Zero Dark Thirty, Argo Win At Writers Guild Awards

Zero Dark Thirty and Argo proved this weekend that written word critics love a good CIA thriller. Both movies took home top screenplay honors at the Writers Guild of America gala.

Mark Boal won the original screenplay prize for Zero Dark Thirty. The movie was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and follows the CIA’s manhunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Taking home the guild’s best adapted screenplay award was Chris Terrio for Argo. The Ben Affleck directed flick about the CIA’s harrowing rescue of Iranian held hostages is the favorite front runner for the Academy Award’s best picture nomination.

Also taking home a top prize was director Malik Bendjelloul who won for best documentary. Bendjelloul’s film Searching for Sugar Man paints a vivid portrait of 1970s musician Rodriguez.

Argo remains the clear favorite having now taking the top prize at the countries top film awards shows including the Golden Globes, the Directors Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Producers Guild of America.

Other big winners on Sunday night included Breaking Bad written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz and Moira Walley-Beckett. Comedy fan favorite Louie, written by Pamela Adlon, Vernon Chatman and Louis C.K., won the comedy award.

Judd Apatow stepping out once again from behind his movie scripts also collected a win for the new series Girls, which was co-written with Lesley Arfin, Lena Dunham, Sarah Heyward, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Jenni Konner, Deborah Schoeneman, and Dan Sterling.

The Writers Guild of America isn’t just about movies. As I reported earlier today, the video game Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation also took home an award for “Outstanding Achievement in Video Game Writing.”

Attention turns to the Writers Guild of America every year because it is the last major awards show before the Oscars take center stage.

Here is the official trailer for Zero Dark Thirty:

[iframe width=”560? height=”315? src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ly77Wgd-DHA” frameborder=”0? allowfullscreen]

And here is Argo‘s trailer for comparison:

[iframe width=”560? height=”315? src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/w918Eh3fij0? frameborder=”0? allowfullscreen]

Do you think Argo has what it takes to win the 2013 Oscars award for best picture, or will Zero Dark Thirty rise up to stun the critic and fan favorite?