Oscars 2019 Category Breakdown: Best Editing
Here’s how this works: every day leading up to the Oscars, I break down each of the 24 categories. The goal is to both familiarize everyone with the category itself (how it works, what its history is and how you go about figuring out what’s gonna win) while also making it easier to reference when I write my giant article with picks and everything. A lot of the leg work is already here. But really, the goal is to see if there’s anything to look for leading into Oscar night that could be a shortcut to me picking the category.
What we do is — I give you all the winners of the category throughout history, go over all the recent trends if there are any, discuss the precursors and whether or not they matter, and then we talk about this year’s category and how we got to it, and then just look at where we are and rank the nominees in terms of their likelihood of winning (at the current moment in time. Of course, things can and will change going into the ceremony). It’s all pretty simple. I’ve done this every year. Everyone should know the drill.
Today is Best Editing. Snip, snip, motherfuckers.
Year | Best Editing Winners | Other Nominees |
1934 | Eskimo/Mala the Magnificent | Cleopatra
One Night of Love |
1935 | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | David Copperfield
The Informer Les Misérables Lives of a Bengal Lancer Mutiny on the Bounty |
1936 | Anthony Adverse | Come and Get It
The Great Ziegfeld Lloyd’s of London A Tale of Two Cities Theodora Goes Wild |
1937 | Lost Horizon | The Awful Truth
Captains Courageous The Good Earth One Hundred Men and a Girl |
1938 | The Adventures of Robin Hood | Alexander’s Ragtime Band
The Great Waltz Test Pilot You Can’t Take It with You |
1939 | Gone With the Wind | Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington The Rains Came Stagecoach |
1940 | North West Mounted Police | The Grapes of Wrath
The Letter The Long Voyage Home Rebecca |
1941 | Sergeant York | Citizen Kane
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde How Green Was My Valley The Little Foxes |
1942 | The Pride of the Yankees | Mrs. Miniver
The Talk of the Town This Above All Yankee Doodle Dandy |
1943 | Air Force | Casablanca
Five Graves to Cairo For Whom the Bell Tolls The Song of Bernadette |
1944 | Wilson | Going My Way
Janie None but the Lonely Heart Since You Went Away |
1945 | National Velvet | The Bells of St. Mary’s
The Lost Weekend Objective, Burma! A Song to Remember |
1946 | The Best Years of Our Lives | It’s a Wonderful Life
The Jolson Story The Killers The Yearling |
1947 | Body and Soul | The Bishop’s Wife
Gentleman’s Agreement Green Dolphin Street Odd Man Out |
1948 | The Naked City | Joan of Arc
Johnny Belinda Red River The Red Shoes |
1949 | Champion | All the King’s Men
Battleground Sands of Iwo Jima The Window |
1950 | King Solomon’s Mines | All About Eve
Annie Get your Gun Sunset Boulevard The Third Man |
1951 | A Place in the Sun | An American in Paris
Decision Before Dawn Quo Vadis The Well |
1952 | High Noon | Come Back, Little Sheba
Flat Top The Greatest Show on Earth Moulin Rouge |
1953 | From Here to Eternity | Crazylegs
The Moon is Blue Roman Holiday The War of the Worlds |
1954 | On the Waterfront | The Caine Mutiny
The High and the Mighty Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
1955 | Picnic | Blackboard Jungle
The Bridges at Toko-Ri Oklahoma! The Rose Tattoo |
1956 | Around the World in 80 Days | The Brave One
Giant Somebody Up There Likes Me The Ten Commandments |
1957 | The Bridge on the River Kwai | Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Pal Joey Sayonara Witness for the Prosecution |
1958 | Gigi | Auntie Mame
Cowboy The Defiant Ones I Want to Live! |
1959 | Ben-Hur | Anatomy of a Murder
North by Northwest The Nun’s Story On the Beach |
1960 | The Apartment | The Alamo
Inherit the Wind Pepe Spartacus |
1961 | West Side Story | Fanny
The Guns of Navarone Judgment at Nuremberg The Parent Trap |
1962 | Lawrence of Arabia | The Longest Day
The Manchurian Candidate The Music Man Mutiny on the Bounty |
1963 | How the West Was Won | The Cardinal
Cleopatra The Great Escape It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World |
1964 | Mary Poppins | Becket
Father Goose Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte My Fair Lady |
1965 | The Sound of Music | Cat Ballou
Doctor Zhivago The Flight of the Phoenix The Great Race |
1966 | Grand Prix | Fantastic Voyage
The Russians are Coming, the Russiands are Coming The Sand Pebbles Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
1967 | In the Heat of the Night | Beach Red
The Dirty Dozen Doctor Dolittle Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner |
1968 | Bullitt | Funny Girl
The Odd Couple Oliver! Wild in the Streets |
1969 | Z | Hello, Dolly!
