‘Descendants,’ ‘Hugo,’ ‘Midnight in Paris’ Nominated by Writers Guild

“Bridesmaids” continues its remarkable run of guild nominations, while “War Horse” and “Extremely Loud” are left out; “The Artist” isn’t eligible

"The Descendants," "Midnight in Paris," "The Help" and "Moneyball" are among the nominees for the Writers Guild of America's top feature film awards, the WGA announced on Thursday.

And the raunchy comedy "Bridesmaids" continued its remarkable run of guild and critics awards, while high-toned competitors "War Horse" and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" were left out.

In the Adapted Screenplay category, "The Descendants," "The Help" and "Moneyball" will be competing with "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and "Hugo."

The DescendantsIn Original Screenplay, "Midnight in Paris" was nominated alongside "50/50," "Bridesmaids," "Win Win" and "Young Adult."

The WGA also nominated six documentaries. The field includes three docs that have been shortlisted for the Oscars — "Better This World," "If a Tree Falls" and "Pina" — along with "Nostalgia for the Light," "Position Among the Stars" and "Senna."

Because of WGA rules, many of the films considered to be in the running for the Academy Awards, including "The Artist" and "Shame," were not eligible.

The Writers Guild Awards are restricted to films made under the guild's minimum basic agreement, or made under agreements with a number of affiliated foreign guilds.

Those restrictions annually knock out a number of Oscar contenders. This year's casualties include "The Artist," "Shame," "Beginners," "Drive," "Martha Marcy May Marlene," "My Week With Marilyn," "The Iron Lady," "Like Crazy," "Margin Call," "Take Shelter" and "Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy," among others.

Given the narrow array of eligible films from which to draw — the WGA field is about a third the size of the Oscar field — the nominations contained few surprises. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" was considered an unlikelier nominee in some circles than, say, "The Ides of March," "War Horse" or "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," but Steven Zaillian is a past winner whose inclusion can never be too surprising.

On the Original Screenplay front, Diablo Cody's "Young Adult" script may be divisive, but none of the alternatives ("Contagion," "J. Edgar," "The Tree of Life") were favorites to be nominated.

The nominees:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"50/50," Written by Will Reiser; Summit Entertainment
"Bridesmaids," Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig; Universal Studios
"Midnight in Paris," Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics
"Win Win," Screenplay by Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni; Fox Searchlight
"Young Adult," Written by Diablo Cody; Paramount Pictures
 
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"The Descendants," Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemming; Fox Searchlight
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," Screenplay by Steven Zaillian; Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson, originally published by Norstedts; Columbia Pictures
"The Help," Screenplay by Tate Taylor; Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett; DreamWorks Pictures
"Hugo," Screenplay by John Logan; Based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick; Paramount Pictures
"Moneyball," Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin; Based on the book by Michael Lewis; Columbia Pictures
 
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
"Better This World," Written by Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega; Loteria Films
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front," Written by Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamachek; Oscilloscope Pictures
"Nostalgia for the Light," Written by Patricio Guzmán; Icarus Films
"Pina," Screenplay by Wim Wenders; Sundance Selects
"Position Among the Stars," Script by Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich, Leonard Retel Helmrich; HBO Films
"Senna," Written by Manish Pandey; Producers Distribution Agency
 

Comments