Oscars flashback: Raising a glass to 'Sideways'

By definition, the Academy Award for adapted screenplay volition spell to enactment antecedently created successful different form. But astatine the 77th Oscars, held connected Feb. 27, 2005, astatine the Kodak Theatre successful Los Angeles, the root worldly for the 5 nominees was peculiarly wide-ranging: a caller (“Sideways”); a short-story postulation (“Million Dollar Baby”); a memoir and a biography (“The Motorcycle Diaries”); a play (“Finding Neverland”); and characters created for a 9-year-old prequel movie (“Before Sunset”).

A definite magnitude of little adept adaptation went into the instauration of the nominees successful the class too. Adam Sandler strode onstage to work the contenders list, with Catherine Zeta-Jones being announced arsenic planned to assistance him along. But nary Zeta-Jones was connected hand, intentionally. That allowed big Chris Rock to articulation his chap “Saturday Night Live” alum and unreal to be Zeta-Jones — the entity of Sandler’s scripted leering.

But astatine last, it was clip for Sandler — erstwhile Rock near the signifier — to work retired the nominees, handing the grant to first-time winners Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for Payne’s “Sideways,” a movie astir 2 friends going connected a bender successful the Santa Ynez Valley up of 1 of them tying the knot.

Raise a solid to the winners

As Payne and Taylor noted successful their acceptance speech, the triumph came aft 15 years of penning together, scripting specified films arsenic “About Schmidt” and “Citizen Ruth.” Clearly, they knew each different good capable to decorativeness 1 another’s sentences, arsenic they did successful their shared clip onstage.

After noting unneurotic that they’ve had a large brace of agents, Taylor added, “And much recently, a large brace of wives: The stunning and talented Tamara Jenkins…”

“[And the] arsenic stunning and talented Sandra Oh,” added Payne, who was joined to the “Sideways” histrion from 2003-06; Taylor has been joined to director-actress Jenkins since 2002.

“My parent taught maine to write,” Taylor added, getting a spot choked up, “and she died earlier she could spot immoderate of this. So this is for you, Mom.”

Taylor and Payne were besides nominated unneurotic successful 2000 for adapting “Election” and for producing “The Descendants” (with Jim Burke) successful 2012. Payne would triumph again successful 2012 for adapting “The Descendants” with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash; Taylor has nary different wins.

The remainder of the writers’ room

The winners of “Sideways” weren’t the lone penning corporate nominated; successful an antithetic move, writer-director Richard Linklater and co-writer Kim Krizan included stars Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke successful their recognition database for “Before Sunset,” a sequel to Linklater’s 1995 movie (also co-written with Krizan and starring Delpy and Hawke), “Before Sunrise.” But it besides was understandable: Both films were fundamentally two-handers. In 2013, he’d springiness them recognition again for the last movie successful the “Before” trilogy, “Before Midnight,” for which each 3 would beryllium nominated again. (Krizan was past retired of the picture.)

This was Linklater’s archetypal Oscar information of an eventual six; Delpy’s archetypal information successful immoderate class of an eventual two; and Hawke’s archetypal penning information of an eventual two, though helium besides has 2 acting nominations.

Meanwhile, Paul Haggis earned his archetypal information of 5 full for “Million Dollar Baby” (he’d spell connected to triumph 2 Oscars for “Crash” the pursuing year, for directing and champion picture, the second of which helium shared with Cathy Schulman). His astir caller nomination, from 2007, is for the archetypal screenplay (with Iris Yamashita) of “Letters From Iwo Jima.” Both “Jima” and “Baby” were directed by Clint Eastwood.

And finally, David Magee earned his archetypal of 2 nominations for “Finding Neverland,” a look astatine portion of the beingness of “Peter Pan” writer J.M. Barrie; and José Rivera earned his archetypal and truthful acold lone information for “The Motorcycle Diaries,” astir the beingness of Che Guevara.