Midnight Cowboy The Secret of Santa Vittoria They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? |
1970 | Patton | Airport
MASH Tora! Tora! Tora! Woodstock |
1971 | The French Connection | The Andromeda Strain
A Clockwork Orange Kotch Summer of ‘42 |
1972 | Cabaret | Deliverance
The Godfather The Hot Rock The Poseidon Adventure |
1973 | The Sting | American Graffiti
The Day of the Jackal The Exorcist Jonathan Livingston Seagull |
1974 | The Towering Inferno | Blazing Saddles
Chinatown Earthquake The Longest Yard |
1975 | Jaws | Dog Day Afternoon
The Man Who Would Be King One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Three Days of the Condor |
1976 | Rocky | All the President’s Men
Bound for Glory Network Two-Minute Warning |
1977 | Star Wars | Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Julia Smokey and the Bandit The Turning Point |
1978 | The Deer Hunter | The Boys from Brazil
Coming Home Midnight Express Superman |
1979 | All That Jazz | Apocalypse Now
The Black Stallion Kramer vs. Kramer The Rose |
1980 | Raging Bull | Coal Miner’s Daughter
The Competition The Elephant Man Fame |
1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Chariots of Fire
The French Lieutenant’s Woman On Golden Pond Reds |
1982 | Gandhi | Das Boot
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial An Officer and a Gentleman Tootsie |
1983 | The Right Stuff | Blue Thunder
Flashdance Silkwood Terms of Endearment |
1984 | The Killing Fields | Amadeus
The Cotton Club A Passage to India Romancing the Stone |
1985 | Witness | A Chorus Line
Out of Africa Prizzi’s Honor Runaway Train |
1986 | Platoon | Aliens
Hannah and Her Sisters The Mission Top Gun |
1987 | The Last Emperor | Broadcast News
Empire of the Sun Fatal Attraction RoboCop |
1988 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Die Hard
Gorillas in the Mist Mississippi Burning Rain Man |
1989 | Born on the Fourth of July | Driving Miss Daisy
The Fabulous Baker Boys Glory The Bear |
1990 | Dances with Wolves | Ghost
The Godfather Part III Goodfellas The Hunt for Red October |
1991 | JFK | The Commitments
The Silence of the Lambs Terminator 2: Judgment Day Thelma & Louise |
1992 | Unforgiven | Basic Instinct
The Crying Game A Few Good Men The Player |
1993 | Schindler’s List | The Fugitive
In the Line of Fire In the Name of the Father The Piano |
1994 | Forrest Gump | Hoop Dreams
Pulp Fiction The Shawshank Redemption Speed |
1995 | Apollo 13 | Babe
Braveheart Crimson Tide Seven |
1996 | The English Patient | Evita
Fargo Jerry Maguire Shine |
1997 | Titanic | Air Force One
As Good as It Gets Good Will Hunting L.A. Confidential |
1998 | Saving Private Ryan | Out of Sight
Shakespeare in Love The Thin Red Line Life is Beautiful |
1999 | The Matrix | American Beauty
The Cider House Rules The Insider The Sixth Sense |
2000 | Traffic | Almost Famous
Gladiator Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Wonder Boys |
2001 | Black Hawk Down | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
A Beautiful Mind Memento Moulin Rouge! |
2002 | Chicago | Gangs of New York
The Hours The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Pianist |
2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | City of God
Cold Mountain Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Seabiscuit |
2004 | The Aviator | Collateral
Finding Neverland Million Dollar Baby Ray |
2005 | Crash | Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener Munich Walk the Line |
2006 | The Departed | Babel
Blood Diamond Children of Men United 93 |
2007 | The Bourne Ultimatum | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild No Country for Old Men There Will Be Blood |
2008 | Slumdog Millionaire | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight Frost/Nixon Milk |
2009 | The Hurt Locker | Avatar
District 9 Inglourious Basterds Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire |
2010 | The Social Network | Black Swan
127 Hours The Fighter The King’s Speech |
2011 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | The Artists
The Descendants Hugo Moneyball |
2012 | Argo | Life of Pi
Lincoln Silver Linings Playbook Zero Dark Thirty |
2013 | Gravity | American Hustle
Captain Phillips Dallas Buyers Club 12 Years a Slave |
2014 | Whiplash | American Sniper
Boyhood The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game |
2015 | Mad Max: Fury Road | The Big Short
The Revenant Spotlight Star Wars: The Force Awakens |
2016 | Hacksaw Ridge | Arrival
Hell or High Water La La Land Moonlight |
2017 | Dunkirk | Baby Driver
I, Tonya The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri |
2018 | Bohemian Rhapsody | BlacKkKlansman
The Favourite Green Book Vice |
Best Editing is always a strange category to talk about because it’s usually more about the Best Picture favorites than it is about pure editing. This year, there’s more of an overlap than usual, but still.
