The Dark Knight. I really appreciate what the Nolans did with the Batman franchise. I think the energy in the script is amazing, which translates very well on the screen.

Hi Got to be Frank Darabont - Paul Schrader - William Goldman. They all paint pictures with words - I study the scripts written by the master story tellers for hours. Television writers in the UK - Paul Abbott - Jimmy McGovern and Danny Brocklehurst. These guys take important social meaning subjects and turn them into entertainment. They all write visually - reading a script is like - I must turn every page. Liz

Thanks so much Scott. I appreciate you doing a whole blog on this. Since I asked, I will respond. Hands down... Billy Wilder is my favourite screenwriter. He was an absolute genius at screenwriting. "Grab them by the throat and never let go" I only wish he was able to write current stuff. I'd love to see what he would write now. Others I really like : Alan Ball Cameron Crowe Christopher Nolan Joss Whedon Too name a few. I enjoy witty, clever writing with a strong story.

I've got a few that stick with me. Alphonso Cuaron's screenplay for Children of Men is spectacular. It paints such a vivid picture of that world. You experience all of the same emotions from reading the script that you do from watching the film. Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber's script for (500) Days of Summer (which I just read for the twitter chat) is now a favorite too, if only because it opened my mind a little bit further in terms of what you can and can't do in a screenplay. Aaron Sorkin's script for Social Network. I love the way his characters talk, and I'd probably read the phonebook if he was the one writing it (what an anachronistic phrase...we need a new version..."I'd listen to them read Google results?") Scott - a question for you. What is your favorite script that YOU wrote, and why?

Shane Black and Chris/Jonathan Nolan. For separate but incredibly important reasons. Shane Black - The personality without sacrifice of tone. Black's attitudes and style make his scripts accessible and entertaining and quick. The Nolans have a terse efficient style that wastes none, wants none. The Dark Knight script is filled with thin paragraphs and tight dialogue, and a lot of writer's could learn from their style of only include what is necessary in the moment. TDK illustrates this in spades.

Paddy Chayefsky and Budd Schulberg

Oh I agree... Children of Men, was incredible. As was Sorkin's Social Network.

Paddy because of Network and Hospital and Altered States. Schulberg for On The Water Front. (But I am also a huge fan of his fiction - especially "What Makes Sammy Run" and "The Disenchanted"

No question, Chad St. John. Motor City with Gerard Butler - One of the coolest scripts I've read. About 10 lines dialogue or there abouts in the whole script. The Days Before - A rockin sci-fi action script. And he is slated to write the remake of one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies of all time... Outland. Normally I'd be pissed but I am excited to see what he does with it. -Jim

Nolan for thematic consistency. Sorkin for and Tarantino for style. Hughes for an entire generation of movies that are a huge part of my life. Cameron's action scripts are a great read, Shane Black, too. Some of my favorite screenplays: 1 - Die Hard 2 - Good Will Hunting 3 - Pulp Fiction 4 - 25th Hour 5 - True Lies

Cuaron's "Gravity" is an fantastic read as well. Suprised they had so much trouble getting actors. -Jim

Shinobu Hashimoto Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Hidden Fortress, Harakiri, Sword of Doom, Samurai Rebellion do I need to go on?

An Outland remake huh? Maybe after that we can get him to work on a new version of Blood of Heroes - or am I just dating myself by even knowing that movie? :)

Oh yup.. Good Will Hunting is a fantastic script.

To me, CoM is one of the most underrated films of the last 20 years. Horribly overlooked.

Did you ever see the interview (or maybe it was a commentary track on the DVD) with Affleck and Damon where they talked about the first version of the script where it was relatively similar until the part where Affleck's character goes to the job interview for Will. At that point, Will takes the job, finds out that they are working on some illegal projects for the government and the movie turns into an espionage action flick. Really interesting to stuff to hear about the evolution from that to what ended up winning them the Academy Award.

Billy Wilder is a screenwriter god. Clever, Charming, Concise, Creative, Control, Character, Charisma... did I forget any? Even his self-deprecating gravestone makes me smile, "I'm a writer but then nobody's perfect." :)

The Mist still haunts me. I want to watch it again but I can't handle the ending. DAMN YOU DARABONT! -Jim

Steve Zaillian. Searching for Bobby Fischer. The writing was so seamless.

