[UPDATED] The 2009 Star Trek movie was up for honors at two different guild award shows being held tonight. First up was the WGA Awards, where Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman unfortunately failed to win for their Star Trek script. And it was the same story at the the MPSE Golden Reel Awards were Star Trek sound editors lost out in three categories. Full details below.
WGA: Star Trek loses to Up in the Air – Lost loses to Mad Men
The WGA Awards were held tonight at two simultaneous events, with WGA West at the Hyatt Regency in Los Angeles and WGA East at the Hudson Theatre in New York City. The feature film nominees, including Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman were in attendance in Los Angeles.
Star Trek and Orci and Kurtzman were nominated by the WGA in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, which was a first for the Star Trek franchise. Orci and Kurtzman were the only two whose work was not based on a book. They were was going up against writers of Up in the Air, Crazy Heart, Julie & Julia, and Precious. As expected by most award watchers, the WGA Best Adapted Screenplay Award went to Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for Up in the Air, which was based upon the novel by Walter Kirn. As for the Best Original Screenplay Award, that went to Mark Boal for The Hurt Locker.
Orci and Kurtzman (pose for their mugshots?) at 2010 WGA Awards
Another member of Star Trek’s new ‘Supreme Court’ was also nominated for a WGA Award. Star Trek producer (and sequel co-writer) Damon Lindelof and the Lost writing staff were nominated for Best Writing in a Drama Series. But the award went to the writing staff from Mad Men.
See The Wrap for the full list of WGA Awards winners
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MPSE Golden Reels: Star Trek loses to Avatar and Basterds
Also being held tonight in Los Angeles was the Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards. Star Trek and Avatar led the field with three nominations each. And once again Star Trek ended up empty handed, with Avatar winning two and Inglorious Basterds winning one. Although not a shocker, sound has been considered one of Star Trek’s strongest areas. Here is a breakdown of the feature film categories where Trek had nominations:
Best Sound Editing: Music in a Feature Film
- 2012
- (500) Days of Summer
- An Education
- Avatar >>WINNER<<
- It’s Complicated
- Star Trek
- Sherlock Holmes
- The Informant!
Best Sound Editing: Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film
- (500) Days of Summer
- A Serious Man
- Avatar
- GI Joe
- Inglourious Basterds >>WINNER<<
- Star Trek
- The Hurt Locker
- The Stoning of Soraya M.
Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film
- 2012
- Avatar >>WINNER<<
- Inglourious Basterds
- Push
- Transformers – Revenge of the Fallen
- The Hurt Locker
- Star Trek
- Watchmen
See Variety for a full list of winners.
Star Trek is also up for a number of other sound awards. The film is up for a BAFTA award in sound tomorrow. In addition, Star Trek was nominated for a sound mixing award from the Cinema Audio Society Awards, which are being held next weekend. Finally, Star Trek has been nominated for sound mixing and sound editing Academy Awards, which will be handed out March 7th.
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Up Next: BAFTAs Tomorrow
As noted earlier, the next test for Star Trek is on Sunday at the BAFTAs (the British equivalent of the Oscars). Star Trek is up for two awards: Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects. Look for an update tomorrow on the outcome of the BAFTAs and any photos of Trek celebs (maybe Simon Pegg will show up).
I seriously think the “Star Trek” screenplay was better than “Up in the Air”. (I’m not saying that because I’m a fan.) But of the five films I would have voted for “Crazy Heart”.
I thought “Up in the Air” had some lovely moments in it, really driven by dialogue, but honestly of those nominated I think “Julie & Julia” impressed me slightly more as far as the writing went … because the film itself may strike some as a bit gimmicky (like a kind of one-sided “84 Charing Cross Road”) I think that may overshadow things a bit, but it was a really cleverly written film, very tight and very revelatory.
I loved Crazy Heart more for the acting than for the writing, and ditto that for Star Trek. Still haven’t seen Precious (I know; I know …)
It honestly never occurred to me to look up which of the nominees were “strike movies” (screenplays that went to screen more as-written due to the strike) but I’d be curious to see which were …
“Orci and Kurtzman were the only two whose work was not based on a novel.”
