CBCnews

Comedies compete with sci-fi for screenwriting nods

Last Updated: Monday, January 11, 2010 | 4:52 PM ET

Tom and Summer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel) enjoy a brief fling in (500) Days of Summer. It is one of three comedies nominated for best original screenplay. (Fox Searchlight Pictures) Tom and Summer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel) enjoy a brief fling in (500) Days of Summer. It is one of three comedies nominated for best original screenplay. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Three comedies, a suspense drama and the sci-fi blockbuster Avatar have been nominated for best original screenplay awards from the Writers' Guild of America.

James Cameron, the Canadian-born filmmaker who earned a Directors' Guild nomination last week for Avatar, has been slammed by critics for the sci-fi's film wooden story line.

But Avatar was good enough for the Writers Guild, the union representing Hollywood scriptwriters, when it handed out award nominations Monday.

It will be competing in the original screenplay category with The Hurt Locker, the suspenseful story of a bomb squad in Iraq, and with three comedies:

  • The Hangover, a raunchy romp by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.
  • (500) Days of Summer, a tender rom-com by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber.
  • A Serious Man, an understated existential comedy by Joel and Ethan Coen.

The adapted screenplay award nominations include a nod for Montreal-born Jason Reitman, who wrote Up in the Air with Sheldon Turner. The film, which has earned Directors Guild and Golden Globe nominations, is based on a novel by Walter Kim.

Other adapted screenplay nominations are:

  • Crazy Heart, screenplay by Scott Cooper, based on the novel by Thomas Cobb.
  • Julie & Julia, screenplay by Nora Ephron, based on the books Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child.
  • Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire, screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher.

The Writers Guild nominations often mirror Academy Award nominations. However, this year several high-profile films are not on the WGA Awards list.

Among them are Inglourious Basterds, A Single Man and The Road, whose writers — Quentin Tarantino, Tom Ford and Joe Penhall, respectively — are not eligible because they are not members of the WGA.

In the documentary category, Michael Moore has a nomination for Capitalism: A Love Story and Mark Monroe for The Cove.

Other documentary nominees are:

  • Against the Tide, written by Richard Trank.
  • Earth Days, by Robert Stone.
  • Good Hair, by Chris Rock, Jeff Stilson, Lance Crouther and Chuck Sklar.
  • Soundtrack for a Revolution, by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman.

The awards ceremony is Feb. 20 in Los Angeles and New York.

  •  
 

More Film Headlines

Canadian cinema box office sets new record
Canadians spent $1.01 billion at the cinema in 2009, setting a new record for box office receipts, according to data from the Motion Picture Theatre Associations of Canada.
Vancouver critics pick I Killed My Mother
Jason Reitman's Up in the Air has been named best film and Xavier Dolan's J'ai tué ma mère best Canadian film by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.
Toronto film critics name Polytechnique top Canadian feature
Quebec cinema was the toast of the Toronto Film Critics Association Tuesday as Denis Villeneuve's Polytechnique was named best Canadian feature of 2009 and phenom moviemaker Xavier Dolan got a rising artist award.
Vatican critical of Avatar's spiritual message
The Vatican's newspaper and its radio station have given a lukewarm reception to the film Avatar, criticizing it for its "spiritualism linked to the worship of nature."
Spider-Man reboots without Maguire, Raimi
Tobey Maguire's web-slinging days are behind him, as the 34-year-old actor and Spider-Man director Sam Raimi will not be returning to the superhero franchise.

More Arts Headlines

Stolen Monet beach scene recovered after 10 years
A Claude Monet painting stolen in 2000 from a museum in western Poland has been recovered, according to police in the Polish city of Olkusz.
Canadian cinema box office sets new record
Canadians spent $1.01 billion at the cinema in 2009, setting a new record for box office receipts, according to data from the Motion Picture Theatre Associations of Canada.
Spider-Man musical to offer preview refunds
Producers of Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark have confirmed that the beleaguered Broadway musical will not begin its preview period as expected and have offered refunds to ticketholders.
Vancouver critics pick I Killed My Mother
Jason Reitman's Up in the Air has been named best film and Xavier Dolan's J'ai tué ma mère best Canadian film by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.
Calgary takes steps toward new music centre
A new national music centre set to rise in Calgary's East Village neighbourhood is a step closer to breaking ground, after a city council committee approved a $25-million commitment to the project Tuesday — albeit with restrictions.

People who read this also read …

Top CBCNews.ca Headlines

Headlines

Quake caused 'unimaginable' ruin: Haitian president Video
Haitian President René Préval said the devastating earthquake that rocked his country has killed thousands of people and left the capital in catastrophic ruins.
Canada sending disaster team to Haiti Video
Canada has promised aid and will deploy its Disaster Assistance Response Team to Haiti to help the earthquake-devastated country.
UN workers trapped in rubble after Haiti quake Video
The UN said at least five members of its peacekeeping mission in Haiti are dead after the mission headquarters in Port-au-Prince collapsed in Tuesday's earthquake, and more than 100 are missing, with some trapped beneath rubble.
Structural deficits coming: Parliamentary Budget Office
Ottawa will face structural budget deficits well into the future even after the Canadian economy returns to normal levels of expansion, a report from the Parliamentary Budget Office suggests.
Warm weather closes Vancouver Olympic ski venue
Warm weather and heavy rain have led to the closure of one of Vancouver's Olympic ski hills, one month before several 2010 Winter Olympic events are scheduled to open on the hill.