ACE Eddie Preview and the Best Editing Category

It can’t be stressed enough how closely Best Picture and Best Editing align at the Oscars. We all know the history. Even if Birdman still won without an editing nomination, that only proves once again that if they like a movie enough all stats go out the window. Predicting without stats always makes me nervous but sometimes you have to go on instinct, and let go of the need for stats. Birdman was an exception to the usual rule because “what editing” right? It’s sort of like Gravity missing out on a SAG Ensemble nod. While the stat still held (12 Years a Slave won, which had a SAG Ensemble nod) most were willing to forgive Gravity’s lack of one because were they really going to give an ensemble nomination for two performances? Not a chance. Usually though, editing and directing go hand in hand – in Birdman’s case it was cinematography and directing. The cinematography really was the editing if you think about it. If you’re, say, Wolf of Wall Street and you enter the race without an editing nomination? That could be a problem when it comes to winning.

When last we spoke about the Directors Guild, we brought up how unusual it was for the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to show up as a DGA nominee and then not at the Oscars. Well, it makes an appearance again, as the editors branch nominated Dragon Tattoo — and it became the first winner since Bullit in 1968 to win the editing Oscar without a Best Picture nomination.

But aside from Dragon Tattoo, every film nominated for editing since Oscar expanded the BP lineup (in 2009) has also been partnered with a Best Picture nomination.  That should make predicting the category relatively easy, right? Well, not so fast. There are always surprises, especially in a year like this one.

The American Cinema Editors guild divides their nominees into two categories – one for drama and the other for musical/comedy. That gives them better odds at matching 5/5, though spread out over the two categories, as happened last year with Grand Budapest Hotel in comedy and the other four nominations coming in drama.  Giving Boyhood their win seemed to set up the idea that Boyhood did indeed have a chance to win Best Picture. The Golden Globes chose Grand Budapest over Birdman, as did the Eddies for their comedy category – it’s no wonder people like me still thought Boyhood was stronger heading into the race. Between the Globes and the Eddies, though, something happened – a perception shift but one that wouldn’t ripple over to England where the BAFTAs didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to pick Birdman. Instead they too went for Boyhood. It was only the industry – the PGA, the DGA, SAG, and the Oscars who went for Birdman. It was an identity thing, a salvation thing, a survivor thing.

Now we come to this year’s race and we have quite a few contenders for editing, both at the Eddies and at the Oscars. It sometimes happens that there are editing nominations with the Academy that the Editors Guild did not choose – like Dallas Buyers Club, for instance, so keep in mind that can sometimes happen.

Let’s take a look at our strongest contenders so far the editing Oscar:

1. Margaret Sixel for Mad Max: Fury Road – she hasn’t done a lot of editing but has worked with George Miller three times. Mad Max’s editing is fantastic, of course, and is maybe the frontrunner.
2. Hank Corwin for The Big Short – another Best Picture contender
3. Tom McArdle  – Spotlight – our Best Picture contender is definitely a slam dunk for Eddie and Oscar.
4. Pietro Scalia – The Martian – the great Pietro has won two Oscars, and also cut Gladiator for Sir Ridley.
5. Stephen Mirrione – The Revenant – previously won Oscar for Traffic, nominated for Babel.
6. Michael Kahn – Bridge of Spies – he’s the John Williams in the editing category and always must be considered. He’s an editing God, essentially, and deservedly so with eight nominations and three wins.
7. Nathan Nugent – Room – a newbie, relatively speaking, but the film is popular enough it must be considered.
8. Affonso Gonçalves – Carol – it’s not really an “editing movie” particularly but that doesn’t mean it won’t get in.
9. Joe Walker – Sicario – previously nominated for 12 Years a Slave.
10. Pete Beaudreau and Mikkel E.G. Nielsen for Beasts of No Nation – we still do not know where this movie is going to land.
11. Fred Raskin – The Hateful Eight, also worked on Django Unchained but he has big shoes to fill after Tarantino’s longtime editor (and secret weapon) Sally Menke died unexpectedly in 2010.
12. Maryann Brandon & Mary Jo Markey – The Force Awakens because you just never know. These worked with JJ Abrams previously on Super 8 and Star Trek.
13. Billy Fox & Michael Tronick for Straight Outta Compton
14. Claudia Castello & Michael P. Shawver for Creed – it’s a long shot but boxing movies can sometimes win over the editors.
15. Elliot Graham for Steve Jobs – the previous Oscar winner could show up, you never know.

