Found an article titled Writers Guild crowns 'Casablanca' as greatest script. I thought it was a pretty interesting list.

Top 25:
Full list is here on www.wga.org.

Very interesting list. I have to agree with Casablanca. It is one of my favorite films and the writing is simply brilliant. I think On The Waterfront should be higher, I would place Sunset Boulevard at number 2. All About Eve I just simply do not get the attraction. Would've liked to have seen more screwball comedy such as Bringing Up Baby or The Philadelphia Story, those movies are so incredibly clever and well written, along with Hitchcock's best, but it's a good list nonetheless.

Agree

Not a bad list. There are way too many dramas, but any list that includes Groundhog Day is ok with me.

North by Northwest? Whatever.

Overall a good list.

Not bad, but I think A Clockwork Orange should be on the list as well as some others.

Jerry Maguire, but no Almost Famous? Interesting.

Interesting that the number one script was written while the movie was shooting.

I would have liked to see "His Girl Friday."

Anybody else here hate 'Casablanca' like me? I think that movie is terribly boring.

Why is it 'lists' are always biased towards older films? It's like they're always trying to cover their own asses by listing the most recognized films.

Reading the list, I think to myself "that deserves to be on this list, just not this high". I know that can't be logical for the whole list, but that's the silly thing that I'm thinking... there's not too many that seem like they shouldn't be on the list at all. Seems complete enough, and the discussion that this list will provoke was really the point, no?

Scripts that I'm happy were even included, let alone honored so deservedly:
Shakespeare In Love
Groundhog Day
The Usual Suspects
The Princess Bride

Yes, I understand that they are all newer films. Just because a film is older does not make a film better.There's a lot of obvious choices that threaten to be seen as thoughtless inclusions, selected only because they're seen as "the classic films". A lot of these films are very deserving, though, and it would be unwise to dismiss a classic just because it's popular or a safe choice. I do not agree with the inclusion of The Godfather, Part II, however (at least... not so high as it is). I really like the film, but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the script. It's very unstructured and sometimes lazy and repetitive. Stuff occurs with no introduction or explanation.
I also do not like the praise heaped upon Raiders Of The Lost Ark, which is a pulpy adventure movie with little depth or heft. Enjoyable, yes, but I don't think the script is that good. Singing In The Rain, with its light silliness, is little more than a threadbare plot devised to fit around song & dance routines. I wouldn't include a movie that goes to such poor lengths to include "Good Mornin'". Rocky isn't exactly special, is it? It's more like the most popular example of a generic "one guy defeats the odds" plot. Field Of Dreams just... stops.

For God's sake, Star Wars?

Right now I'm halfway through The Bridge On The RIver Kwai. Oh boy, does this movie not deserve accolades for its script.

LA Confidential loses points because Brian Helgeland was involved.

Just like the old age; "know how to make a small fortune in the movie business? Start with a big one", Helgeland's good scripts owe their quality to their great source works.

Because older movies had the freedom to create great stories and characters without the need to please ADHD-riddled audiences.

I didn't realize that modern movies cater towards the population of people with learning disabilities.

Oh, you must not have seen any of Michael Bay's movies then.

This is a great list, and the fact that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind made the top 25 along with what is mostly all time classics makes me really happy. It's only of the very few films from 1980 on that even made the list. It's just another thing that leads me to believe that ESofSM will go down in history as one of the truly great films, along with Casablaca, Citizen Kane, and all of the other well known classics.

Note that three of the five screenplays that Charlie Kaufman has written are on the list.

That said, I do hate that Memento is so far down the list at 100. I'd have it much higher, it was just such an original screenplay. I've read the Memento screenplay more than any other one.

How can you not like a director that makes movies for teenage boys and guys living in huts in Bali?

Here are quotes from Bay that may change your opinion on him,
"I make movies for teenage boys. Oh, dear, what a crime."
and
"I love it when people get really mean and call you a 'hack'. It's like, don't they see how well these movies are doing? They make an impression around the world. I met this guy in Bali who lives in a hut with a TV, and he loved The Rock. That means something, doesn't it?"

It would be interesting to see Bay do remakes on certain films in the top 100 list of best scripts. I would like to see Bay direct IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, AMERICAN BEAUTY, PSYCHO, and CITIZEN KANE. On scripts not in the top 100, I would like to see Bay do a remake of 2001 Space Odyssey to see how he would spice it up.

You should be banned for that post.

Tootsie at #17???

It doesn't even belong on the list at all, but I will never understand why the Hollywoodites are so enamored with that rather run-of-the-mill movie.

THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!

(I don't out-and-out hate GF II, but I am glad to see that I am not alone in thinking it's very overrated.)

It's funny because it's true.

rant: What' up with kids having to look at/flip open/"light-up" there cell-phones every 17 minutes while sitting in a dark theater watching a movie? They can't wait 90 fuckin' minutes to send a text message??!?!?!?

William Peter Blatty's screenplay for 'The Exorcist' should have made the list IMHO.

Just for fun I compared this WGA list to the 100 top grossing films list at BoxOfficeMojo...

When you take inflation into consideration, I see seventeen of the same movies on both of the lists. Out of the top 25, four films are on both lists:

-The #1 flick on the all time grossing films list at BoxOfficeMojo is #23 on the WGA list
-#2 is #68
-#4 is #67
-#7 is #63
-#15 is #39
-#16 is #42
-#18 is #13
-#21 is #2
-#22 is #89
-#31 is #11
-#56 is #56
-#58 is #50
-#60 is #17
-#67 is #14
-#69 is #78
-#78 is #45
-#88 is #83

I might have missed a few, but there we go. If Hollywood took more chances on movies with better screenplays in term of quality these days, then perhaps more of the films would show up on both of the lists.

Witness at #80

YES! The barn raising scene is one of the great movie moments and yet it has almost no dialogue.

Adaptation, Memento, Rear Window and 8 1/2 deserved higher spots IMO.

-JP

agree. glad to see all abotu eve and sunset blvd so high, i love both those films. would've liked to see on teh waterfront a tad higher and usual suspects should at leats by in the high teens.

Casablanca (from imdb)

"In the 1980s, this film's script was sent to readers at a number of major studios and production companies under its original title, "Everybody Comes To Rick's". Some readers recognized the script but most did not. Many complained that the script was "not good enough" to make a decent movie. Others gave such complaints as "too dated", "too much dialog" and "not enough sex"."