Writers Guild honors "Social Network," "Inception"

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES | Sat Feb 5, 2011 10:59pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Facebook film "The Social Network" and thriller "Inception" won top honors from the Writers Guild of America on Saturday in one of the last major Hollywood award shows before the Oscars later this month.

"Social Network" writer Aaron Sorkin took the award for best adapted screenplay from the group that represents U.S. film and television writers and "Inception" creator Christopher Nolan was named best writer of an original script.

Awards from Hollywood's professional guilds often provide hints about which films and filmmakers will compete for Oscars, the world's top film awards, given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on February 27, because many members of the guilds also belong to the academy.

While that is certainly true in the category for best adapted screenplay, where Sorkin and "Social Network" are tipped to win, the other Oscar front-runner, royals drama "The King's Speech," was not nominated for the Writers Guild award for best original screenplay.

Accepting his trophy, Nolan gave a nod to the absence of "The King's Speech," which is leading the Oscar race with 12 nominations but was ineligible for the WGA award because the production was made outside WGA guidelines.

Nolan noted he was "heartbroken" nine years ago when he failed to earn a nomination for his screenplay for "Memento" because it too was outside WGA guidelines. He indicated his award on Saturday night would have been more meaningful had "certain screenplays" been nominated.

He did not name "The King's Speech" by name, however, "for fear of boosting their chances at any other awards," Nolan said to a knowing audience. "King's Speech" did receive an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay.

Nolan said his was "one man's opinion," adding, "This is an incredible honor to me."

Sorkin's script detailing the creation of the social networking site in a Harvard dormitory room in the early 2000s, took top prize for adapted screenplay, and he gave a nod to the movie's director, David Fincher.

"I wrote a good screenplay, but David Fincher made a great movie," Sorkin said.

Along with "King's Speech," "Social Network" is the other front-runner for the best movie Oscar. Sorkin is widely considered the favorite for best adapted screenplay having won several early critics' awards and now the WGA honor.

In the documentary category, writer/director Charles Ferguson took the prize for best writing of a nonfiction film for "Inside Job." More winners can be found at www.wga.org.

The Writers Guild also gives awards in TV categories, and the top two honors in that arena went to "Mad Men" for best TV drama series writing and "Modern Family" for top TV comedy series.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

Powered By WizardRSS

Lindsay Lohan denies jewelry theft, her lawyer says

LOS ANGELES | Sat Feb 5, 2011 8:03pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lindsay Lohan's lawyer on Saturday denied reports that the actress had stolen a necklace and said any charges against her would be fought in court.

Los Angeles police have been investigating allegations that the "Mean Girls" star walked off from a jewelry store last month without paying for a $2,500 necklace.

Prosecutors are reviewing whether to file formal charges against Lohan, although the necklace has been returned to a police station.

"We vehemently deny these allegations and, if charges are filed, we will fight them in court, not in the press," attorney Shawn Chapman Holley said in a statement.

A jewelry store in the beach resort of Venice, where Lohan now lives, reported the necklace missing on January 22 -- just three weeks after she left her fifth stint in rehab in three years.

The allegations came as Lohan, 24, struggles to pull her life and career back together after more than three years of court appearances, failed drug tests, brief spells in jail and a drunk driving conviction.

Lohan is still on probation for her 2007 drunk driving offense and could face jail time if charged and convicted in the jewelry case.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Dan Whitcomb)

Powered By WizardRSS

Famous faces lend voice to Egypt's protests

By Shaimaa Fayed

CAIRO | Sat Feb 5, 2011 4:10pm EST

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's cultural glitterati have joined thousands of protesters from all walks of life calling for an immediate end to President Hosni Mubarak 30-year-rule.

Khalid Abdalla, a British-Egyptian actor known for his lead role in the 2007 adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner," was among the crowd on Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation) square on Saturday.

"I'm here because I'm asking for Mubarak to step down," Abdalla, 30, told Reuters. "I've been here since Friday before last."

Mubarak has pledged to stay on until the end of his term in September, but protesters mounted pressure on him to leave now as they gathered on the square for a 12th day of protests.

As demonstrations continued, an Egyptian army commander was shouted down when he tried to persuade thousands of demonstrators to stop the protest that has stalled economic life in the capital.

Khaled Youssef, director of films critical of the government, was another prominent face among the protesters.

"The Brotherhood are here in Tahrir, so what?" he said of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood group.

"They are part of this nation -- everyone is here. When citizens desire life, fate must respond."

The celebrated blind Egyptian composer Ammar El Shrei, who was guided by supporters through the throngs of demonstrators, was also among those who rallied on the square.

Abdalla denounced what he said was the intimidation of the international media and "brazen lies" by state media channels trying to weaken the protest movements.

"I think with or without Mubarak, the next six months will be complicated, and I think we're better off without him," he said. "The popular will here for social justice, political freedoms and political reform is now unstoppable whether it's here in Tahrir Square or it's moved out for other reasons."

(Editing by Maria Golovnina)

Powered By WizardRSS