For the ACE Eddies, we’re probably looking at these:

Mad Max
Spotlight
Bridge of Spies
The Revenant
Straight Outta Compton, Room, The Force Awakens, Sicario, Creed – it could be any of those named above. It is an open slot at this point.

Then, if they follow the Globes, they will put these two in comedy:

The Big Short
The Martian 

Then they will need more comedies, so they might go:

Trainwreck
Joy
Some unpredictable comedy choice, like Grandma or Spy

The ACE announce their Eddie nominations on January 3rd, 2016.

The ACE Eddie Awards
Won ACE | Won Oscar

2014
American Sniper	American Sniper
Boyhood	Boyhood
Gone Girl
Imitation Game	Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Whiplash	Whiplash
Birdman
Guardians of the Galaxy
Into the Woods
Inherent Vice
Grand Budapest Hotel	Grand Budapest Hotel
2013
Captain Phillips	Captain Phillips
12 Years a Slave	12 Years a Slave
Gravity	Gravity
Her	Dallas Buyers Club
Saving Mr. Banks
American Hustle	American Hustle
August: Osage County
Nebraska
Wolf of Wall Street

2012

Argo+	Argo+
Life of Pi*	Life of Pi*
Lincoln*	Lincoln*
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty*	Zero Dark Thirty*
Silver Linings Playbook*	Silver Linings Playbook*
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables*
Moonrise Kingdom
Ted

2011

The Descendants	The Descendants*
Hugo	Hugo*
Moneyball	Moneyball*
War Horse
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Artist	The Artist+
Young Adult
Midnight in Paris
Bridesmaids
My Week with Marilyn

2010

The Social Network	The Social Network*
The King’s Speech	The King’s Speech+
Black Swan	Black Swan*
Inception*	127 Hours*
The Fighter	The Fighter*
Alice in Wonderland
Easy A
The Kids Are All Right*
Made in Dagenam
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

2009

The Hurt Locker	The Hurt Locker+
Avatar	Avatar*
District 9	District 9*
Star Trek	Inglourious Basterds*
Up in the Air*	Precious+
The Hangover
500 Days of Summer
A Serious Man*
It’s Complicated
Julia & Julia

2008

Slumdog Millionaire	Slumdog Millionaire+
Milk	Milk*
Benjamin Button	Benjamin Button*
Frost/Nixon	Frost/Nixon*
The Dark Knight	The Dark Knight
Wall-E
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Tropic Thunder
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

2007

The Bourne Ultimatum	The Bourne Ultimatum
Into the Wild	Into the Wild
Michael Clayton*	Diving Bell
No Country for Old Men*	No Country for Old Men+
There Will Be Blood*	There Will Be Blood*
Hairspray
Juno*
Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End
Ratatouille
Sweeney Todd

2006

Babel*	Babel*
Casino Royale	Children of Men
The Departed*	The Departed+
The Queen*	Blood Diamond
United 93	United 93
Thank You for Smoking
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine*
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

2005

Brokeback Mountain*	Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener	The Constant Gardener
Crash+	Crash+
Good Night, and Good Luck*
Munich*	Munich*
Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
The Family Stone
Pride & Prejudice
Wedding Crashers
Walk the Line	Walk the Line

2004

Collateral	Collateral
Finding Neverland*	Finding Neverland*
Kill Bill Vol. 2
Kinsey
Million Dollar Baby*	Million Dollar Baby+
The Aviator *	The Aviator*
De-Lovely
Eternal Sunshine
The Incredibles
Ray*	Ray*
Sideways*

2003

Cold Mountain	Cold Mountain
Master and Commander*	Master and Commander*
Mystic River*	City of God
The Return of the King+	The Return of the King+
Seabiscuit*	Seabiscuit*
(COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
Bend It Like Beckham
Finding Nemo
Lost in Translation*
Pirates of the Caribbean
School of Rock

2002

The Hours*	The Hours*
Gangs of New York*	Gangs of New York*
About Schmidt
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	Lord of the Rings: Two Towers *
Minority Report	The Pianist*
(COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
About a Boy
Adaptation
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Chicago+	Chicago+
Punch-Drunk Love

2001

A Beautiful Mind +	A Beautiful Mind+
Black Hawk Down	Black Hawk Down
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring*	Lord of the Rings*
Memento	Memento
(COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
Gosford Park *
Amelie
Monsters, Inc.
Moulin Rouge! *	Moulin Rouge*
The Royal Tenenbaums
Shrek

