Best Screenwriter Ever

[RaiderMan]

Aside from all the crappy Oscars, when I say best Screenwriter I mean best original screenplay. My votes are.

1.M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense & Unbreakable & Signs)

2. Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven is the most noteable)

3. James Cameron (Terminator 1 & 2, True Lies, Point Break, etc. etc.)

Out!

[ColinM]

1) Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown)
2) Billy Wilder (The Apartment, Some Like it Hot, Selena)
3) William Goldman (Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, The Princess Bride, Hearts in Atlantis)
4) Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma)
5) Cameron Crowe (Vanilla Sky, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous)

[This message has been edited by ColinM (edited 07-13-2002).]

[This message has been edited by ColinM (edited 07-13-2002).]

[Danny L]

I'd say WILLIAM GOLDMAN (Butch & Sundance, Misery, Waldo Pepper, Princess Bride, All the Presidents Men, Marathon Man) and ERNEST LEHMANN (The King and I, North by Northwest, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Sweet Smell of Success).

[Melanie]

william goldman, stephen king, christopher nolan, albert brooks, m. night shyamalan, stephen gaghan, tim roth, nora ephron, neil simon, quentin tarantino and SO much more!

[notchreturns]

David "The Master of Dialouge" Mamet. Nobody can write a script like he can. Also, William Goldman, Robert Towne, Billy Wilder and Woody Allen.

[Zarathustra]

I really don't know, why everyone has this obssession with Kevin Smith. Sure his films are funny but as one of the greatest scriptwriters. Surely that award should go to Billy Wilder, David Mamet or Woody Allen, people who have been round long enough to make an impression on film and the way we look at film.
Surely Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back doesn't even compare to classics such as Glengary Glen Ross, The Apartment, Manhattan?

[Michael Corleone]

Woody Allen is easily the greatest screenwriter of all time. His most recent films have not been proving me right, but his earlier films prove me right in every way possible.

Billy Wilder would be number 2.

[This message has been edited by Michael Corleone (edited 07-13-2002).]

[movielover-9]

Quentin Tarantino[Pulp Fiction, reservoir Dogs, True Romance]
Cameron Crowe[Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky]
Paul Thomas Anderson[Hard Eight, Boogie Nights]

Just to name a few...

[Antonio]

A three-way tie (and for various, obvious reasons) between QUENTIN TARANTINO, BILLY WILDER and PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON.

[Untouchable]

Paul Schrader (TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL, lot's of others...)

[BloodiedCelticVengeance]

David Mamet.

"Best ever" topics usually pose quite the cunundrum...and I find myself grappling with my favorites in order to find a definitive 'best".
However...
In the realm of screenwriting, David Mamet is incomparable. The absolute pinnacle of his craft, a writer whose dialogue flows like a cooling acid rain. Mamet's scripts are heavy on raw human emotion...which I consider to be the most fascinating "special effect" anyone can conjure up.
I will never find a more compelling script than "Glengary Glen Ross"...the gold standard of screenwriting, in my opinion.

[KornKidJedi]

Mr.Tarantino:
Everything

Jim Uhls:
Fight Club

Paul Schrader:
Taxi Driver http://www.joblo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Kevin Smith:
Clerks,Chasing Amy,and Dogma

George A.Romero:
Night Of The Living Dead,The Crazies,Martin,Dawn of the Dead, and The Dark Half

Peter Jackson:
Everything

David Mamet:
Everything

[Raena]

Don't forget LaBute, Sayles, Darabont