'Slumdog' Wins WGA Award, Locks in 'Oscar' as Its Final Answer
Filed under: Awards, Newsstand, Oscar Watch
No lifelines needed here. Now that Slumdog Millionaire's Simon Beaufoy has won the Writers Guild of America award for best adapted screenplay, it is all but guaranteed to win the Oscar for Best Picture.
For you see, Slumdog also won the Producers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America prizes, making the WGA win the completion of a trifecta. Seven other films have achieved the same feat, and all but one took the Best Picture Oscar, too -- and the one that didn't, Brokeback Mountain, was considered a huge upset when it lost.
The other WGA award, for original screenplay, went to Dustin Lance Black for Milk, also an Oscar Best Picture nominee. At this point, Milk would be the most likely candidate for upsetting Slumdog, but don't put any money on it.
So what about the screenplay categories at the Oscars? Those have matched the WGA winners nine out of the last 14 years in the Original category, 10 out of 14 in the Adapted.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-08-2009 @ 2:37PM
Ellen Kimball said...
"Slumdog Millionaire" was an exceptional film in my opinion. My husband and I saw it while on vacation in Palm Springs, California in December. We discussed it well into the night with others at the resort where we were staying. We also saw "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which was magnificently mounted and played into our maturity (The Big Reveal: Hubby and I are both in our 70s, but smarter and better speakers than those "Reel Geezers" on YouTube!)
The concept of "living backwards" has always fascinated both my spouse and me, as we are both science fiction lovers. Those two films are masterful -- but so is "Milk" -- 2008 was a year of extraordinary moviemaking!
We're still hoping to see "The Reader" and "Frost/Nixon."
I've been reviewing films since 1971 in Boston, Miami and now in Portland, Oregon. My record at guessing the Oscar for Best Picture has been about 75% -- three out of four. One that I missed was "The Unforgiven." I absolutely despised that movie.
You could certainly argue for giving any of these excellent films the Oscar for Best Picture, but I'm going to root for "Slumdog Millionaire" on February 22nd and will not be disappointed if it wins.
Cordially,
Ellen Kimball
PS: I post movie reviews for http://www.KGW.com, the website for the NBC-TV affiliate in Portland, Oregon, Channel 8.
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2-08-2009 @ 4:33PM
Stan Wingson said...
Nope- not going to happen. It's just not a Best Picture Oscar movie. Prediction- Ben Button sweep.
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2-09-2009 @ 12:32AM
A.J said...
Slumdog also has the SAG, something that Brokeback Mountain failed to win.
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2-08-2009 @ 9:17PM
ICON! said...
Honestly i do not get what all the hype is for "Slumdog"..it just wasn't one of those exceptional films that you would think " yeah, thats for sure a best pic. oscar winner." It just wasn't anything exceptional. In my opinion, this is one of the weakest fields for best pics. and for the oscars in general, but the oscars have become more watered down and meaningless over the years. You have a board of voters who are old and out of touch with what is really good in todays industry, who get all gaga over anything that has to do with issues from decades ago and feature anything that has to do with WW2 and the holocaust. Just because a movie is nominated doesn't mean its the cream of the crop.
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2-08-2009 @ 10:33PM
Ryan said...
Couldn't have happened to a better film. I'm so glad it's getting all of these accolades. On to sweeping the Oscars!
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