2000

Billy Elliot	Wonder Boys
Cast Away
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*
Gladiator+	Gladiator+
Traffic*	Traffic*
Film Editing – Musical or Comedy
Almost Famous	Almost Famous
Best In Show
Chocolat *
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Shanghai Noon

1999

American Beauty +	American Beauty*
The Insider*	The Insider*
The Matrix	The Matrix
The Sixth Sense *	The Sixth Sense*
The Talented Mr. Ripley	The Cider House Rules*
Film Editing – Musical or Comedy
Analyze This
Being John Malkovich
Election
Man On the Moon
Run Lola Run

1998

Out Of Sight	Out Of Sight
Shakespeare In Love +	Shakespeare In Love+
The Thin Red Line *	The Thin Red Line*
Saving Private Ryan *	Saving Private Ryan*
The Horse Whisperer	Life Is Beautiful*

1997

Air Force One	Air Force One
As Good As It Gets *	As Good As It Gets*
Good Will Hunting *	Good Will Hunting*
L. A. Confidential *	L. A. Confidential*
Titanic+	Titanic+

1996

The English Patient+	The English Patient+
Evita	Evita
Fargo *	Fargo*
Shine *	Shine*
The Rock	Jerry Maguire*

1995

Braveheart+	Braveheart+
Apollo 13 *	Apollo 13*
Crimson Tide	Crimson Tide
The Usual Suspects	Babe*
Casino	Se7en

Comprehensive Chart:

Won ACE | Won Oscar *Nominated for Best Picture

+Won Best Picture

-Won ACE/Oscar for editing but not nominated
for Best Pic

Check out the seven year
streak from 1990 on.

 

2014: Boyhood*/Grand Budapest*	Whiplash*
2013: Captain Phillips*/American Hustle*	Gravity*
2012: Argo/Silver Linings*	Argo+
2011: The Descendants*/Artist+	Dragon Tattoo
2010: The Social Network	The Social Network*
2009: The Hurt Locker	The Hurt Locker+
2008: Slumdog Millionaire	Slumdog Millionaire+
2007: Bourne Ultimatum	Bourne
2006: The Departed	The Departed+
2005: Crash/Walk the Line	Crash+
2004: The Aviator/Ray*	The Aviator*
2003: Return of the King/Pirates of the Caribbean	Return of the King+
2002: Gangs of New York*/Chicago	Chicago+
2001: Black Hawk Down/Moulin Rouge*	Black Hawk Down–
2000: Gladiator/Almost Famous	Traffic*
1999: The Matrix/Being John Malkovich	The Matrix-
1998: Saving Private Ryan	Saving Private Ryan*
1997: Titanic	Titanic+
1996: The English Patient	The English Patient+
1995: Braveheart	Braveheart+
1994: Forrest Gump	Forrest Gump+
1993: Schindler’s List	Schindler’s List+
1991: Unforgiven	Unforgiven+
1990: Dances With Wolves	Dances With Wolves+
1989: Glory–	Born on the Fourth of July*
1988: Mississippi Burning*	Who Framed Roger Rabbit-
1987: The Last Emperor	The Last Emperor+
1986: Platoon	Platoon+
1985: Witness	Witness*
1984: Amadeus+	The Killing Fields*
1983: War Games-	The Right Stuff*
1982: Gandhi	Gandhi+
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark	Raiders of the Lost Ark*
1980: Raging Bull	Raging Bull *
1979: All That Jazz	All That Jazz*
1978: The Deer Hunter+	The Deer Hunter+
1977: The Turning Point+	Star Wars*
1976: Rocky	Rocky+
1975: Jaws	Jaws*
1974: The Longest Yard-	Towering Inferno*
1973: The Sting	The Sting+
1972: Cabaret	Cabaret*
1971: Summer of ’42-	French Connection+
1970: Patton+	Patton+
1969: Hello Dolly*	Z*
1968: Bullit-	Bullit-
1967: The Dirty Dozen-	In the Heat of the Night+
1966: Fantastic Voyage-	Grand Prix-
1965: Sound of Music	Sound of Music+
1964: Mary Poppins	Mary Poppins*
1963: How the West Was Won	How the West Was Won*
1962: The Longest Day	Lawrence of Arabia+
1961: The Parent Trap	West Side Story+