Big list... too hard to choose one.. IAL Diamond/Billy Wilder David Lean Francis Ford Coppola Robert Towne Bill Goldman Walter Hill Lawrence Kasdan Shane Black Joss Whedon Nora Ephron

I just re-watched The Mist the first time since its release. I now have a four year old son with long blonde hair. That movie fucking destroyed me. However, it was very tight, well written, and expertly executed.

All obvious choices from me, I think: Joss Whedon: why? Character, character, character. And emotion. He makes me feel for characters I don't even like. And sheer technical skill - set-up and payoff, twists, transitions from scene to scene, all the details that elevate a good script to a stunning script. Christopher and/or Jonathan Nolan: hard to separate who contributed what to any given script, so I'll take them together. For sheer ideas. And the skill with which The Prestige was adapted is only apparent when you read the novel... Jane Goldman: again, combination of technical skill, character, and the ability to completely engage us in an emotional world. And a lot of good solid craftsmen: David Koepp, Zak Penn, Graham Yost... Over this side of the pond, Stephen Moffat, of course. Jack Thorne is a real ideas writer, going to go far. Howard Overman, brilliant with character... And the dozens I'm going to kick myself for forgetting, as soon as I hit "post comment"...

My son is 9 now. Maybe when he's off to college... -Jim

I'm going with Charlie Kaufman. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Adaptation are fantastic. Another favorite is Ronald Bass. My Best Friends Wedding is a great example of Narrative Voice and using "unfilmables." Rain Man is pretty good too. I also loved 500 Days of Summer.

Any particular Whedon scripts you recommend?

Any specific Whedon scripts you recommend?

Peter Hedges. I love everything he's ever written. Great, identifiable characters. Dan Fogelman. Crazy Stupid Love instantly became a favorite of mine. I think that he's often overlooked because he writes a lot of animated films, but those are some fabulous films too. Nancy Meyers. Wonderful all-round filmmaker. She's got a very specific voice, and I love it.

Everything he writes, but specifically: For movies, Toy Story, Speed (he wrote most of the dialogue) & Serenity. There's a kitchen sink version of the Serenity script, and another that's pretty much the shooting script. It's a great thing to read both and see what decisions he made. For TV: Train Job (Firefly) is insanely great from a technical POV in terms of compressing the exposition of a 2 hr pilot into an episode with a new plot, while writing the whole damn thing with Tim Minear over a weekend. Also from Firefly: Serenity (Pilot), The Message and Objects in Space. Moments of true poignancy in all of those. All the firefly scripts are available online, btw. Other than that, later Buffy season openers are pretty good, though I'm not a huge Buffy fan.

thanks. i've read Toy Story but will add the others.

Off the top of my head, The Prestige by Jonathan and Christopher Nolan (note that I have not read the novel by Christopher Priest). A jewel of a script, not a word that shouldn't be there, intellectually playful, attention to detail. Anything by Shane Black (although The Last Boy Scout and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang are personal favourites). A breeze to read and so very funny.

I'm really digging John August right now ("Big Fish"). Just finished reading "The Social Network" and Sorkin is a freaking god. He is a master of the form; everything is on the page.

I pretty much devour anything by Paul Thomas Anderson- Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, Boogie Nights, There will Be Blood. I look forward to everything he makes. I also love two scripts by Todd Field: In the Bedroom and Little Children Miranda July does things to my soul- The Future Me, And You and Everyone We Know Alan Ball's American Beauty has helped me a ton. Nora Ephron- When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle are perfect. Cameron Crowe has been a favorite for a long time. Say Anything, Jerry Maguire Charlie Kaufman- Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- I wish I had written them both. Frank Darabont's Shawshank Redemption and I am addicted to The Walking Dead And good lord I love Steve Martin- The Jerk, LA Story,Shopgirl Alexander Payne- The Descendants, Election, Sideways. I'll stop now. I'm getting annoying. And now I just want to go read some scripts. :)

Ernest Lehman - "Sweet Smell of Success" and "North by Northwest". John Milius - "Apocalypse Now" Robert Towne - "Chinatown" and "The Last Detail" Ben Hecht - "Notorious" and a million other great things Billy Wilder - Every damn thing Lawrence Kasdan - "Raiders", "Empire" and "Body Heat" Walter Hill - "Alien" and "The Driver" James Agee - "The African Queen" and "Night of the Hunter" Honorable Mention: Tarantino, Wes Anderson, PT Anderson, Woody Allen, Mamet, Coen Brothers, so many others

can't believe no one mentioned Gilroy. The Bourne Supremacy -- Michael Clayton... I also love Paul Haggis and Kurt Wimmer.

