5. Snub: Skyfall For Best Film Editing
It seemed a sure thing to me that Skyfall would be nominated for Best Film Editing; not only does the film look great, but it's spliced together in a succinct, snappy way that gives the action scenes plenty of energy while also imbuing the dialogue-driven scenes with the necessary import and tension. Though the film runs in at a juicy 140+ minutes, there's nary a second where it feels like it's running too long; rather, it is perfectly paced for maximum entertainment, and therefore, it's ridiculous that the film's editing didn't get a nod. Instead, Silver Linings Playbook took the fifth slot, a decent drama that's nevertheless technically unremarkable in pretty much every aspect. It's all fairly rudimentary; there's nothing special about it, and though I'm not trying to overtly criticise the film (because the pared-down style perfectly suited the film), one wonders what drove the editing branch to nominate such a technically ordinary film.