The 2013 RyMickey Awards - Best Screenplay

As I'm sure I'll state again as these awards come to a close, 2013 contained many films I actually liked (my list of "B"-ranked films is rather huge this year), but very few that I loved.  Because of this, I'm finding it difficult to sometimes flesh out these more rigid, "typical" categories.  (You'll notice that Best Cinematography is conspicuously absent this year as no more than two or three films really stood out to me as in years past.)  Needless to say, there are several good screenplays listed below of certainly worthy films.

Note:  I follow the Academy's guidelines in terms of what's adapted and what's original.  While I think original stories based on pre-existing characters (ex. Monsters University, Before Midnight, sequels) should be original screenplays, they are adapted for the purposes of this award.

Best Adapted Screenplay 2013

Honorable Mentions

#7 - Blue Is the Warmest Color - Abdellatif Kechiche, Ghalia Lecroix

#6 - August: Osage County - Tracy Letts

#5 - Monsters University - Daniel Gerson, Robert L. Baird, and Dan Scanlon
#4 - 12 Years a Slave - John Ridley

And the Top Three...

#3 - Terence Winter -  The Wolf of Wall Street

Considering the film's runtime, I'm surprised I'm not scolding Terence Winter for forcing me to stay in a seat for nearly three hours.  Instead, I find myself wanting to revisit this crazy world he adapted.

#2 - Scott Neustadster, Micael C. Weber - The Spectacular Now

Believable teenage angst is a difficult task to try and bring to the screen.  These two screenwriters did just that and should be commended.

#1 - Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater - Before Midnight

Before Midnight is not without its faults.  In my review, I even mention that possibly a third of the film doesn't really work and meanders on without a focus.  However, there are three scenes (including the film's conclusion) that are just so damn powerful that I can't help but not place this at the top of the admittedly weaker Best Adapted Screenplay category.

Best Original Screenplay 2013

Honorable Mentions

#8 - Prisoners - Aaron Guzikowski

#7 - In a World... - Lake Bell

#6 - Saving Mr. Banks - Kelly Marcel, Sue Smith

And the Top Five...

#5 - Bob Nelson - Nebraska 

Oddly enough, all of my Top Five Original Screenplay Award recipients deal with either aging or moving on with your life in some aspect.  Nebraska certainly tackles the aging aspect with heart, humor, and well-rounded characters who feel natural to the story and setting unfolding onscreen.

#4 - Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine 

Essentially an updating of A Streetcar Named Desire (and the Academy's rules are tested again in terms of "original"/"adapted"), prolific screenwriter Woody Allen crafts an indelible character in Jasmine (of course buoyed by a wonderful performance by Cate Blanchett) while also pondering the real-life issues surrounding corporate greed/stock manipulation.

#3 - Destin Cretton - Short Term 12 

Yet another weird Academy ruling seeing as how the feature film was adapted from a short film also by Destin Cretton -- I'll never pretend to understand the Academy's rules here.  Nevertheless, Cretton gives us a variety of characters all of whom must put the past behind them in order to attempt at having a rosier future.  Some fare better than others.

#2 - Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón - Gravity 

The script for Gravity really didn't get any love this past awards season, but I think what Pop and Son Cuarón did was not only provide a visual feast, but a character who has much more background and emotional baggage than we typically ever get in a sci-fi extravaganza.  At the center of the film is not the "survival in space" aspect, but the "survival in life" aspect that we all must face when we lose someone we love.

#1 - Nicole Holofcener - Enough Said 

The romantic comedy is a genre I adore, but it's one that is so easy to succumb to the typical, standard tropes.  Nicole Holofcener doesn't necessarily reinvent the wheel with Enough Said, but she gives us two characters longing for love -- who just so happen to be in their forties/fifties and just so happen to have been involved in disappointing marriages.  The sly humor is so natural -- in part due to some fantastically effortless performances -- that you never felt like jokes were being lobbed at the audience simply to get laughs.  Instead, the humor is borne from the situation.  Light and airy, but also with a lot of heart -- as the film's final ten minutes can attest -- Enough Said is a treat thanks in part to its wonderful screenplay.

Previous RyMickey Award Winners

2012

2011

2010

2009 (Adapted and Original)