Favorite Original Screenplay winners

My fellow cubicle slave Dan Maley, as he was trying in vein to convince me that Gladys Knight is a better soul singer than Al Green, then explained "I just like making lists."

Well, so do I. They're not only a great way to waste time, but they also help you remember things that may have eluded your memory's grasp years ago. Today I've compiled a list of my favorite Original Screenplay winners at the Academy Awards. Why? Because I wanted to. Nuff said.

Looking at it, it strikes me that round about the late 70s to early 80s was when the Academy made this and the Adapted Screenplay category the real consolation prizes, giving them to the flicks they really knew were the best of the year. This year, those dubious honors will hopefully go to Guillermo del Toro for "Pan's Labyrinth," my favorite movie of 2006, and Alfonso Cuaron and his fellow writers for their adaptation of "Children of Men."

Anyways, here goes:

1952: The Lavender Hill Mob (T.E.B. Clarke)
Sure, it's pretty much a Keystone Cops-style screwball comedy, but as those go they don't get much funnier than "The Lavender Hill Mob." It made me laugh out loud as a kid, and it still does today.

1968: The Producers (Mel Brooks)
Before I went back and looked at the list of winners, I was convinced that the Academy's bias against comedy had been an affliction since the beginning. Even with that bias, it would have been nearly impossible to overlook this one, not my favorite Mel Brooks movie (still "Young Frankenstein"), but very funny all the same, and Zero Mostel is just perfect.

1972: The Candidate (Jeremy Larner)
Speaking of "Young Frankenstein," Peter Lorre was great as a campaign operative in this somewhat-too-preachy look at what happens to an idealist candidate (Robert Redford) after he actually gets elected to office. It's a bit dated now, but watching it recently I found it still has plenty to say about the grind politicians go through to win office.

1976: Network (Paddy Chayefsky)
This one may be best known for Peter Finch's "mad as hell" meltdown, probably the most quoted (and misquoted) speech in film history, but it has a lot more to say about the dangers of media consolidation. It's that rare movie that may be even more timely now than it was then. Watch it and be afraid, very afraid.

1979: Breaking Away (Steve Tesich)
This is easily my favorite among the movies on this list. Sports underdog fans may claim "Rudy" or "Hoosiers" as their top dog, but when I was 9 years old, there was nothing better than this tale of an Indiana dude who just wants to race his bicycle with the Italians. Jackie Earle Haley, nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar this year, was great as Moocher, basically a slightly older version of his "Bad News Bears" character.

1994: Pulp Fiction (Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino; Stories by Roger Avary and Quentin Tarantino}
Not much needs to be said about this one. "Jackie Brown" is still my favorite Tarantino flick, but there are none quite as cool as "Pulp Fiction." If anyone who reads this actually lives in the Macon area, you can see it on the big screen again March 7 at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. at the Regal Rivergate 14's Flashback Festival. If you're at the 7:30 show, I'll see you there.

1995: The Usual Suspects (Christopher McQuarrie)
The beauty in McQuarrie's script is in the puzzle it constructs, piece by piece. The first time I watched this Bryan Singer flick, I didn't get it. When it was over, I was just scratching my head and muttering that there was no way Verbal's story actually made sense. After multiple viewings, however, I eventually caught up.

1996: Fargo (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
The Coens have a rare gift, when they choose to use it, of putting viewers completely in a specific time and place. They may have done it slightly better with "O Brother Where Art Thou," but thanks to a remarkable performance from Frances McDormand, this one comes in a close second.

2000: Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe)
Cameron Crowe's last two flicks ("Elizabethtown" and the simply unnecessary "Vanilla Sky") have just been real dogs. He needs to get working again to remind us that, when he sticks to the essentials - love and pop music - he can craft a timeless tale. According to the IMDB he has absolutely nothing on the horizon, so just go back and watch this one again (and avoid the "Untitled" cut - it really adds nothing but more time.)

2001: Gosford Park (Julian Fellowes)
Fellowes' challenge here, which he accomplished with style, was to craft a great Robert Altman movie not written by Altman himself. With this murder mystery set at an English country estate, he managed to craft one of the better ensemble movies for the master of that genre.

So, there you have it. I'm now running very late for work. Hope you found something here for your rental queue, and please feel free to add any titles you think I snubbed.