The list of titles ineligible for the Writers Guild awards was particularly long this year, so their nomination aren’t as relevant as they could’ve been: sure-fire Oscar nominee “The Artist,” for instance, was not eligible here, nor were “Drive,” “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” “Margin Call,” “Beginners,” “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” “Rango” or “A Separation,” all of which could very well still make it into the Academy slate. None of those films are particularly hurt by missing here.
The two films that ARE hurt by these nominations are “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” which continues to make pretty much zero impact on the precursors, and “War Horse,” which is almost certainly still a Best Picture nominee but is looking very iffy when it comes to Adapted Screenplay.
Otherwise, “Bridesmaids” continues its surprisingly steady march, and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” has maintained a high enough profile to perhaps land some surprise nods. This was also some nice attention for early contender “Win Win,” which will have to duke it out with all those previously mentioned indies for one of the final five spots.
Writers Guild of America nominations:
Adapted Screenplay
- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants
- Steven Zaillian, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Tate Taylor, The Help
- John Logan, Hugo
- Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, Moneyball
- Annie Mumolo, Kristin Wiig, Bridesmaids
- Will Reiser, “50/50”
- Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
- Tom McCarthy, Win Win
- Diablo Cody, Young Adult
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