Buffs

The Writers Guild of America has just come out with their list of the 101 Greatest Screenplays, a.k.a. the 101 Greastest Hollywood Screenplays, or something like that. Except for The Third Man, 8 1/2, La Grande Illusion...you get the picture. In any case the main value of such a list is some fun exploration for film nerds like me and maybe you, hours of enjoyment.

Each entry on the list has a link to "Facts About the Film" so you can spend a lot of time learning some details you might not know about the making of these esteemed screenplays/flicks. Then there's a last layer of drilldown where you can "Read a Page from the Screenplay of" that particular movie. Annie Hall's is particularly funny.

There's the usual problems with a list like this. Taking Annie Hall for example. It's been widely documently that the movie was made in the editing room, with Allen completely restructuring what he wrote and shot, going out to shoot more material, creating a success that could not have come strictly from writing but required, uh, filmmaking.

There's most of the Hitchcock movies down near the bottom of the list. (Notorious at #101? Below When Harry Met Sally, Moonstruck, Thelma & Louise? No Vertigo??) There's injustices galore in the ordering and omissions, all good fun to rage over.

Yet there's one thing about the list that's a surefire insurance policy against total dismissal.

It's tough to argue that Casablanca doesn't deserve that #1 spot.