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Star Trek? It's entertaining and all...but really?

And where's Tarantino?!!!

QT's not in the WGA.

Oh. Any particular reason?

500 Days of Summer, huh? Yes, truly, the scene where Zooey and Joey take turns saying the word "penis" in public represented the finest in screenwriting craft this year.

Rob:

Is it any worse than "I see you" being inelegantly forced into the pop culture landscape?

These nominations mean even less than usual this year as the Draconian WGA rules of eligibility have been enforced in such a way to punish a disproportionate number of small production companies that can't afford to operate under WGA guidelines and reward big studio fair. How lovely that the same people who threw away months of work a couple years back to punish the studio system have now planted a big wet kiss on the cheek of those who used to (and no doubt still) screwed them out of their residuals.

Rob, I've played the Penis game before and it's quite fun. You should pull the stick out of your ass and try it some time. Summer was wonderfully written and alongside The Hurt Locker, the most deserving screenplay on both lists.

I presume District 9 wasn't eligible because none of the dialogue was actually scripted.

Then again, Mike Leigh movies usually end up being ruled eligible. As for Anvil, is there a precedent for documentaries like that (i.e. without a Michael Moore-type narration) being nominated? Ditto Tyson, who presumably was not reading a script?

"I've played the Penis game before and it's quite fun. "

Groovy for you, but how does that make it clever writing?

I would guess D9 might not be WGA signatory, but improv has not stopped noms in the past.

And yes, the screenplay category for docs has been a rat's nest since they started it. The films they have nom'ed have been more and less scripted. IN this case, only the Moore doc is like a script that was made into a film... which is why it kinda sucks.

Storymark:

Well, since you asked. It's clever writing because it's a game built entirely around testing boundaries and control. It's establishing her as someone who isn't confined by the rules of public decency as well as showing what her sense of humor is (which also speaks to her immaturity). She is amused that he becomes embarrassed by the end of the game indicating that she doesn't take his feelings especially seriously. All of this is of a piece with their relationship and helps establish a patten of suspect behavior even before their eventual breakup.

Yes, Dignan, and that's a deft feat of character development matched on pretty much any episode of Accidentally on Purpose. Next.

Exactly, Rob.

And how about that amazing STAR TREK structure where Kirk finds not only Spock, but Scotty, on a planet he's been randomly sent to?

Well, there certainly is no excuse for Scotty being there. But Kirk and Spock were there for the same reason - it was the closest.

Dignan - Thanks, I wasn't trying to be argumentative, just looking for more context than "it's a real game".

wow, that avatar nom is going to have the naysayers who don't know the difference between an actual screenplay and dialog spitting tacks

Considering the success of the film I can't say I'm at all shocked Avatar got a Best Original Screenplay nomination. I am a bit surprised it wasn't nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay considering how much of the story had been ripped off from every other movie ever shot since the dawn of time.

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