Clearly you haven't seen Gods and Monsters. And only the writers branch of the Academy votes for screenplay awards. On paper a movie can be completely different than on-screen. The people who voted for Gods and Monsters have been writing screenplays all their life and seldom do they ever get writing Oscars wrong. Gods and Monsters has some of the best lines I've ever seen. Not to mention the movie itself deserved more recognition.
Look at Goldie's contrasting reactions to the 2 winners * She was so excited when Bill Condon won Adapted Screenplay * But then she looked and sounded disappointed when announcing Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard as the winners for Original Screenplay Good to know that even she didn't care for "Shakespeare in Love" (Steve also didn't look too impressed that it won)
Could it not be because Goldie had a personal connection to Condon’s film, not to mention that Gods and Monsters’ win was very unexpected and Shakespeare in Love’s win was very expected? It’s easy to be excited for the underdog. You may be letting your biases dictate how you read their reactions.
''The Truman Show'' was much more philosophical and meaningful than ''Shakespeare in Love''. Let's be honest, out of all the nominees, ''The Truman Show'''s script was the most powerful. ''Shakespeare in Love'' was too much melodramatic, especially compared to ''The Truman Show''.
I know you wrote this 9 years ago but I have to respond because every word you said is true. Truman Show is a groundbreaking timeless cinematic masterpiece.
I have to say reading the Gods and Monsters script was quite exhilarating - in my top 5 with Thelma & Louise, Some Like It Hot, The Sting and Body Heat. It, and the movie, is so very beautiful it takes my breath away in parts. I'm glad Condon won it.
All the stuff Bill won for GODS AND MONSTER inspired me to see it. He didn't just win an Oscar. A tragedy GODS bombed. But... Bill made up for that when he made CHICAGO. Bill hugs and kisses his husband before he accepts the Oscar... I'm so glad they showed that instead of cutting that out for... you know, "content".
6:23. I'm behaving like Roberto Benigni underneath. 6:29. Roberto's like "What's he talking about?". He doesn't have a clue, LOL. If you've seen Roberto accept the Foreign Language Film Oscar for Life is Beautiful though, you'll understand.
Adapted Screenplay was an easy call. No serious contenders for Condon's instant classic. But the Original one was a tough one. Both "Shakespeare" and "Truman" had tons of originality and screenwriting wit. If I were to choose, it would probably be a tie.
My nominations for Original Screenplay: American History X The Big Lebowski (TIED WINNER) Life is Beautiful Saving Private Ryan The Truman Show (TIED WINNER)
I sort of felt the same way... but I watched the BAFTA's. Andrew Niccoll won Best for that, so... As well as "Best Screenplay" from the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards, London Film Critics Circle Awards, the Saturn Awards and the Online Film Critics Society Awards... ... as well as countless OTHER nominations, so...
In the quiet words of Hans Landa "Facts can be so misleading where rumours, true or false, can be revealing". :-) What I really want to say is that the word had it at the moment, Condon was gonna win this. And I truly like "Out of Sight" and "The Thin Red Line" alot.
Well, at first in the least. Actually, the "Truman Show" was a darling before the nominations, but seeing that it was totally crippled with only three of them, "Shakespeare" automatically turned into a seabisquit.
While everyone is complaining about Saving Private Ryan not winning Best Picture, I'm the only one pissed that The Truman Show didn't win Best Original Screenplay. Not only is it one of the most ingenious screenplays of modern cinema, it's a story that was far ahead of it's time!
Probably should've been Out of Sight and The Truman Show. Shakespeare in Love was a wonderful winner tho. If I recall correctly, Gods and Monsters winning here was a surprise but I guess it makes sense since they didn't give Lynn or Sir Ian their respective awards. Still weird tho especially when Out of Sight was probably the best reviewed film of 1998.
The nominations basically told us that OUT OF SIGHT was NOT going to win that, because it didn't receive any additional nomination above-the-line (NOTE: above-the-line refers to Writing, Acting, Directing, and Picture categories; to win Screenplay in general (especially Adapted), a film needs at least one additional nomination in the picture, director, or acting categories).
Annie Wilson It’s available on ITunes and Gods And Monsters: Music From The Original Soundtrack www.amazon.com/dp/B00000FDH9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_mY-1Eb3GZYVY9
It is widely believed that "Shakespeare in Love" was a stolen script. The two screenwriters who claim to have written it seemed highly unlikely. Marc Norman, the writer from Los Angeles had no background in classical period piece. He has never or since wrote anything like it. His other credits are terribly different (Oklahoma Crude, Cutthroat Island and The Aviator). The other writer Tom Stoppard, born in Czechoslovakia, could have written it. But then again, his other works like 'Three men in a boat', 'Indiana Jones and the last crusade' or 'Empire of the sun' are nowhere close to this kind of writing. Composing this magnificent script required in depth knowledge of Elizabethan era, ability to capture English renaissance and literary strength to bestow nuances and tones...that comes from classical training. None of the writers on the stage had that. So...who actually wrote "Shakespeare in Love" ?
First of all, are you implying that writer's were only able to write one specific Kind of Story? Second, wasn't John Logan the Writer for The Aviator? And lastly, Tom Stoppard did NOT write Indiana Jones
