Who has the write stuff for an Oscar?

Woody Allen was perhaps the most surprising omission from this Valentino Shoes On Sale year's original screenplay Oscar contenders.

His Spanish romp Vicky Cristina Barcelona charmed many people as a return to form, yet it failed to secure his 15th writing nomination.

Then again, Allen already has won two screenplay Oscars (Annie Hall, Hannah And Her Sisters) and in all likelihood would have continued his tradition of not showing up.

No matter.

On to the 10 original and adapted screenplay nominees vying for the gold at the 81st annual Academy Awards:Original ScreenplayWALL-E by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon. Story by Stanton and Pete Docter.

Stanton, who also directed, is a maverick in the screenwriting community for elevating animation - a medium that rarely gets the respect it deserves. Voters might reward Stanton and Reardon for composing the most believable and entertaining romance of the year despite having primarily bleeps and whirrs for dialogue. Then again, it is animation. While scripts for Ratatouille, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo (also co-written by Stanton) were nominated in the past few years, they all walked away empty-handed.

IN BRUGES by Martin McDonagh. Valentino Shoes Sale

McDonagh's script is packed with the kind of dialogue actors love to say and writers love to provide. Despite its moderate box office earnings, the film racked up a Golden Globe win for actor Colin Farrell. In Bruges could be just the oddball favourite to sneak in and pinch the gold.

MILK by Valentino Shoes Dustin Lance Black.

Black's deeply researched treatment is the Big Love writer's first major produced screenplay, which worked wonders for Alan Ball (American Beauty), Diablo Cody (Juno) and Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine), who all walked away with the statuette. It was honoured by the Writers Guild of America, but might not be funky enough for voters, who like to reward idiosyncrasy in the original category - for example, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Talk To Her, Gosford Park.

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY by Mike Leigh.

Leigh has been up for three previous writing Oscars (Vera Drake, Topsy-Turvy, Secrets and Lies) without a win. Voters love his storytelling because it's true-to-life, yet he remains a long shot precisely because of the way he arrives at that naturalism - often in lengthy improvisational workshops with his actors.

FROZEN RIVER by Courtney Hunt.

A festival favourite that earned the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance last year, Frozen River is a dark horse in the screenplay race because most voters have probably not seen the film. Then again, the fact that it was included over such favourites as Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Robert D Siegel's The Wrestler bodes well.ADAPTED SCREENPLAYSLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE by Simon Beaufoy.

Beaufoy has already been honoured by the Golden Globes and Writers Guild of America. Oscar voters love quirky, feel-good scripts, even if it's less weighty than other contenders. Past winners include Juno, Little Miss Sunshine and Lost In Translation.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON by Eric Roth. Story by Roth and Robin Swicord.

Roth won for Forrest Gump, received two other nominations (Munich, The Insider) and is one of the most respected scripters in the business. Despite its profundity, the film's emotional coolness - amplified by director David Fincher's devotion to technical advancements - might take something away for voters looking to reward vitality.

FROST/NIXON by Peter Morgan.

Morgan gets tremendous respect for making a popular play out of a footnote in political history - and then doing it again with an engaging film. But given the story's staid conventions, David Frost and Richard Nixon might not quite have the sass of the street kids from Mumbai.

DOUBT by John http://www.valentinovip.com/ Patrick Shanley.

As director of his own script, which he adapted from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Shanley managed to get a core of great thespians, with all four leads scoring nominations. But, while the story has contemporary relevance, it's the type of writing that gets wonderful recognition as a theatre piece and mainly just admiration when translated to film.

THE READER by David Hare.

Hare was nominated in 2003 for his adaptation of Michael Cunningham's The Hours, another award-winning historical novel, but this type of material gets overlooked (Atonement, Little Children) as often as it's chosen (Brokeback Mountain, Sideways). The most telling signpost is that Hare's script wasn't nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award (the Nolan brothers' Dark Knight script was), thus making its Oscar chances extremely slim.

- Reuters