USC Scripter noms

Children of Men
(screenplay by Alfonso Cuaron & others; novel by P. D. Hames)
The Devil Wears Prada
(screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna; novel by Lauren Weisberger)
The Illusionist
(screenplay by Neil Berger; story by Steven Millhauser)
The Last King of Scotland
(screenplay by Peter Morgan & Jeremy Brock; book by Giles Foden)
Notes on a Scandal
(screenplay by Patrick Marber; novel by Zoe Heller)

Weird noms.

I meant to predict these, but never got around to it. If I had, I would've picked Children of Men, The Last Kind of Scotland and Notes on a Scandal along with Little Children and probably The Painted Veil. Those last two screenplays were bizarrely excluded, even though they are both acclaimed and based on high-profile novels. This doesn't bode well for Veil, though I think Little Children will get into the oscar race anyway... but I could be wrong. Good news, though, for Children of Men and Last King of Scotland, which have NOT been considered strong contenders for a nomination. I think Last King deserves one, and by all accounts, Children does too, so good for them. The Illusionist also came very much out of the blue, here, but I don't think it can actually get oscar-nominated. We'll see.

The one I'm slightly mystified by is the Devil Wears Prada nod. Don't get me wrong, I liked this film a lot, but I don't think its screenplay is award-worthy. One thing it did very well was change the (apparently) gossipy, snarky tone of the novel to a much more film-fitting story of a small town girl coming of age in the big city. The screenwriter knew what kind of film this had to be in order to work, so kudos for that. But the actual dialogue and such were not so special. The success of the film seemed to come from what the actors and director did with it. But whatever. I assume the massive popularity of the book - and of the film, too - is what earned it a place on this list. I just wish the film had been nominated by PGA or SAG instead. That wouldn't made more sense, IMHO.

Anyway, we'll see what the writers guild does later... Dreamgirls and Departed will of course change the race considerably... but god, I hope they don't nominate Dreamgirls...