Re: Best Screenplays 2016
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2017 3:31 pm
It's possible my vote will change but I'm one of the people who voted for The Lobster. I've yet to see it a second time but it's been about a year since I saw it and it hasn't escaped my mind. It has a fairly dull second half, but I'm hoping that it might enjoy it more on a second viewing or find something new to take away. As Tee correctly states, Manchester by the Sea ends in a pillow but it would easily be my second choice and on subsequent viewings maybe my first. Whiplash became the industry model screenplay for a while, and I'm seeing a similar thing happening to Hell or High Water. It's becoming revered but I can't shake the sense that there is a fair amount of water-treading in the second act. And La La Land...well, I think it's screenplay is a bit underrated. It's very smartly written. But...did both of them need to succeed as wildly as they did in the end? It slightly undermines the wonderful finale. I love this script but it's just a draft away. This is overall a very good lineup. Throw something stronger than 20th Century Women (although I don't know what it could be...Toni Erdmann?) and I'd be inclined to call it one of the best script lineups of my life. 20th Century Women's screenplay is meandering but well-observed. I'm hoping that it comes together a bit more on a second viewing but I'm not getting my hopes up. It's nice that he has a nomination from Beginners.
The top four are almost interchangeable.
1. THE LOBSTER, Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthimis Filippou
2. MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, Kenneth Lonergan
3. HELL OR HIGH WATER, Taylor Sheridan
4. LA LA LAND, Damien Chazelle
5. 20th CENTURY WOMEN, Mike Mills
As for adapted, my vote easily goes to Arrival. It gains so much from its direction but it's such a mathematical piece of screenwriting, from its flipped structure to its calculated midpoint that links the eventual direction of the story. Clearly, mathematical screenwriting is not better than a more organic piece like Moonlight, but every time I revisit Arrival in both film and script form, I'm more and more impressed. It gets my vote easily. Moonlight isn't undeserving. Michael Mann said that it was his favorite film of the year because it embodied the following sentiment: get in late, get out early. Clearly it does and it's very well-structured. Every time I watch the film, a different segment gets the chance to shine...but there's something missing. Maybe more of a wraparound than the final shot. I don't want to rewrite the film for the filmmakers but I wanted something a bit more.
As for the rest, Hidden Figures' screenplay is an effective hackwork. The screenplay for Lion is the weakest element for sure, revealing itself as barely a story. It would surely be the weakest nomination of any other year, but Fences' nomination is embarrassing.
1. ARRIVAL, Eric Heisserer
2. MOONLIGHT, Barry Jenkins [screenplay], Tarell Alvin McCraney [story]
3. HIDDEN FIGURES, Theodore Melfi and Allison Schreoder
4. LION, Luke Davies
5. FENCES, August Wilson
The top four are almost interchangeable.
1. THE LOBSTER, Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthimis Filippou
2. MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, Kenneth Lonergan
3. HELL OR HIGH WATER, Taylor Sheridan
4. LA LA LAND, Damien Chazelle
5. 20th CENTURY WOMEN, Mike Mills
As for adapted, my vote easily goes to Arrival. It gains so much from its direction but it's such a mathematical piece of screenwriting, from its flipped structure to its calculated midpoint that links the eventual direction of the story. Clearly, mathematical screenwriting is not better than a more organic piece like Moonlight, but every time I revisit Arrival in both film and script form, I'm more and more impressed. It gets my vote easily. Moonlight isn't undeserving. Michael Mann said that it was his favorite film of the year because it embodied the following sentiment: get in late, get out early. Clearly it does and it's very well-structured. Every time I watch the film, a different segment gets the chance to shine...but there's something missing. Maybe more of a wraparound than the final shot. I don't want to rewrite the film for the filmmakers but I wanted something a bit more.
As for the rest, Hidden Figures' screenplay is an effective hackwork. The screenplay for Lion is the weakest element for sure, revealing itself as barely a story. It would surely be the weakest nomination of any other year, but Fences' nomination is embarrassing.
1. ARRIVAL, Eric Heisserer
2. MOONLIGHT, Barry Jenkins [screenplay], Tarell Alvin McCraney [story]
3. HIDDEN FIGURES, Theodore Melfi and Allison Schreoder
4. LION, Luke Davies
5. FENCES, August Wilson