Julie & Julia is 50% based on a book compiling a weblog, and 50% based on Julia Child’s own memoirs of her time in France (two books, but neither of them novels).
IIRC.
nitpick nitpick
i replaced novel with book
thx
Sorry guys you didnt win, more invalidation (good on those that won, but its us public who cares, not judges). Dont let it get you down of course, keep producing material that people want to view like you have been for many years! Im one fan that glad you are out there writing material, along with MANY others!
Agree HH-
Well, these guys were up against stiff competition. Can’t really complain.
But “history” was made when Bob and Alex became the first Star Trek writers to be nominated for a WGA award. Can’t believe they are the first, but they obviously did something write to get recognized. Congratulations, guys! Maybe next time you’ll make history again by winning the award with an even better screenplay. :-)
Please, no Kahn in the sequel.
(That was a joke! I actually am completely open to whatever these two, and the rest of the new Trek team, want to do for Trek 2012!)
(I just can’t believe we are almost 10 comments into an Orci/Kurtzman thread and no one has brought up Kahn yet. The commenters are slipping!)
Good stuff.
Its never about the destination…. its all about the journey. The Trek team has made it far..
Article updated to include MPSE Awards, Trek lost there too
#8: Amazingly, nobody brought up Khan either. Man, you guys are off your A-game tonight!
Who cares- the vast majority of people that saw the movie REALLY enjoyed it. And I’m pretty sure thats going to be validation enough for the writer dudes.
Up in the Air was pretty good, but it was way more emotionally rough than I thought it was going to be. The metaphorical curb stomping George Clooney’s character gets is brutal.
TREK does not “lose.” It gains momentum.
Bob, Alex and the boys know this, and are going to kick our asses directly into the 23rd century with their next film.
While I really liked Star Trek, I’m not too surprised that they lost either.
I think it’ll be the same way at the Oscars with them losing out to other films. I think the only chance they have at winning is Makeup.
It doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of the film that they lose out to other films. There can only be one winner. And like the old saying goes “It’s an honor just being nominated”. Look how many awards Star Trek 2009 has been nominated for. Surely must be a record for the franchise. Now that’s something to be proud of just by itself.
Star Trek totally deserves every sound award it can get. Hell, i was blown away by the bleeps and bloops you hear in the first 5 seconds of the movie…
Star Trek nominated for a sound award involving Dialogue and ADR?
I laugh at this. Trek09 is one of the worst examples of ADR I’ve experienced in a film. Everything ADR related sounds very last minute and totally out of proportion. Just listen to all the background chatter on the Kelvin bridge. The information is obviously important later in the story, but it’s all said by characters off screen.
Just look at Captain Robau and how he’s just sitting in his chair looking out the window while important information is being said off screen. Why not have Robau be the one asking “Could this be klingon?”. Give the characters lines!
I also hate those little last minute addons that make no sense like having Nero say offscreen that he would deprive Kirk of his life just like he did his father. How could Nero have known that it was Kirk’s Dad who rammed into his ship? And for that matter, why would he even care? It really feels last minute because neither Kirk nor Nero reflect back on that line.
Also hate that ADR Pike line “Your father would be proud”. You couldn’t have him say it on screen? And doesn’t Kirk still have a mother? Wouldn’t that line have held more weight to it if it was coming from someone who, you know, was married to his father?! Why does this movie hold mothers in such low regards? Just throw in a line via ADR explaining she’s off planet. ADR fixes everything.
stop it Jeyl.
Actually Jeyl, I to have thought about those things, I would like to think that if I just saved the world, graduated from starfleet and was being givin a very early command of the flagship of the federation, that my mother would show up to such an event, but hey… it doesnt ruin the movie in anay way shape or form. I do believe that given thier mission of rebooting the franchise in a way that honors the past wile bringing Trek into the massess. Well hell. Mission accomplished!
Bleh,
To quote the Borg,
“WGA and MPSE are irrelevant.”
Trek rules, ’nuff said.
