Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

The competition: Charles Randolph and Adam McKay (The Big Short), Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight), Emma Donoghue (Room), Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight), Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs)

For your information: Tarantino has been nominated six times before, three times for directing and three times for writing. He won for penning the screenplays for “Pulp Fiction” and “Django Unchained.” This is his first time being nominated in this category without a corresponding directing nod. This is the sixth nomination in this category for Sorkin, who won in 2010 for “The Social Network.” McCarthy is also nominated for directing his film. “The Big Short,” “Room,” and “Spotlight” are all nominated for Best Picture prizes. Only “Spotlight” is nominated for directing.

Who should win? The dialogue is definitely clever in “The Big Short” and “The Hateful Eight,” while “Room” and “Spotlight” are two of the best dramatic films of the year. My choice, however, is the brilliant and very Sorkin-like “Steve Jobs,” which lives and thrives on its writing.

Who will win? Last year, I noted that no film in the past thirty years had won this award without a corresponding Best Picture bid, and so I’d say that discounts “The Hateful Eight” and “Steve Jobs,” which are the two competitors likeliest to take down Spotlight or “The Big Short.”