We are almost there. Only a few days left and the Oscar season will be over. I am glad because it has been mostly a struggle. Today is no different, as the quality of the nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay is significantly lower than those who compete for the Original Screenplay. Three of the five I consider to be… well, bad. And so, places 3-5 are very arbitrary and can be rearranged freely.
5. Scott Silver & Todd Phillips, Joker
I am so tired of this film. The main reason why I am looking forward to the Oscars is so that I can forget about it and Jojo Rabbit forever. This screenplay boils down to: we should care more about people with mental health problems (totally agree) or they might kill us (wait, no-).
4. Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit
I am tired of the recent attempts at normalizing Nazis. I fail to see Jojo Rabbit as a satire. I do not find it particularly funny. This is a very Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri screenplay – falls apart if you think about it for more than five seconds.
3. Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes
A screenplay that I am sure was supposed to say a great deal of things but ends up barely scratching the surface of issues related to Catholic Church that should actually be addressed.
2. Steven Zaillian, The Irishman
There are some complicated politics going on in The Irishman. It is very long. But I do not care. Somehow everything just seems correct. The Anna-Paquin’s-Only-Line-Scene is still one of my absolutely favourite (if not THE favourite) moments in 2019 film.
1. Greta Gerwig, Little Women
I must be completely honest: I cried all the way through while reading the screenplay for Little Women. It is constructed with so much love and attention. And I really appreciate Gerwig’s absolutely beautiful descriptions of the feelings of the characters. Not to mention that clever sequence towards the end. If there’s any justice in the world, if people actually appreciate respecting the adapted material while also making it personal and unique, this should be a winner (but it is going to be Jojo Rabbit because voters want to feel like they are being subversive while being literally the opposite of that).
Swingin' at the Seance 