We're now in the final seven days of the 2012/2013 awards season. This time next week we'll be bleary eyed, a little hungover, and probably quite ready to never see Seth MacFarlane tell another joke about "Django Unchained" for the rest of our lives. But there's still been some time to squeeze in some precursor awards, and after the Eddies on Saturday, last night saw the last major pre-Oscars ceremony, in the shape of the final of the four big guilds, the Writers' Guild of America.
And, true to the form of the season, it was Ben Affleck's "Argo" that walked away with one of the big prizes, the film's writer Chris Terrio taking the award for Outstanding Achievement in Writing – Adapted Screenplay, beating out David O Russell, David Magee, Tony Kushner and Stephen Chbosky. It's one of the tougher categories we've seen this year, but given the swell of support for Affleck's film in recent weeks, few would have been surprised to see Terrio win.
It also marks a clean sweep of the guilds for the film, having previously won at the PGA, SAG and DGA. It's not totally unusual for a film to pull that off ("The King's Speech" did it two years ago). But it's extremely rare for a film to manage it and not go on to win Best Picture (even "Apollo 13," which some have suggested could be a parallel with "Argo," missed out with the WGA), so the already short odds on Affleck's film taking Best Picture on Sunday have just shrunk again.
It wasn't the only major winner of the night, with, in something more of a departure, Mark Boal picking up the prize for Outsanding Achievement In Writing – Original Screenplay for "Zero Dark Thirty." It was actually the film that made the most sense in the category; WGA nominees "Looper" and "The Master" aren't Oscar nominated, and "Flight" and "Moonrise Kingdom" have rarely threatened. But with both "Amour" and "Django Unchained" being WGA eligible nominated, Boal still has a pair of serious threats (especially Tarantino's script, which won the BAFTA last weekend) to overcome to pick up the prize at the Dolby Theater next weekend.
Also adding to its awards haul was "Searching For Sugar Man," which took the prize for Documentary, having already won an award with BAFTA, the Golden Globes and the Critics' Choice, among others. It's always a tricky category to predict, but Malik Bendjelloul's film is as safe a bet with the Academy as you can imagine. On the TV side of things, "Breaking Bad" won Drama Series and "Louie" won Best Comedy, with "Girls," "Hatfields & McCoys," "Game Change," "Mad Men," "Modern Family," "The Simpsons" and "Portlandia" all winning prizes. You can see the full list of winners below.
The WGA weren't the only awards to be held last night, with the 60th edition of the Motion Picture Sound Editors' Golden Reel Awards. "Life of Pi" came out top with two awards, but "Skyfall" and "Les Miserables" also picked up prizes (along with "Wreck-It Ralph" and 'Rust and Bone," so you'll likely be kept guessing in the sound categories when it comes to make your Oscar predictions (and don't forget the possibility of "Argo" too… Again, read the full list of nominees below.
WGA Awards
FILM
Outstanding Achievement in Writing – Adapted Screenplay
"Argo"
Screenplay by Chris Terrio
Based on a selection from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article “The Great Escape” by Joshuah Bearman
Outstanding Achievement in Writing – Original Screenplay
"Zero Dark Thirty"
Written by Mark Boal
Outstanding Achievement in Writing – Documentary Screenplay
"Searching for Sugar Man"
Written by Malik Bendjelloul
TELEVISION
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Drama Series
"Breaking Bad"
Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Comedy Series
"Louie"
Written by Pamela Adlon, Vernon Chatman, Louis C.K.
