The last time the winner of Best Picture wasn’t at least nominated for Best Film Editing was 1980 when Ordinary People won the top prize. That’s a long time. To make the trend even stronger, in 2005 Best Picture frontrunner Brokeback Mountain lost out to Crash. Guess what film wasn’t nominated for Best Film Editing. Boyhood had a fight on it’s hand when Birdman was in the race. However, with the film out of the running, it looks like Boyhood should win this pretty easily.
The first of two films that are going to give Boyhood some chase is The Grand Budapest Hotel. Wes Anderson’s caper surprised in this category. However, with its lead in the nominations and win on the comedy side at the ACE Eddie Awards (Boyhood took the drama award), it’s going to be the closest to upsetting Boyhood.
The other scenario I can see playing out is Whiplash surprising. This category usually goes with a Best Picture frontrunner, if not the winner. However, Whiplash wins here in the event that the best edited film wins. Many pundits predicted Captain Phillips last year because it was the most clearly edited film. However, Whiplash is not only the most clearly edited, it also is the most beautifully stitched together.
Boyhood is still solidly out front to win. I mean, they had to edit 12 years worth of material. However, it’s not the absolute lock we thought it was.
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Will Win: Boyhood
Could Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Should Win: Whiplash
Should have been nominated: For me, the best editing is the one that you can’t see, so A Most Violent Year would have been a worthy addition.
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.