I have to admit Original Screenplay category is more competing than Adapted. I had to exclude some other movies people consider as the best ones (like Dallas Buyers Club, or Saving Mr. Banks) just to come up with five only. But, this is it. Blue Jasmine is a bitter-sweet character study, Upstream Color is a meticulous piece of writing, and Rush puts a friend-or-foe rivalry into a whole new level. Inside Llewyn Davis? Bleak yet light, like any other achieving screenplay from Joel and Ethan Coen. But none of them exceeds the vision Spike Jonze offered to us in Her. He didn’t only write an unlikely romance between a lonely man and an operating system; he also wrote an unimaginable future. He raised his idea about a new world, a new society, a new technology, and even a new fashion style. This is a writing I believe so rare we won’t see in every year changing. Thank you, Mr. Jonze.

runners-up:

Shakespearean jokes in Much Ado About Nothing and a tense hijacking at sea in Captain Phillips are those I have to give appreciation to, but I believe my choice to put the book-to-film adaptation of Catching Fire is uncommon. And I proud of it, because I think it deserved my mention. In the other hand, despairs and tortures in 12 Years A Slave are the things that expand my insight about USA’s sorrowful past, and I think we all learned a lot from the movie. Still, I was so surprised by how complicated Jesse and Celine’s romance in Before Midnight has become. The decision to escalate their romance into a different form is risky, but Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy chose to re-solidify the on-screen couple’s chemistry that was about to fade in our hearts after years. How they overturned the predictable plot into a new, engaging piece of writing is just... stunning.

JOHN RIDLEY based on the book "Twelve Years A Slave" by Solomon Northup		SIMON BEAUFOY & MICHAEL ARNDT based on the novel "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
BILLY RAY based on the book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea" by Richard Phillips & Stephen Talty		JOSS WHEDON based on the play by William Shakespeare

GRAVITY

It feels shameful not to put Martin Scorsese’s extravaganza in The Wolf of Wall Street here, so I’ll put him here. I appreciate his effort to run crazy with Leo, 'though. Lol. Nicolas Winding Refn’s bold signature in his impressionistic Only God Forgives didn’t attract much love from the critics, but I’m no critic and I think his effort worth mentioning. So does Paul Greengrass’ job in keeping up the tension of Captain Phillips high while at the same time directing his actors (including some newcomers) to show their emotional side. Meanwhile, Steve McQueen’s reconstruction of the dark history of the country was vivid (if not one-sided) and haunting. Nevertheless, the unbelievable Gravity would’ve not been made without the vision, careful hand of Alfonso Cuaron. He’s a genius, you agree?

12 YEARS A SLAVE		CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
ONLY GOD FORGIVES		THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

RECAP
Best Original Screenplay
1. Her
2. Inside Llewyn Davis
3. Rush
4. Upstream Color
5. Blue Jasmine

Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Before Midnight
2. 12 Years A Slave
3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
4. Captain Phillips
5. Much Ado About Nothing

Best Director
1. Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
2. Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave)
3. Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips)
4. Nicolas Winding Refn (Only God Forgives)
5. Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)

In this category, 12 Years A Slave and Captain Phillips both gain most mentions with two runner-up positions, but altogether with technical categories, Her is still leading with 3 wins and 2 runner-ups.

Coming up, 2013 Movie Recap for acting categories!