'Budapest Hotel,' 'Imitation Game' snag Writers Guild wins

"THE Grand Budapest Hotel" and "The Imitation Game" won big one week ahead of Hollywood's award-season Oscars showdown, snagging top prizes at the annual Writers Guild of America awards ceremony Saturday.
Director Wes Anderson (pix) accepted the trophy for best original screenplay for his comedic caper about a concierge who befriends the lobby boy at the Grand Budapest Hotel in the fictitious Republic of Zubrowka.
The film, starring Ralph Fiennes, is nominated for nine awards at the Oscars, to be held on Feb 22.
Anderson, who co-wrote the story with his friend Hugo Guinness, accepted the trophy at the Los Angeles ceremony hosted by Lisa Kudrow, best known for her work playing Phoebe on the hit TV show "Friends."
Graham Moore took home the prize for best adapted screenplay, for his work transforming the book "Alan Turing: The Enigma" into the "The Imitation Game."
The film tells the story of British mathematician and code breaker Alan Turing, who built a machine to decipher Nazi code during World War II before being persecuted for his homosexuality.
The film is nominated for eight Oscars, including nods for Norwegian director Morten Tyldum as well as actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley.
Best documentary screenplay went to Brian Knappenberger for "The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz" about a computer programming prodigy who commits suicide at age 26.
Meanwhile television shows "True Detective" and "Louie" won for best drama series and comedy series respectively.
The WGA honoured Spanish director Pedro Almodovar with an award for screenwriting achievement.
Almodovar, who won an Academy Award for best writing for an original screenplay for his 2002 film "Talk to Her," about two lonely men who take care of a woman in a coma, expressed his gratitude via video.
The 65-year-old filmmaker is known for creating strong female characters in such films as "Law of Desire" (1987), "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" (1988) and "Volver" (2006).
The writers guild also honoured two-time Oscar winner Ben Affleck for his humanitarian work in the Democratic Republic of Congo. – AFP