Looking for some light reading this weekend? Black Sheep has managed to dig up half of the Oscar-nominated screenplays on the web and would love to share those links with you right now. Yes, reading the screenplay doesn't really give you an edge when it comes to deciding who should win but it is a nice little treat. The Writers Guild of America has already made up their minds in both the adapted and original screenplay categories and they have declared that UP IN THE AIR and THE HURT LOCKER should be the winners in their respective fields. When it comes to the Adapted Screenplay field, I think the Guild got it right; writers, Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, need to take something home for the film and this is its best chance at this point. Goeffrey Fletcher could potentially upset for PRECIOUS but the Academy is far more likely to shower that film in the acting categories. Mark Boal though has some stiff competition in the Original Screenplay category as his HURT LOCKER script's fiercest competition is Quentin Tarantino. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS will struggle in all other categories except Supporting Actor and the Academy may be looking to reward one of its greatest contemporary directors for one of his finest works. So there are safe bets but no sure things here.
The following is a list of nominees in each category and a little quote from each screenplay. Click on the film title itself for the original Black Sheep Review. Click on DOWNLOAD THE SCREENPLAY to well, uh, do just that (you will be redirected to another site and can download the PDF there).
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE HURT LOCKER, Written by Mark Boal - DOWNLOAD THE SCREENPLAY
Staff Seargeant William James: [Speaking to his son] You love playing with that. You love playing with all your stuffed animals. You love your Mommy, your Daddy. You love your pajamas. You love everything, don't ya? Yea. But you know what, buddy? As you get older... some of the things you love might not seem so special anymore. Like your Jack-in-a-Box. Maybe you'll realize it's just a piece of tin and a stuffed animal. And then you forget the few things you really love. And by the time you get to my age, maybe it's only one or two things. With me, I think it's one.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, Written by Quentin Tarantino - DOWNLOAD THE SCREENPLAY
Lt. Aldo Raine: [Aldo shoots Hans' driver Hermann, and gives Utivich a knife] Scalp Hermann.
Col. Hans Landa: Are you mad? What have you done? I made a deal with your general for that man's life!
Lt. Aldo Raine: Yeah, they made that deal, but they don't give a fuck about him. They need you.
Col. Hans Landa: You'll be shot for this!
Lt. Aldo Raine: Nah, I don't think so. More like chewed out. I've been chewed out before.
THE MESSENGER, Written by Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon
Captain Tony Stone: Men don't ask for directions, especially soldiers.
A SERIOUS MAN, Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - DOWNLOAD THE SCREENPLAY
Friend at the Picnic: Sometimes these things just aren't meant to be. And it can take a while before you feel what was always there, for better or worse.
Larry Gopnik: I never felt it! It was a bolt from the blue! What does that mean! Everything that I thought was one way turns out to be another.
Friend at the Picnic: Then-it's an opportunity to learn how things really are. I'm sorry-I don't mean to sound glib. It's not always easy, deciphering what God is trying to tell you.
Larry Gopnik: I'll say.
Friend at the Picnic: But it's not something you have to figure out all by yourself. We're Jews, we have that well of tradition to draw on, to help us understand. When we're puzzled we have all the stories that have been handed down from people who had the same problems.
UP, Written by Bob Peterson, Pete Doctor and Tom McCarthy
Russell: I've never been in a floating house before.
[Russell sees a picture of Ellie and laughs]
Russell: Goggles. Look at this stuff. Wow! You're going on a trip?
[Russell picks up a picture of Paradise Falls and reads from it]
Russell: "Paradise Falls, a land lost in time." You're going to South America, Mr. Fredricksen?
[Carl grabs the picture from Russell]
Carl Fredricksen: Don't touch that! You'll soil it.
Russell: You know, most people take a plane, but you're smart because you'll have all your TV and clocks and stuff.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
DISTRICT 9, Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
Wikus Van De Merwe: [giving an Alien reproductive apparatus to co-worker] Here, you can take that, you want to keep that, as a souvenir of your first abortion, ay. You can feel like you've done one of these too.
Thomas: [beaming] Thanks, boss!
AN EDUCATION, Written by Nick Hornby - DOWNLOAD THE SCREENPLAY
Jenny: I don't want to lose my virginity to a piece of fruit.
IN THE LOOP, Written by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche
Simon Foster: It'll be easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.
Toby Wright: No, it won't. It'll be difficult-difficult-lemon-difficult.
PRECIOUS, Written by Geoffrey Fletcher - DOWNLOAD THE SCREENPLAY
Clareece 'Precious' Jones: Some folks has a lot of things around them that shines for other peoples. I think that maybe some of them was in tunnels. And in that tunnel, the only light they had, was inside of them. And then long after they escape that tunnel, they still be shining for everybody else.
UP IN THE AIR, Written by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Ryan Bingham: All the things you probably hate about travelling -the recycled air, the artificial lighting, the digital juice dispensers, the cheap sushi- are warm reminders that I'm home
Next up for Black Sheep's Oscar coverage, Black Sheep gets musical with a playlist for your pre-show Oscar party.