Joey Magidson
Moving right along! Continuing a tradition I’ve been keen on for years, I’m ranking the new crop of Academy Award winners. For nearly all of the Oscar categories, you’ll see me list the top 25 recipients of that prize. Sometimes, our newest winner will appear. Other times, they’ll be relegated to the Honorable Mention category. Who knows, maybe one or two won’t even make the cut? It’s a list series that I’ll do each and every single year, in the weeks after the ceremony concludes. So, while this is a fun way to think about the Oscars in the aftermath of the latest telecast, it’s also a beginning for another column here on the site. Of course, definitely show us your own lists as well, in the comments section below. We’re definitely keen to know what you think!
Once again, I’m making Best Original Screenplay an early ranking. This category has often been very good to film fans, with some real creative cinema emerging victorious. Last year saw Everything Everywhere All At Once win for The Daniels, with recent winners also including Belfast, Promising Young Woman, Parasite, Get Out, her, Manchester by the Sea, and Spotlight. This year, it was Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for Anatomy of a Fall. Those of you who pay attention know that I’m often a huge fan of the Original Screenplay winners. In fact, some of the recent ones come in pretty highly here. Read on to find out just where Anatomy of a Fall wound up placing…
Here now are what I consider to be the 25 best winners of the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, to date:
25. Little Miss Sunshine (Michael Arndt)
24. The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal)
23. Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet and Arthur Harari)
22. Dog Day Afternoon (Frank Pierson)
21. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer)
20. Dead Poets Society (Tom Schulman)
19. Hannah and her Sisters (Woody Allen)
18. Juno (Diablo Cody)
17. Chinatown (Robert Towne)
16. On the Waterfront (Budd Schulberg)
15. The Apartment (I. A. L. Diamond and Billy Wilder)
14. Everything Everywhere All At Once (The Daniels)
13. Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan)
12. Network (Paddy Chayefsky)
11. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola)
10. Parasite (Bong Joon Ho and Jin Won Han)
9. Good Will Hunting (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon)
8. Citizen Kane (Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles)
7. Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)
6. Annie Hall (Woody Allen)
5. her (Spike Jonze)
4. The Producers (Mel Brooks)
3. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe)
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Pierre Bismuth, Michel Gondry, and Charlie Kaufman)
1. Pulp Fiction (Roger Avary and Quentin Tarantino)
Honorable Mention: Belfast (Kenneth Branagh), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (William Goldman), The Candidate (Jeremy Larner), Get Out (Jordan Peele), Milk (Dustin Lance Black), and Pillow Talk (Clarence Greene, Maurice Richlin, Russell Rouse, and Stanley Shapiro)
Stay tuned for another category later on this week or early next week!
25.Manchester By The Sea -Kenneth Lonergan
24.Dog Day Afternoon -Frank Piersin
23.Milk -Dustin Lance Black
22.Django Unchanined -Quentin Tarantino
21.Witness -William Kelley & Earl W.Wallace ,Pamela Wallace
20.Pulp Fiction -Quentin Tarantino
19.On The Waterfront -Budd Schulberg
18.Lost In Translation -Sofia Coppola
17.Citizen Kane -Herman J.Mankiewcz and Orson Wells
16.Good Will Hunting -Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
15.Chinatown -Robert Towne
14.Tjelma and Louise -Callie Khouri
13.Anatomy of A Fall- Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
12.Promising Young Woman -Emerald Fennell
11.The Red Balloon -Albert Lamorisse
10.Network -Paddy Chaysefsky
9.Parasite -Bong Joon ho 7 Han Jin won
8.Everything Everywhere All At Once (The Daniels )
7.Spotlight -Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy
6.Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind -Charlie Kaufman ,Pierre Bismuth,Michael Gondry
5.Get Out -Jordan Peele
4.Fargo -Coen Brothers
3.Moonstruck -John Patarick Shanley
2.Little Miss Sunshine -Michael Arndt
1.The Apartment -I.A.L.Diamond and Billy Wilder
HM Melvin and Howard -Bo Goldman
The Producers -Mel Brooks
The Sting -David S. Ward
Coming Home -Robert C Jones ,Waldo Salt,Nancy Dowd
Dead Poet’s Society -Tom Shulman
Shakespeare In Love-Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard
An American in Paris -Alan Jay Lerner
A solid list, as always!
My 6-15 entries are semi-arbitrary and might totally change depending on my mood, but my top five are about as ideal as film screenwriting gets in my eyes.
25) The Sting – David S. Ward
24) The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal
23) Milk – Dustin Lance Black
22) Splendor in the Grass – William Inge
21) Everything Everywhere All at Once – Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
20) Gosford Park – Julian Fellowes
19) The Crying Game – Neil Jordan
18) Anatomy of a Fall – Arthur Harari and Justine Triet
17) Spotlight – Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy
16) Network – Paddy Chayefsky
15) Pulp Fiction – Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary
14) Get Out – Jordan Peele
13) Divorce Italian Style – Ennio de Concini, Pietro Germi, and Alfredo Giannetti
12) Annie Hall – Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman
11) Shakespeare in Love – Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard
10) The Piano – Jane Campion
9) Talk to Her – Pedro Almodóvar
8) Parasite – Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won
7) Dog Day Afternoon – Frank Pierson
6) Citizen Kane – Orson Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz
5) Fargo – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
4) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Charlie Kaufman, Pierre Bismuth, and Michel Gondry
3) Sunset Boulevard – Charles Brackett, D. M. Marshman, Jr., and Billy Wilder
2) Chinatown – Robert Towne
1) Hannah and Her Sisters – Woody Allen
Hard to argue!
Very late to the party with this one…but had to chime in because it’s one of my favorite categories to revisit because it has a good amount of my favorite movies of all time as winners. So many that I can’t believe how low some of my favorites like Eternal Sunshine or Hannah and Her Sisters end of on my list…nothing against them…just so many great winners. Some may be higher than they should be because I recently revisited them and some may be lower than they should be because it’s been too long since I’ve revisited them…such a thin line between a lot these for me.
1. Chinatown
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Annie Hall
4. Apartment, The
5. Spotlight
6. Citizen Kane
7. Fargo
8. Almost Famous
9. On the Waterfront
10. Sting, The
11. Moonstruck
12. Network
13. Dead Poets Society
14. Parasite
15. Producers, The
16. Sunset Boulevard
17. Manchester by the Sea
18. Django Unchained
19. Dog Day Afternoon
20. American Beauty
21. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
22. Milk
23. Get Out
24. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
25. Hannah and Her Sisters
26. Everything Everywhere All At Once
27. Juno
28. Usual Suspects, The
29. Lost in Translation
30. Anatomy of a Fall
31. Little Miss Sunshine
32. Good Will Hunting
33. Birdman
34. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
35. Witness
36. Gosford Park
37. Crying Game, The
38. Hurt Locker, The
39. Ghost
40. Coming Home
Truly a great category!