is a passionate and personal one. In spite of what more deserving nominees there are, his is still a droll and sincere script. You can't begrudge him his success.

At least Christopher Nolan can take his WGA victory as consolation. The mind-fucking originality of Inception lingers and improves with age, while also delivering an understated emotional cadence. It's great to see him recognized for this extraordinary filmmaking achievement.

It's highly unfortunate that Mike Leigh and Lisa Cholodenko are going unrewarded. The Kids Are All Right is the finest original screenplay of the year; genuinely emotional and emotionally genuine, tackling the complexity of human relationships with wit and insight. Though much different in tone, the devastating honesty of Another Year leaves an impression no less unshakable.

I could have done without The Fighter in this category, which is gradually becoming my most overrated film of the year, but you knew it would show up here. People like the movie, and I have to hand it to the writers for hammering a relatively messy collection of events into something relatively cohesive.

Will win: The King's Speech
Runner-up: The Kids Are All Right

Should win: The Kids Are All Right
Should have been nominated: Toy Story 3

WGA, ADG, Annie Preview

Having won the USC Scripter prize just last night with Ben Mezrich, Aaron Sorkin is likely to continue The Social Network's screenwriting winning streak with an Adapted Screenplay win at tonight's WGA awards. Any winner other than him would be a total shock.

As for Original Screenplay, intriguing scenario. David Seidler's soon-to-be-Oscar-winning script for The King's Speech is ridiculously ineligible, of course, so who takes it? Could they tip a hat to Christopher Nolan in consolation of his Director snub by the Academy? Could the general affection felt towards The Fighter push its team of writers to a win? Or will this be the one major industry prize Lisa Cholodenko (along with Stuart Blumberg) can lay claim to this season? I'm hoping for and predicting the latter. The Kids Are All Right is just too good a movie for her to go completely unrewarded this year.

Let's not forget two other industry groups announcing their winners tonight; The ADG and the Annie Awards.

I see The King's Speech, Alice in Wonderland, and Black Swan emerging victorious with the art directors, while the animation academy will probably provide How To Train Your Dragon with a hearty love fest, given how much of their organization is composed of Dreamworks employees.

Review - The King's Speech

With an uplifting outlook, spry sense of humour, and touching portrayal of an unlikely friendship, The King's Speech makes for a satisfying piece of lite entertainment.

The Duke of York, Albert Fredrick Arthur George (or Bertie as we affectionately come to know him), has a problem. Having been neglected and mistreated all his life in the shadow of older brother Edward, the heir to their father's throne, Bertie has developed a nervous stammer that undermines him and the significance of his royal station every time he attempts to speak. His wife Elizabeth seeks the aid of Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue, who is ambitious about getting to the root of Bertie`s troubles. The mechanics of speaking is not the issue. It's poor Bertie's confidence and sense of self-worth that needs a shot in the arm, especially with WWII looming on the horizon.

Colin Firth is quite excellent as Bertie. He's able to elicit our sympathy easily enough, but it's the more rough-around-the-edge qualities like his quick temper and social elitism that bring a sense of humanity to his character. He plays very well with Geoffrey Rush as Logue, enjoying a warm but sometimes tense chemistry from which stems the movie's heart. Themes about class distinctions and inequality are made, albeit a tad bluntly, by David Seidler's witty script, and are fleshed out even more by Eve Stewart's magnificent production design.

Obviously, anyone who even reads this site and others like it already knows that this film is an Oscar frontrunner. Nominations for Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Art Direction, Costume Design, and probably Original Score are on their way. I'd be really pleased to see it nab a nomination for film editor Tariq Anwar as well, whose shrewd cutting does a terrific job at evoking just the right tone for each scene.

*** out of ****