Re: CatEgories One by One: Film Editing
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 2:44 am
As in many years, this category seems like it could be an early bellwether for Best Picture...at least potentially. Which is to say, if anything other than Mad Max wins, that movie's chances of winning Best Picture later in the evening just skyrocketed exponentially.
Because the thing is, Spotlight, The Big Short, and The Revenant all strike me as movies that COULD be strong enough to prevail in this category. Spotlight deftly juggles a large ensemble of players and story threads, and moves quite briskly throughout. The Big Short does that as well, and has all of those wild montage elements and wacky cutaways to memorable comic bits. And The Revenant has numerous action sequences -- the opening battle, the bear attack, the final fight -- that show off the skills of its editors. I don't think any of these films would HAVE to win this category to win Best Picture -- mostly because I don't think any of them WILL end up prevailing here -- but I'd be hard-pressed to see a scenario in which one of those movies winning Best Film Editing didn't suggest major strength in the Best Picture race.
Of course, none of that may matter, because I tend to think Mad Max: Fury Road is the most likely winner here, mainly because it fits the bill for both major kinds of movies that win this category. One is the multi-nominated Best Picture candidate with strong tech credentials, the other is the action spectacular. While watching the movie last summer, I thought even without Best Picture heat, the movie would be a strong contender here, for its dizzying chase sequences and kinetic set pieces. But now that it's in the race as a double-digit nominee -- something which seemed inconceivable to me back then -- I imagine that, like Gravity a couple years ago, the movie will have a very strong night down-ballot, with this category one of the most likely for the film.
I guess Star Wars can't be completely counted out -- in another year, it actually could have fit the Bourne Ultimatum slot of a popular blockbuster with exciting action sequences. But this year, if voters are going to go in that direction -- and they likely will, unless one of the competing Best Picture candidates are beloved at a level I wouldn't anticipate -- Mad Max seems far stronger.
Because the thing is, Spotlight, The Big Short, and The Revenant all strike me as movies that COULD be strong enough to prevail in this category. Spotlight deftly juggles a large ensemble of players and story threads, and moves quite briskly throughout. The Big Short does that as well, and has all of those wild montage elements and wacky cutaways to memorable comic bits. And The Revenant has numerous action sequences -- the opening battle, the bear attack, the final fight -- that show off the skills of its editors. I don't think any of these films would HAVE to win this category to win Best Picture -- mostly because I don't think any of them WILL end up prevailing here -- but I'd be hard-pressed to see a scenario in which one of those movies winning Best Film Editing didn't suggest major strength in the Best Picture race.
Of course, none of that may matter, because I tend to think Mad Max: Fury Road is the most likely winner here, mainly because it fits the bill for both major kinds of movies that win this category. One is the multi-nominated Best Picture candidate with strong tech credentials, the other is the action spectacular. While watching the movie last summer, I thought even without Best Picture heat, the movie would be a strong contender here, for its dizzying chase sequences and kinetic set pieces. But now that it's in the race as a double-digit nominee -- something which seemed inconceivable to me back then -- I imagine that, like Gravity a couple years ago, the movie will have a very strong night down-ballot, with this category one of the most likely for the film.
I guess Star Wars can't be completely counted out -- in another year, it actually could have fit the Bourne Ultimatum slot of a popular blockbuster with exciting action sequences. But this year, if voters are going to go in that direction -- and they likely will, unless one of the competing Best Picture candidates are beloved at a level I wouldn't anticipate -- Mad Max seems far stronger.