Oscar Volley: Will Best Film Editing only have Best Picture nominees?

By: Tim Brayton and Chris James

Frontrunners "Belfast" and "The Power of the Dog" will also likely duke it out in Best Film Editing.

Welcome to our Oscar Volley series at The Film Experience. Each day, member of Team Experience will have a conversation about one or two of the Oscar categories. Today, Tim and Chris tackle the Best Film Editing race. This race has long been a predictor for Best Picture. In the past fifty years, only Birdman (2014), which was famously designed to look like it had no editing at all, and Ordinary People (1980) were able to win Best Picture without a nomination in this category. Will the branch have a few tricks up its sleeve or just got with the five hottest Best Picture contenders...

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Chart Updates: Film Editing, Production Design, Cinematography!

by Nathaniel R

All of the Visual categories in the Oscar charts have now been updated save Costume Design which we tend to give its own articles -- playing favourites, sorry! But looking over the charts and the possibilities, it does beg the question: are Dune and West Side Story just going to be nominated in every category? And will any other films core as many nominations?  The year isn't short on films that are visually remarkable of course. There's Power of the Dog, Nightmare Alley, Tragedy of Macbeth, The French Dispatch, The Green Knight, Passing, and more.

But the question is always what are voters actually watching and what are they liking? Being remarkable only gets you so far...

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Harrison Ford's quick lesson on film editing

by Tim Brayton

When we think of the most memorable moments in Oscar history, we tend to think about winners and their speeches, or maybe particularly impressive (or disastrous) musical or comedy performances during the ceremony itself. We don't, as a rule, tend to think about how the categories get introduced, but I find myself in the position this year of thinking that the very best, or at least the most gratifying moment in Sunday night’s telecast was exactly that. I'm talking about Harrison Ford introducing Best Editing, where we got one of those vanishingly rare moments throughout the years where this annual event designed to promote and celebrate filmmaking actually managed to promote and celebrate filmmaking.

If you've forgotten the moment, it was as unflashy as it gets: Ford, in an apparent state of, ahem "advanced relaxation," read a bunch of bullet points off of a sheet of paper...

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1 day til Oscar. What's your #1 wish for the ceremony?

A simple prompt today. The Oscars are tomorrow night. You've read our predictions, our category reviews, voted on the charts (hopefully), and seen most of the movies you wanted to.

So what's your #1 biggest wish for Hollywood's High Holy Night?

I'll go first: I want The Father to win Best Film Editing. That might seem like a strange request since it's not one of the headline categories but in most of the marquee categories, I'm either excited about the presumed winner or there are extenuating circumstances (usually previous rewards or loving the performances in similar amounts) preventing me from being too invested in the outcome. 

How about you? 

93rd Academy Awards: Best Film Editing

by Juan Carlos Ojano

Best Film Editing is noteworthy as an Oscar categoryfor its strong connection with the Best Picture race. With the exception of 2014’s Birdman (which prided itself for being a one-take film even if it actually isn’t), we have to go back to 1980 to find a Best Picture winner without a corresponding Film Editing nomination. However, the expanded ballot changed the Editing race. Since 2009, only four non-Best Picture nominees have gone on to be nominated in this category, with only one winning. This lends a preordained quality to the contenders.

This year is no exception, with all five nominees coming from Best Picture contenders. However, the predictability of the crop does not equate to the predictability of the race; this is one of those categories where one can see any of the five nominees realistically taking the award based on presumed strength in the awards season...

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