Just as there are infinite possibilities in how things can unfurl in the universe, there are probably just as many possibilities in how a story, or script, can be written. This movie was written by two guys who were given the job, with no obligation on behalf of the studio to incorporate input from numerous “expert fans.” IMO, all of this nitpicking about the story is just a way of looking to find things wrong. Maybe it’s just a psychological thing, but I do know some people who always have to find “wrong” with almost everything. I also believe that when finding something “wrong” prevents one’s enjoyment of a moment, or an event, or a freakin movie, there is something “wrong” with that. Just my opinion, of course. So, all the nitpickers may be “right,” but the rest of us are happy. Just voicing my simple opinion, so carry on, nitpickers of the world…
@18: I don’t think you can. Jeyl’s on a mission from God or something, like the Blues Brothers, but with less Aretha Franklin and more kvetching.
#7, Star Trek has never received a WGA nomination for the Best Adapted Screenplay category in a feature film.
However, the various television series have been nominated several times for other WGA awards categories, and has won at least once. So this is_not_the first time a Star Trek writer has been nominated for a WGA award.
Not surprised they didn’t win. They wrote an entertaining movie; one I enjoyed a lot. But a great one? That is yet to come, and I’m hopeful that they’ll deliver.
I am just getting crazy restless, I need more movie news, start writing the script. The hype and marketing was just so energized for the first movie….I need more trek. This dead time in between movies is making me nuts!
Oh and F*ck you Avatar and F*ck you UP. Not going to see Avatar 2 in theaters just to support trek….Avatar 2 will be a rental 3D shmee dee. Trek deserves all the awards because I am bias!
“Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman unfortunately failed to win for their Star Trek script.”
Unfortunate? Really? Their nomination was surprise enough! Don’t award shoddy writing–give it the cold shoulder like it deserves. Or, better yet, a Razzie.
Best sound effects went to Avatar?
Did they even LISTEN to the sound effects? They were all Jurassic Park retreads! Just ask Ben Burtt! He made them!
What was that other movie last year that should have won instead? Oh that’s right… Star Trek!
These award shows are all lemmings, man…
19. “I do believe that given thier mission of rebooting the franchise in a way that honors the past wile bringing Trek into the massess. Well hell. Mission accomplished!”
Really? I thought Star Trek was always available to the masses. I don’t recall anything Trek related being pulled from the archives so that the masses wouldn’t be able to watch or enjoy them.
And besides, what is this “honor” thing that folks keep talking about? To say this new film honors Star Trek is a pretty vague assertion when you don’t provide any example or details. Sure, the look and sound certainly feels honored (to a degree), but I for one don’t feel it honors Star Trek at it’s soul. What this new movie does is honor the generalization of what most people ‘think’ Star Trek is about. A lot of people say that Kirk was this ladies man who would go after any lady he saw. I do not recall that sort of behavior being a dominant factor in how Kirk interacts with women. Or what about labeling* Scotty as just a comic relief character ? Everything he says and does in Trek09 is meant to bring about a laugh. What ever happened to that serious tone Scotty had? Like in “A taste of Armageddon” when he stood up to Ambassador Fox, or his stern commitment in helping stop the Doomsday Machine? Sure he had some funny moments, but so did everyone else including Kirk and Spock.
That’s what I think at least. Trek09 is a representation of what the masses think Star Trek and it’s characters are about, not what Star Trek really is.
*Damon Lindelof from the First Contact commentary states just that. He also thinks you should kill your borgified friends instead of saving them so they don’t have to live with the ‘memories’ of being a Borg.
It’s like I’ve been saying all along. All these award programs are a joke. Trek never wins. In fact, I dare all these award programs to actually let Trek win ONCE! Of course they wont because the people running them are a bunch of losers who have no life in my opinion.
@29
Correct. To me, the script was written from a point of view of a kid who heard about Trek from his uncle.
What? We lost? I must’ve blacked out after Reitman dropped something in my coffee…
…how did I get home?
While Jeyl comes across as uncompromisingly negative about the new Trek, (s)he does make some points that I think are valid. These writers have paid homage to some surface elements of Trek, but they have yet to truly capture the substance of the franchise. Its essence, if you will.
