American Hustle Captain Phillips Dallas Buyers Club Gravity 12 Years a Slave The old adage for Best Film Editing used to be that the category mirrored Best Picture, so whichever film you think will win Best Picture should be the film you think will win Best Film Editing. However, recently this hasn't been so much the case, as more action-oriented films such as The Girl With the Dragoon Tattoo and The Bourne Ultimatum that feature a lot of quick cutting have often found themselves winners. Using that line of reasoning, the obvious favorite here becomes Captain Phillips, whose director Paul Greengrass (also the director of The Bourne Ultimatum) has become famous for (or notorious for, depending on who you ask) for his patented mile-a-minute cutting. This doesn't seem to be the general consensus around the Oscar blogosphere, but as I mentioned early, I feel there is a lot of quite love and admiration for Captain Phillips in the Academy, and this would be the perfect spot for them to show the movie some love (if not in a few other areas too). The more agreed upon favorite is probably Gravity and there is a good argument to be made here, because the film's pacing is boiled down to a T. The issue I have with the film winning in this category though is not based on its actual merits, but rather the average Academy members perception of the film. The long shots (or "oners" as they have suddenly seem to be called) that Alfonso Cuaron has become famous for are absolutely brilliant editing decisions, but many voters are likely to look at this as a "lack of editing" and pass on the movie in this category. Of course, if they pass on Gravity they do have a few other options besides Captain Philips, but Dallas Buyers Club is just lucky to be nominated in this category, and the only way I could see 12 Years a Slave winning Best Editing is if the film wins Best Picture and the Academy reverts to the old Best Picture=Best Editing category, which I don't see happening. The only other viable option, that does have a slight chance of seeing fruition, is American Hustle taking Best Film Editing. The film's up-tempo pacing is practically a character of its own in the film and definitely calls attention to itself, which is definitely a plus when it comes to the Academy. However, as much as some love the lickity-split speed of American Hustle, many others feel the gonzo-flavored editing leaves the film's narrative in the dust, and only if the film was churning at full speed (which doesn't appear to be the case right now) could I see it taking the category. My final decision then is to go with Captain Philips, but Gravity is a smart choice to should you choose to go that route. Will Win: Captain PhillipsCould Win: GravityShould Win: Gravity
A film fanatic at a very young age, starting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and gradually moving up to more sophisticated fare, at around the age of ten he became inexplicably obsessed with all things Oscar. With the incredibly trivial power of being able to chronologically name every Best Picture winner from memory, his lifelong goal is to see every Oscar nominated film, in every major category, in the history of the Academy Awards.
