Best movies that are oscar winners or nominees in writing (screenplay written directly for the screen) category

Lone Star(1996)

Combined Rating:
52
Combined Critics Rating: 39

When the skeleton of his murdered predecessor is found, Sheriff Sam Deeds unearths many other long-buried secrets in his Texas border town.



Brubaker(1980)

Combined Rating:
50
Combined Critics Rating: 43

The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.



Topsy-Turvy(1999)

Combined Rating:
50
Combined Critics Rating: 45

Set in the 1880s, the story of how, during a creative dry spell, the partnership of the legendary musical/theatrical writers Gilbert and Sullivan almost dissolves, before they turn it all around and write the Mikado.



Arthur(1981)

Combined Rating:
49
Combined Critics Rating: 35

Arthur he does as he pleases. All of his life, his master's toys. Deep in his heart, he's just, he's just a boy.



Ghost(1990)

Combined Rating:
49
Combined Critics Rating: 26

After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.



Dave(1993)

Combined Rating:
47
Combined Critics Rating: 28

To avoid a potentially explosive scandal when the U.S. President goes into a coma, an affable temp agency owner with an uncanny resemblance is put in his place.



Heavenly Creatures(1994)

Combined Rating:
47
Combined Critics Rating: 27

Two girls have an intense fantasy life; their parents, concerned the fantasy is too intense, separate them, and the girls take revenge.



Bullets Over Broadway(1994)

Combined Rating:
46
Combined Critics Rating: 28

In New York in 1928, a struggling playwright is forced to cast a mobster's talentless girlfriend in his latest drama in order to get it produced.





Grand Canyon(1991)

Combined Rating:
44
Combined Critics Rating: 32

Grand Canyon revolved around six residents from different backgrounds whose lives intertwine in modern-day Los Angeles. At the center of the film is the unlikely friendship of two men from ...



All That Jazz(1979)

Combined Rating:
41
Combined Critics Rating: 24

Director/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid life of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.



The China Syndrome(1979)

Combined Rating:
40
Combined Critics Rating: 22

A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.



Radio Days(1987)

Combined Rating:
39
Combined Critics Rating: 18

A nostalgic look at radio's golden age focusing on one ordinary family and the various performers in the medium.



Private Benjamin(1980)

Combined Rating:
38
Combined Critics Rating: 20

A sheltered young high society woman joins the United States Army on a whim and finds herself in a more difficult situation than she ever expected.



Lorenzo's Oil(1992)

Combined Rating:
38
Combined Critics Rating: 22

A boy develops a disease so rare that nobody is working on a cure, so his father decides to learn all about it and tackle the problem himself.



Broadway Danny Rose(1984)

Combined Rating:
37
Combined Critics Rating: 18

In his attempts to reconcile a lounge singer with his mistress, a hapless talent agent is mistaken as her lover by a jealous gangster.



Salvador(1986)

Combined Rating:
35
Combined Critics Rating: 17

An American photojournalist gets caught in a political struggle at El Salvador in 1980.



Places in the Heart(1984)

Combined Rating:
33
Combined Critics Rating: 21

In central Texas in the 1930s, a widow, with two small children, tries to run her small 40-acre farm with the help of two disparate people.



Running on Empty(1988)

Combined Rating:
33
Combined Critics Rating: 19

The eldest son of a fugitive family comes of age and wants to live a life of his own.



Coming Home(1978)

Combined Rating:
31
Combined Critics Rating: 17

A woman whose husband is fighting in Vietnam falls in love with another man who suffered a paralyzing combat injury there.




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