Outstanding Achievement in Writing New Series
"Girls"
Written by Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin, Lena Dunham, Sarah Heyward, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Jenni Konner, Deborah Schoeneman, Dan Sterling
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Long Form – Original
"Hatfields & McCoys" – "Nights Two and Three"
Teleplay by Ted Mann and Ronald Parker; Story by Bill Kerby and Ted Mann
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Long Form – Adapted
"Game Change"
Written by Danny Strong
Based on the book by Mark Halperin and John Hellemann
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Episodic Drama
"Mad Men" – "The Other Woman"
Written by Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Episodic Comedy
"Modern Family" – "Virgin Territory"
Written by Elaine Ko
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Animation
"The Simpsons" – "Ned 'N Edna's Blend Agenda"
Written by Jeff Westbrook
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Daytime Drama
"The Young and the Restless"
Written by Amanda Beall, Jeff Beldner, Susan Dansby, Janice Ferri Esser, Jay Gibson, Scott Hamner, Marla Kanelos, Natalie Minardi Slater, Beth Milstein, Michael Montgomery, Anne Schoettle, Linda Schreiber, Sarah K. Smith, Christopher J. Whitesell, Teresa Zimmerman
Outstanding Achievement in Writing News – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking Report
"Tragedy In Colorado: The Movie Theatre Massacre"
Written by Lisa Ferri, Joel Siegel
Outstanding Achievement in Writing News – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
"Moyers & Company" – "The Ghost of Joe McCarthy"
Written by Bill Moyers, Michael Winship
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Documentary – Current Events
"Frontline" – "Money, Power and Wall Street: Episode One"
Written by Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Documentary – Other Than Current Events
"Nova" – "The Fabric of the Cosmos: Quantum Leap"
Telescript by Randall MacLowry
Story by Joseph McMaster and Randall MacLowry
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Children's Television – Episodic & Specials
"Sesame Street" – "The Good Sport"
Written by Christine Ferraro
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Children's Television – Long Form or Special
"Girl vs. Monster"
Story by Annie DeYoung
Teleplay by Annie DeYoung and Ron McGee
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Comedy/Variety (Including Talk) – Series
"Portlandia"
Writers: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Karey Dornetto, Jonathan Krisel, Bill Oakley
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Comedy/Variety – Music, Awards, Tributes – Specials
"66th Annual Tony Awards"
Written by Dave Boone
Special Material by Paul Greenberg
Opening and Closing Songs by David Javerbaum, Adam Schlesinger
RADIO
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Regularly Scheduled or Breaking Report
"World News This Year 2011"
Written by Darren Reynolds
Outstanding Achievement in Writing News – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
"Dishin Digital"
Written by Robert Hawley
PROMOTIONAL WRITING AND GRAPHIC ANIMATION
On-Air Promotion (Radio or Television)
"Partners"
Written by Dan A. Greenberger
Television Graphic Animation
"Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood" – "The Oscars"
Animation by Bob Pook
NEW MEDIA
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Derivative New Media
"The Walking Dead: Cold Storage" – "Parting Shots"
Written by John Esposito
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Original New Media
"Jack in a Box" – "The Future, Episode 7/Series Finale"
Written by Michael Cyril Creighton
VIDEO GAME
Outstanding Achievement in Writing Video Games
"Assassin's Creed III: Liberation"
Scriptwriting by Richard Farrese, Jill Murray
HONORARY AWARDS
Paul Selvin Award
Tony Kushner
Valentine Davies Humanitarian Award
Phil Rosenthal
Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television
Joshua Brand, John Falsey
Lifetime Achievement Award
Tom Stoppard
MPSE Golden Reel Awards
FILM
Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in an Animation Feature Film
"Wreck-it Ralph"
Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue, ADR and Music in a Feature Documentary
"Last Call at the Oasis"
Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Foreign Language Film
"Rust and Bone"
Best Sound Editing: Music in a Feature Film
"Life of Pi"
Best Sound Editing: Music in a Musical Feature Film
"Les Misérables"
Best Sound Editing: Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film
"Life of Pi"
Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film
"Skyfall"
TELEVISION
Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR Animation in Television
"Adventure Time" – "Card Wars"
Best Sound Editing: Long Form Documentary
"Crossfire Hurricane"
Best Sound Editing: Long Form Music in Television
"Hemingway & Gellhorn"
Best Sound Editing: Short Form Music in Television
"Fringe" – "A Short Story About Love"
Best Sound Editing: Long Form Dialogue and ADR in Television
"Game of Thrones" – Season 2 – "Valar Morghulis"
Best Sound Editing: Long Form Sound Effects and Foley in Television
(TIE)
"SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden" and "Game of Thrones" – Season 2 – "Valar Morghulis"
Best Sound Editing: Long Form Musical in Television
"Let it Shine"
Best Sound Editing: Short Form Musical in Television
"Smash" – "Hell on Earth"
Best Sound Editing: Short Form Dialogue and ADR in Television
"The Newsroom" – "Amen"
Best Sound Editing: Short Form Sound Effects and Foley in Television
"American Horror Story" – "Welcome to Briarcliff"
OTHER NOMINEES
Best Sound Editing: Computer Episodic Entertainment
"Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn"
Best Sound Editing: Computer Interactive Entertainment
"Resident Evil 6"
Best Sound Editing: Direct to Video – Animation
"Justice League: Doom"
Best Sound Editing: Direct to Video – Live Action
"Fire with Fire"
Verna Fields Award in Sound Editing for Student Filmmakers
"Head Over Heels"
Filmmaker Award
Ang Lee
Career Achievement Award
John Roesch