Best Adapted Screenplay

This might be the closest race of the night; Beasts and Pi are also-rans, but Argo, Lincoln, or Silver Linings would all make unsurprising champs.  Silver Linings feels exactly like the sort of comedy/drama that often wins the Original Screenplay award, but the Adapted category usually skews more solemn and historical.  There isn’t a more solemn or historical offering than Tony Kushner’s adaptation of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, but the aforementioned rising tide for Argo squeaks it ahead.

Prediction and Personal Pick: Chris Terrio, Argo