Hans’ Oscar Bites

Oscar Bites #13 – BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Yes, I’m aware that we are 7 days away from the ceremony and still have fully 12 Oscar Bites left to go. The math is gonna have to math pretty hard between now and then but I’m still determined to hash this out. This has been kind of a tough season to discuss mostly because while I still enjoy the thrill of Oscar chase, as I’ve alluded to before, it’s become a bit monotonous discussing a lot of these same movies over and over.

With that said, the nominees for Best Original Screenplay are

• Blue Moon
• It Was Just an Accident
• Marty Supreme
• Sentimental Value
• Sinners

In order of preference:

5 – BLUE MOON (Robert Kaplow)

It’s funny how this comes off somewhat like one of those one-room one-setting plays the Academy likes nominating adaptations of every once in a while, but clearly this was meant as a showcase for Ethan Hawke’s acting talents. Kaplow give Hawke plenty of dialogue and scenery to chew on here, and a lot of credit goes to Hawke for being able to pull focus for most of the 90minute runtime. The two-handers with Hawke and Andrew Scott are the best, but I get taken out a bit when we get random cameos like a little boy named “Stevie” who seems like an early savant at writing musicals…

4 – MARTY SUPREME (Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie)

In a similar fashion to Blue Moon, much of Marty Supreme’s script seems tailor-made for showing off what Timmy Chalamet can do with a nice chewy script. Lots of dialogue that let Chalamet just fly off the rails and take control of the scene, even if it’s just clear he is fast talking his way into a hole. Unlike Blue Moon, there’s a lot of other good material here too spread around the cast, enough that the likes of Odessa A’Zion, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tyler the Creator, or even Kevin O’Leary have their own chances to shine, and any of them could have easily nabbed an acting nomination had the winds been blowing right during voting.

3 – SENTIMENTAL VALUE (Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier)

On the flip side of Marty Supreme, that this screenplay found ample material for its four leads, enough for all of them to score acting nominations, is a testament to the strength of its script. Trier’s last nominated screenplay effort, The Worst Person in the World, ended up irking me with its 12-chapter structure, so I was happy to see a much more traditional storytelling approach here. Felt thoroughly invested in each of its characters having a proper arc.

2 – IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (Jafar Panahi; in collaboration with Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, and Mehdi Mahmoudian)

As alluded to in my discussion of this film in the International Feature category, there’s a lot of fun kinetic energy to this in what ultimately feels like a screwball drama. Each new character that gets added gets a snappy quick intro as to why they are boarding this van headed for who-knows-what resolution with their alleged torturer, culminating in an incredibly well written one-take scene that puts the seriousness of the whole endeavor in perspective.

1 – SINNERS (Ryan Coogler)

One of the criticisms I’ve heard about this story is, interestingly, “Why did this need vampires?” Indeed, the first act of the film plays out as a gripping narrative about brotherhood, racial tensions, and ambition as we meet our protagonist twins trying to make a name for themselves in their hometown. However, I contend that that when the vampires enter the second act, the tonal shift of the screenplay retains the themes of the first half and indeed heightens their stakes: these are people who are just trying to have a good time, to live their lives, and outside forces seeking to kill that for the sake of…unneeded chaos.

WILL WIN: Sinners
COULD WIN: Sentimental Value
SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE: One of Them Days