Oscars Predictions 2017: Best Film Editing

“Editing is where movies are made or broken. Many a film has been saved and many a film has been ruined in the editing room.” – Joe Dante. Here, the six of us predict who we think was the best of the best in 2016 and who we predict will win the Academy Award for Best Film Editing.

Nominees:

Caryn

Hacksaw Ridge

The battle scenes in this film was so well edited and executed, along with the more subtle scenes and moments that it created maximum impact from these scenes.

Dean

Hacksaw Ridge

It was my top film of 2016 – before I watched Moonlight – but the editing of Hacksaw Ridge is by far my standout performer in this category. War scenes are always jarring, especially because there is so much going on at once. But to splice them all together in such a coherent and beautiful way makes the bloodshed and gunfire look mesmerising.

Big ups to Oscar-nominated John Gilbert for his second nomination – he was nominated in 2002 for a little indie film called Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I’m betting on him to win this time.

Jeslyn

Arrival

The beauty of the editing in Arrival is in the movement from the present to the past, which is actually the future. It is so fluid that I didn’t notice it was happening. The entire thing was a scheme trying to trick me into a surprise ending, and I didn’t see it coming.

I haven’t read ‘The Story of Us’ which is the short story the movie is based on, but I’ve read that the use of tense is very careful to make sure that the ending is a revelation and I feel that this is reflected in the way the movie is edited. Overall, the movie feels very intriguing in different facets.

Stephen

Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge might just pick up this one. A war movie is a very difficult thing to put together. Directing all those moving parts in a battle scene is one thing, but putting it all together in a cohesive manner in post production during editing is another beast altogether.

I don’t think Hacksaw Ridge will pick up many awards because most of Hollywood still kinda hates Mel Gibson (Even though they can’t seem to deny his talent), but if it does pick up a few it’s likely to be an acting one and this one.

Tendai

Arrival

This is Joe Walker’s second nomination after 12 years a slave in 2013. He’s no stranger to working with Denis Villeneuve after collaborating on Sicario too. His work on Arrival is very deserving of an Academy Award as the film is spliced together in an artistic, almost poetic piece of cinema.

Vernon

Arrival

Arrival felt for me like a bit of a documentary – it didn’t stay in one place too long and constantly kept the suspense building up to that fateful realisation at the end.

For that steady and quite ultimate build up I think they deserve this award, visually tantalising and spectacular. Moonlight – which I love – might take this and many say Hacksaw Ridge could, but my choice is Arrival. An alien film with Oscar qualities doesn’t come around very often.

What is your prediction for Best Film Editing?

For more film ramblings, you can follow us on Twitter:

Caryn @carrieanne07

Dean @deeno15

Jeslyn @jeslynczee

Stephen @thesnagel

Tendai @TendaiSibindi

Vernon @VernonKallis

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