No way! That is insane.

I love Firefly/Serenity as well. HOWEVER... I am a huge Buffy/Angel fan. Hush, is one of the cleverest scripts ever. Once More with Feeling, The Body. But I could go on and on with character development, witty dialogue, story arching from Whedon.

All of them? (I am a huge Whedon fan) I think if you can get over Buffy being 15yrs old now... Buffy from start to finish is an education on dialogue, story arch and character development. Dr.Horrible's Sing Along Blog has my favourite line of dialogue from Whedon in it and it just plain old fun. Firefly as a 12epi series is great. Its truly the acting that makes it but top it off with Serenity and its awesome.

Wow, some excellent selections there, many of them on my favorite list. But my all-time favorite should come as no surprise to longtime fans of the blog: Billy Wilder & I.A.L. "Izzy" Diamond. Look at this partial list: Love in the Afternoon (1957) Some Like It Hot (1959) The Apartment (1960) One, Two, Three (1961) Irma la Douce (1963) Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) The Fortune Cookie (1966) Just Some Like It Hot and The Apartment in back to back years is incredible. Of course Wilder co-write numerous other scripts including Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Stalag 17, Witness for the Prosecution, The Lost Weekend. Such incredible range. The Apartment is my very favorite movie, managing to hit just the right tone of drama and comedy. There are other writer-directors who have come along later like James L. Brooks, Cameron Crowe, and recently Jason Reitman who go after similar type of stories, but Wilder & Diamond are my favorites. BTW if you have never read The Apartment, I highly recommend it. Yes, different style than nowadays, but incredibly well written. And by the way, lots of 'unfilmables' in it. Let's see what other favorite screenwriters GITS readers have. And thanks to everyone for your opinions.

I am very much like you on this. Cheers.

How could I forget Gilroy!? My whole action-writing style is, urm, "Inspired by" him...

The classics: Billy Wilder (& I.A.L. Diamond), Ernest Lehman, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Ben Hecht, Paddy Chayefsky, Luís Buñuel, Michaelangelo Antonioni, François Truffaut, Jean-Pierre Melville, Jules Dassin Still on action: Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Coen Brothers, Charlie Kaufman, Michael Arndt, Michael McDonagh, Pedro Almodóvar, Armando Iannucci, Aaron Sorkin, Terence Winter, Matthew Weiner, Woody Allen, Wes Anderson, Ricky Gervais, Christopher Nolan, David Mamet, Robert Towne, Tony Gilroy, Nanni Moretti. Waiting for more work from Andrew Dominick and Neil Blomkamp.

Just forgot William Goldman.

Charlie Kaufman - He makes me feel not so weird and helped me know I can say anything on the page without fear. I love Adaptation and Being John Malkovitch. PT Anderson - Hard Eight and Boogie Nights are two of my faves. He is an outstanding story teller. Cameron Crowe - Singles, Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire. Again terrific story telling. Mike Mills - Beginners... a perfect example of putting your heart in the script. His sadness leaps off the first page simply through the exposition. Mike White - The Good Girl and Enlightened... for his unorthodox approach to writing and amazing ability to portray what it feels like to be stuck. Awesome. Alan Ball - American Beauty, Six Feet Under, for the way he handles death. They're all great story-tellers and I admire them for that more than anything else.

Wow, just wow! Love the list that everyone is putting together. Just one question to all you seasoned readers. Where on earth can I find scripts of television shows on the net? I've practically bit of all of my toenails while on my quest to find a few to read. Thank you.

simplyscripts.com has a huge collection TV scripts.

Billy Wilder is the tops. However, Scott Rosenberg's 'Johnny Diamond' is one of the best screenplays I have ever read. Bad Moon Rising, and his original Gone in 60 Seconds (set in Boston) are super fun. Rosenberg is such a great read. Still a sucker for Black's Lethal Weapon and AKW's Se7en. But who isn't?

Thanks Scott, it's a head scratcher how I missed skipped over that website.

Thanks Scott, it's a head scratcher on how I skipped over that website.

PT Anderson, William Goldman, Paul Schraeder, Orson Welles.