The American Cinema Editors have announced nominations for their 66th annual ACE Eddie Awards, and there are a few surprises. For one, this year’s list of nominees is very blockbuster-heavy, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Martian, and Mad Max: Fury Road all landing nominations in the Drama category, while Marvel’s Ant-Man scored a nod in the Comedy category. Additionally, wholly absent from this list is the supposed Oscar frontrunner for Best Picture, Spotlight. The understated Tom McCarthy drama has been raking in the critics group and precursor awards, but was left off the nominations list from the ACE. Given the straightforward, understated nature of the film it’s easy to see aspects like editing and even directing getting overlooked, but just because they’re not noticeable doesn’t mean they’re not notable.
Regardless, for those worrying about its Oscar prospects, not to fear. A Best Editing Oscar nomination is usually but not always a strong indicator for Best Picture glory, with last year’s Birdman landing the top prize without a Best Editing nomination.
The ACE Eddie nomination I’m most happy to see? The Big Short, which I feel is one of the year’s most impeccably crafted films. Also nice to see Sicario getting some love from the editor’s branch, and a well-deserved mention for Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Check out the full list of nominations below. The ACE Eddie Awards will be handed out on January 29th.
Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic):
Mad Max: Fury Road
Margaret Sixel
The Martian
Pietro Scalia, ACE
The Revenant
Stephen Mirrione, ACE
Sicario
Joe Walker, ACE
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Maryann Brandon, ACE and Mary Jo Markey, ACE
Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy):
Ant-Man
Dan Lebental, ACE and Colby Parker, Jr., ACE
The Big Short
Hank Corwin, ACE
Joy
Jay Cassidy, ACE, Alan Baumgarten, ACE, Christopher Tellefsen, ACE and Tom Cross, ACE
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
David Trachtenberg
Trainwreck
William Kerr, ACE and Paul Zucker
Best Edited Animated Feature Film:
Anomalisa
Garret Elkins
Inside Out
Kevin Nolting, ACE
The Good Dinosaur
Stephen Schaffer, ACE
Best Edited Documentary (Feature):
Amy
Chris King
Cobain: Montage of Heck
Joe Beshenkovsky and Brett Morgen
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Andy Grieve
He Named Me Malala
Greg Finton, ACE, Brian Johnson and Brad Fuller
The Wrecking Crew
Claire Scanlon
Best Edited Documentary (Television):
Keith Richards: Under the Influence
Joshua L. Pearson
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst "Chapter 1"
Richard Hankin, ACE, Zac Stuart-Pontier, Caitlyn Greene, Shelby Siegel
The Seventies: The United State vs. Nixon
Chris A. Peterson, ACE
Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television:
Inside Amy Schumer: "12 Angry Men"
Nick Paley
Silicon Valley: "Two Days of the Condor"
Brian Merken, ACE
Veep: "Election Night"
Gary Dollner
Best Edited One-Hour Series for Commercial Television:
Better Call Saul: "Five-O"
Kelley Dixon, ACE
Better Call Saul: “Uno”
Skip Macdonald, ACE
Fargo: “Did You Do This? No, You Did It!”
Skip Macdonald, ACE and Curtis Thurber
The Good Wife: “Restrain”
Scott Vickrey, ACE
Mad Men: “Person to Person”
Tom Wilson
Best Edited One-Hour Series for Non-Commercial Television:
Game of Thrones: "The Dance of Dragons"
Katie Weiland
Game of Thrones: "Hardhome"
Tim Porter
Homeland: “The Tradition of Hospitality”
Harvey Rosenstock, ACE
House of Cards: “Chapter 39”
Lisa Bromwell, ACE
The Knick: “Wonderful Surprises”
Mary Ann Bernard
Best Edited Longform (Miniseries or Motion Picture) for Television:
Bessie
Brian A. Kates, ACE
Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors
Maysie Hoy, ACE
Orange is the New Black: “Trust No Bitch” (90 minute episode)
William Turro
Best Edited Non-Scripted Series:
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: “Bay Area”
Hunter Gross, ACE
Deadliest Catch: “Zero Hour”
Josh Earl, ACE and Ben Bulatao
Whale Wars: "The Darkest Hour"
Eric Driscoll, Nik Jamgocyan, Chris Kirkpatrick, David Michael Maurer, ACE, Greg McDonald, Marcus Miller and Alexandria Scott