The main precursors here are ACE, the Editors guild, BAFTA and BFCA. Though BFCA gave their Editing award to a non-nominated film that was cut to look like it wasn’t edited, so they’re fucking useless this year.
Anyway, ACE is 40/58 all-time in this category, 23/30 the past 30 years and 6/10 the past decade. BAFTA is 7/10 the past decade, and BFCA, as I’ve hinted at, is only 4/9 and not generally useful.
But typically there’s either gonna be a consensus, or you can figure it out just by looking at the category.
Best Editing
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Parasite
Not an overly surprising category in terms of what got on. However, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood not being nominated is the biggest deal of anything else. But otherwise, no real surprises here.
Precursors:
- ACE Dramatic: Parasite
- ACE Comedy: Jojo Rabbit
- BAFTA: Ford v Ferrari
I should note that only 10 films ever to this point won Best Picture without being nominated for Best Editing: It Happened One Night, The Life of Emile Zola, Hamlet, Marty, Tom Jones, A Man for All Seasons, The Godfather Part II, Annie Hall, Ordinary People, and Birdman. 1917 would be #11, but, like Birdman, the conceit is that it looks like it’s not Edited, so it’s not that big a deal. But Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, if that won, would be a bigger deal. Just noting that before we get to Best Picture tomorrow.
This is probably the one major category where it’s very much open. Owing to the Best Picture favorite not being nominated because it’s designed to seem like it isn’t edited. So we’re left with a nice array of choices, which, relatively, is scaring the shit out of me. Even though it’s probably just a 50/50 choice.
Rankings:
5. Joker — No momentum whatsoever for a win here. Aside from the number of nominations, I see no reason to make this anything other than fifth here. Where are the votes coming from?
4. The Irishman — It’s Thelma. And I hesitate even putting her fourth. But no precursor. So while I don’t think it’s happening, I’m scared shitless having her fourth, just because some people might instinctively vote for her. She won for Aviator and Departed and was assumed to have won for Hugo in that crazy 2011 category. I don’t see it happening, but I might have to bump her up to third in the end just because I’m terrified by the notion of not having Thelma in contention.
3. Jojo Rabbit — It’s won the ACE for Comedy, so that’s something. Though… ACE Comedy winners don’t really ever win the Oscar. It’s only happened once. Which is why, absent anything else, I’m not sure what’s keeping this here as a solid third choice. This and Irishman are basically 3-4, in almost any order. Still, it does make our lives easier at the top. The ultimate question still is: what’s gonna win?
2. Parasite — It won ACE, which is big. It’s a potential Best Picture upset choice. If it wins here, then seriously watch out for Best Picture later in the night. I only have it second just because… Ford v Ferrari is the more overtly ‘edited’ movie. That’s it. It’s a pure 50/50. They both have precursors. You can make a case for both given what we’ve seen. Which is why I’m feeling a real 2011 vibe from this. The tiebreaker could have been BFCA… but fucking 1917 won there. So now we’re just guessing.
1. Ford v Ferrari — It’s got BAFTA, that’s big. It’s a race car movie. It makes total sense here. Will it win? Dunno. It feels like it’s this or Parasite. You can take either, and this becomes the favorite purely on the fact that it more openly screams ‘editing’ than Parasite does. And hey, since I keep saying how it reminds me of 2011… what won in 2011? Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The more ‘editing’ kinda movie. So we’ll call this the favorite in what is otherwise a complete 50/50 toss up.
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