I’m willing to be patient. After all they only had 2 hours in which to restart/reboot this thing. There were certain objectives that needed to be achieved during this first outing. IMHO they were successful for the most part. Once they’ve created a substantial body of work, *THEN* it’ll be time to be truly critical.
NuTrek was a fun romp for a long summer’s day. Despite its basis of Star Trek, it is a long way to proving itself as meaningful or excellent in any but the sense of the revenue generated for Paramount Pictures division, Viacom Corp. My observation is that popcorn munchers rarely stand the test of time. Thus far, Star Trek withstood it more than 40 years and the jury is still deliberating. It is, as they say, a tough act to follow.
Sincerely,
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis,
Allah be praised, we actually agree.
@31
“Correct. To me, the script was written from a point of view of a kid who heard about Trek from his uncle.”
THat just made mesmile. Don’t know why. :)
@31
“Correct. To me, the script was written from a point of view of a kid who heard about Trek from his uncle.”
That just made me smile. Don’t know why. :)
Lol Bob, Here is hoping you win the Saturn Awards
Jeyl
Sure, Trek may have always been available to the masses, but fact is, the masses didnt watch and as a result trek dried up. Sure, there are other resons why Trek died off (Cough, berman..Bragga Cough) but the fact is is that Trek was no longer populer, even among its own fan base, and now… it is.
that was thier mission and they without question succeded. Were the characters spot on in all regards. Hell no, I do believe you make a lot of valad points. Will I be upset if some of these things are not addressed in the sequal(s)? Yes. But for now, the imidiate problem, Treks unpopularity leading to poor box office of movies and cancellation of shows, has been fixed. What they do with that now is up to them.
Bob, no you won! now go back and pick up your award, their still holding it for a limited time from what I understand. And doesnt Kurtzman look like he has devil horns in that picture above?
35. Michael Hall – February 21, 2010
Who says there are no such things as miracles ;-)
Sincerely,
C.S. Lewis
38. Bill Peters – February 21, 2010
Why ruin our streak!?
Yeah, it’s a damned shame that 2 hours of ST.09, preoccupied with telling an origin story that rebirthed the Star Trek universe and franchise couldn’t be every thing we remember from 80 hours of TOS, and couldn’t do each one of a thousand incompatible different things that every whining fan wanted to see done.
And of course, when I say “everything we remember,” I am leaving out the cheap sets, the hammy acting, the atrocious special effects, the “science” written by writers who only dabbled in SF and didn’t have a CLUE, the mediocre editing, the shallow character development that never changed for more than an episode, Abe Lincoln, Janet Lester, the Mugato, and Spock’s Brain.
So yeah, thanks Bob for not getting the soul of Star Trek correct, i.e., that part of it which induces unintentional laughter.
no suprise at the BAFTAs im afraid
Avatar took FX and Hurt Locker sound
43. dmduncan.
High Five!
43
Say what you will about all those things, but let me tell you this. if I had the power to undo Spocks Brain… would I? HEEELLL NO!
Space Hippies however…Maybe.
boborci
Come to think of it, Forget about Khan! What about the return of Adam!
That would be Now man, real Now. What about it brother, do ya Reach!
Ubdated hippie jams…man it would Sound!
#44
Have seen Avatar in Imax 3-D, and it looked great… but have also seen a standard version of the film.. and the effects just don’t look that impressive! Not award worthy anyways… But, we know that’s not what these awards are about in honesty though..
@Bob:
Saw “Shutter Island” yesterday. Very dark movie, but it made me think about some things relevant to ST.2012.
At the end of “Shutter Island” Leonardo di Caprio’s character asks a question. And that one question gives you an idea that is related to the whole of the movie before it in a very powerful way that makes you think about everything that you just saw happen, and whether YOU would do the same thing he did.
Now, I’m not suggesting at all that the Star Trek sequel be like a dark Martin Scorcese type movie, but I am suggesting you go see that movie and see what I’m talking about. That sort of thing, that tactic or idea would be really cool to use in some way in the Star Trek sequel. That is, that there be some powerful idea at the end that sort of ties everything together and makes you think AFTER the movie is over.
I would spoil it for those who didn’t see the film if I said anymore. Good movie. Startling ending.