OVP: Film Editing (2016)

OVP: Best Film Editing (2016)

The Nominees Were...

Joe Walker, Arrival
John Gilbert, Hacksaw Ridge
Jake Roberts, Hell or High Water
Tom Cross, La La Land
Nat Sanders & Joi McMillon, Moonlight

My Thoughts: I have had a lot of success in the past year with mandating specific dates for activities or things on this blog (Saturdays with the Stars, our Film Noir Month), and while I have been reluctant to introduce too many new routines in (for risk that I simply won't be able to accomplish them), we're going to be making a second pact with you the readers going forward on this blog, and that is OVP Ballot Wednesday.  I'm at the point now where I can pretty much guarantee that by the time I finish one of these series, I'll have seen all of the films of an additional contest (I actually only need to watch ten more films and I'll have four more years finished for this project), so committing to doing this weekly feels like an easy promise from a "you'll have things to do" standpoint, and I'm a big fan of saying something out loud in hopes that it will entice me to do what I promised, so we're going to do that here.  I might stray in the sense that if I have a lot of these backed up I'll include a spare article on a different day to keep me from being super over-stocked, but for now I'm making a promise that every Wednesday you can tune into TMROJ and get a look at one specific Oscar Viewing Project race, and today that is Best Film Editing of 2016.

This is probably a good place to rejoin this list (as always, links to past contests below), as all five of these contenders were Best Picture nominees.  We'll start with La La Land, because I kind of want to get the negative out of the way.  La La Land is not an ugly film, by any stretch of the imagination, but it's also the sort of movie that feels poorly-paced, and its sound work is egregious.  I will get to this a bit more in a few weeks, but that opening number on the LA freeway is terribly edited, with shots feeling blurry and the orchestra drowning out the singers.  That in some part falls to editor Tom Cross, who should have been able to bridge together scenes in a more cohesive way to make the larger-scale dance numbers not feel like such a jumble.  Combined with a last act that's best attributes are stealing from movies like An American in Paris and The Band Wagon, and you have a film whose editing leaves much to be desired.

Hell or High Water is the kind of movie that frequently lands here because the Academy liked the movie, not because its editing is impressive in any meaningful way.  The film is good-I love a western with a ticking clock-but there's nothing technically significant about this picture's editing, and it's not clear that the movie was assisted by Jake Roberts, as the script is arguably its tightest and best part.  I loved the scenes in the wide expanses, the way that it keeps briskly going, but the pacing in the casino scenes aren't nearly as interesting, and you kind of want to learn more about the inevitable showdown between Pine & Bridges than some of the times the movie gets sidetracked.

Arrival is the sort of movie that only the most ambitious of editors would envy.  You're given the project of doing flashbacks, frequently in sequences where it has to make sense on re-view that it's a flashback, but not always clear initially, and you have to do so without really giving hints about what is happening on the other side of the alien lens.  You also have to make what should be pretty dull scenes (like the ones where Amy Adams is essentially interpreting another language) pop, which is what happens here-they're arguably the best scenes in the movie.  Arrival is brilliantly cut, deliberately paced, and kind of a testament to how good editing can elevate a film.

Hacksaw Ridge, on the other hand, is unable to achieve such distinction.  They're given a pretty dry film (Gibson's movie is not terrible, but it's also not great), and expected to make it sing, which they do in some sequences.  The battle scene, where Andrew Garfield, unable to kill in combat, starts sending down soldiers, is thrilling, but it's also the climax of a movie that has stretches that are needlessly violent and confusingly homoerotic (seriously-someone on that set was working through some repressed feelings here).  The beginning of the film, though, is awful, and since it's setting up the entire rest of the movie, I feel like something vital didn't get brought to the floor there.  But (as you're going to find as we continue analyzing this movie further), the picture is better than people gave it credit for in 2016 due to the anti-Gibson fervor, and the action sequences are well-done.

Moonlight is the most obviously impressive film of the year from an editing perspective.  It has to be tricky to take two different trios of actors, playing the same part, and find ways to connect them across 15 or so years without it being too wink-y or repetitive.  Moonlight therefore shows the gradual crescendo of Chiron's life, as he moves from Little all the way to Black, with seamless precision.  There's never a moment that feels spare or unintentional, making it not only a powerful film, but arguably the tightest script of 2016.

Other Precursor Contenders: The Eddie Awards have nominees for both Drama and Comedy/Musical, all five of the Oscar contenders translated at their ceremony.  Drama went to Arrival, besting Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Manchester by the Sea, and Moonlight, while Comedy picked La La Land over Deadpool, Hail, Caesar!, The Jungle Book, and The Lobster.  BAFTA went with Hacksaw Ridge for the win, defeating Arrival, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, and Nocturnal Animals (huh?!?).  The sixth place seems certain to be Manchester by the Sea, though looking at my predictions at the time I did guess OJ: Made in America as having an outside shot.

Films I Would Have Nominated: Oscar and I had a lot of different opinions in 2016, but toward the top of the list would be his editing choices.  I would have found room for Jackie, which tells its tale seamlessly even though it's spread across jumping timelines, and definitely The VVitch, which was terrifying and had to be cut "just so" to ensure that the ending worked as well as it did.  Lastly I'm going with Everybody Wants Some!!!, which was one of my favorite films of 2016, and is proof that a comedy can feel like an auteur feature without needing to lose its humor.

Oscar's Choice: Oscar copied BAFTA and went with Hacksaw Ridge in what I'm guessing was a close contest with Arrival and La La Land.

My Choice: In a very tight race between Arrival and Moonlight I'm going to go with Joe Walker, the more difficult task with the bigger payoff.  Behind them would be Hell or High Water, Hacksaw Ridge, and then La La Land.

Those are my thoughts-what are yours?  Do you agree with me that Arrival was the best of this bunch, or is someone out there willing to fess up to being a fan of Hacksaw Ridge?  Anyone curious how the better-celebrated Manchester by the Sea got dumped in favor of Hell or High Water?  And how weird would it have been to have the longest-film ever nominated for an Oscar be nominated for the editing prize?  Share your thoughts below!

Also in 2016: Visual Effects, Makeup & Hairstyling, Previously in 2016

Past Best Film Editing Contests: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015