Dragon Tattoo was leading almost all the way, until Henna caught it in the end.

Yeah last minute surge for Hanna.

Thanks a lot for that speech!

David, you can now go ahead with the Screenplay categories!

Best ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

”If you were a casino game, you’d have the best odds!”

”I cracked a blanket in half.”

”I’m in a very…perplexing situation.”

Five films are nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Three of the nominees are comedies, while the other two are very serious dramas. Will Reiser’s 50/50 screenplay is a quasi-autobiographical tale of an optimistic, successful 27-year-old whose life is interrupted by a cancer diagnosis. Poignant, at times tough, and often downright hilarious, the screenplay is an ode to the redemptive power of friendship and people’s ability to find hope and joy in even the direst situation. Bridesmaids, written by Annie Mumolo and star Kristen Wiig, is a broad ensemble comedy centered on a friendship between two women and how it is tested when one becomes engaged. The screenplay includes many raucous, very R rated gags, including a fateful trip to a bridal store, but has also been praised for its honesty in depicting the complexity of female bonds and rivalries, as well its protagonist’s feelings of dejection. With his screenplay for Midnight in Paris, beloved veteran Woody Allen uses a fantasy conceit—the protagonist, a nostalgic screenwriter, is able to travel from present-day Paris to the time of the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, and Dali—to explore the pleasures and perils of a life lived in search of and in love with the past.

”Life is only on earth and not for long.”

”We’re not bad people. We just come from a bad place.”

Melancholia, penned by the iconoclastic Lars von Trier, is a tale of two sisters, depression, and the end of the world. The ever-ambitious von Trier captures the day-to-day torment of consuming sadness and a sense of cosmic majesty as a new planet draws closer to earth, threatening to collide and end life as we know it, but also fills scenes with small, often comic details, such as the melodramatic anguish of a neurotic wedding planner as his lavish ceremony spirals into disarray. And Shame, written by Abi Morgan and director Steve McQueen, is a closely observed chronicle of modern urban isolation, revealing to the audience the guarded existence of a raging sex addict and how it is impacted by the return of his estranged, impulsive sister to his life. Morgan and McQueen are careful to say enough, but never too much, leaving certain parts of the characters’ troubled past tantalizing and ambiguous.

And the award for Best Original Screenplay goes to:

Best ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

”Goodbye, my love, my friend, my pain.”

”I don’t sit in while you’re running it down, I don’t carry a gun. I drive.”

”Rape, torture, fire, animals, religion. Am I missing anything?”

Five films are nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay; four based on novels, one on a nonfiction sports story. The Descendants, written by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, is a slice-of-life telling the story of a nuclear family in Hawaii tearing apart and then coming together after a tragedy. Offering humor and pathos in equal measure, a Payne staple, the screenplay has a sharp ear for the way families argue and also how they quietly express their affection. Drive, written by Hossein Amini, based on the novel by James Sallis, is a muscular, noir-infused crime story populated by a taciturn hero and a colorful ensemble of powerful gangsters, small-time hoods, and innocent bystanders. The dialogue is crisp and hip, and the violent plot of double crosses and blood-stained vengeance has an underlying sweetness and sadness. With his screenplay for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steven Zaillian, adapting the novel by Stieg Larsson, honors and condenses the twisting and turning plot of the bestseller, shaping it into a screen suspense story which is complex, but clear and epic, yet lean and mean. He also perfects the blend of hardcore action heroine and put-upon, vulnerable human being which defines the Lisbeth Salander character, giving Rooney Mara a solid foundation from which to deliver a blazing performance.

”Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need.”

”If we win with this team, we’ll have changed the game.”

Hugo, written by John Logan, based on the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, is an intricate, multi-layered film—an ode to the history of cinema; a science fiction tale centered on a mysterious automaton; an Oliver Twist-esque childhood adventure story—but the rich characters and heart of the story are never lost in Logan’s elegant adaptation. And Moneyball, written by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, based on a story by Stan Chervin and Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis, is a fact-derived account of a failed pro baseball player turned general manager of a struggling team who, tired of achieving only mediocrity year after year, embraces a new system of interpreting statistics and selecting players, inspiring controversy in the process. The screenplay imbues a relatively dry subject matter—“inside baseball” in a literal sense—with genuine depth and poignancy, telling not only a story of money and baseball, but also of an American soul fighting to succeed and find self-worth.

And the award for Best Adapted Screenplay goes to:

This is a close one, with every nominee getting at least 5 votes.

Very strong for Midnight in Paris.

I am frankly surprised it didn't do better overall nominations-wise.

Most Overlooked Film

For the first time ever we barely got clear winners here as the votes were really really widespread. Only four movies got more than one vote and for the winner we've got a tie:


Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Super 8

And yeah, Drive's Screenplay win seems a bit silly to me, but whatever.

Yeah screenplay wise I don't think Drive was much of a contender.

Best Cinematography

Unfortunately trixster cannot be here, but I just wanna mention how amazing last year has been for cinematography in movies and these nominees just show that.

The nominees are:

War Horse
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
Drive

And the winner is...

It's Jack Sparrow now with Best Editing

Best Editing
Though the actors are talented they cannot look more if the movies do not have their final cuts. The art of editing is something that makes or breaks the flow of a movie. This years editing has 6 different and brilliant options that made the movie look smart, great and enjoyable

Here is one of the few categories tonight with six nomiations

Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Shame
War Horse
The Artist

And the winner is.....

I agree, it was an amazing year for cinematography, but Tree of Life is the clear winner.

I hope the Academy agrees on The Tree of Life.

David and Magnus can proceed with their categories afterwards.