It’s been reiterated for months now that “Argo” and “Silver Linings Playbook” are the two films that are well-liked across the board in the Academy and the industry at large. Well, tonight, both films have triumphed at the America Cinema Editors’s ACE Eddie Awards in the dramatic and comedic categories.
Neither is really a shock. “Argo” is the frontrunner to win the Oscar for editing and Best Picture, while “Silver Linings Playbook” surprised many by landing an Oscar nomination for editing. It beat out “Les Misérables” here, which wasn’t nominated for an Oscar and was probably the only competition otherwise.
These two films could in fact be representative at the end of the day with Best Picture and Best Director wins. Indeed, David O. Russell has an angle on that prize and though I’m currently betting on Ang Lee, I have a sneaking suspicion Russell is waiting to pounce. We shall see.
In the animated category, it’s worth pointing out another upset for “Brave” over perceived Best Animation Feature Film heavy “Wreck-It Ralph.” Someone was going on and on in the comments section recently about how absurd it is to think Pixar’s latest could win out over Disney’s darling effort. I hope by now that person is realizing it’s not so absurd a notion at all, what with a BAFTA win to go along with the Golden Globe and now this. Anne and I went over all the reasons this upset could happen in a recent podcast, but it boils down, I think, to branding and to the fact that “Wreck-It Ralph” may not be too inviting on the outside, despite how thoroughly wonderful it is underneath all the pop-cultural video game stuff.
On the documentary front, “Searching for Sugar Man” keeps dominating the circuit, picking up the win here in addition to the PGA, DGA, IDA, etc. It seems a bit unstoppable, no?
Finally, veteran editors Richard Marks and Larry Silk received Lifetime Achievement Awards, while “Lincoln” director Steven Spielberg received the organization’s filmmaker of the year prize.
Check out the full list of ACE Eddie winners below, and as always, keep track of all the ups and downs of the 2012-2013 film awards season via The Circuit.
Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic
“Argo”
William Goldenberg, A.C.E.
Best Edited Feature Film – Comedy/Musical
“Silver Linings Playbook”
Jay Cassidy, A.C.E. and Crispin Struthers
Best Edited Feature Film – Animated
“Brave”
Nicholas C. Smith, A.C.E. & Robert Grahamjones, A.C.E
Best Edited Documentary – Feature
“Searching for Sugar Man”
Malik Bendjelloul
Best Edited Documentary – Television
“American Masters: Phil Ochs – There But For Fortune”
Pamela Scott Arnold
Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television
“Nurse Jackie” – “Handle Your Scandal”
Gary Levy
Best Edited One-Hour Series for Commercial Television
“Breaking Bad” – “Gliding Over All”
Skip MacDonald, A.C.E.
Best Edited One-Hour Series for Non-Commercial Television
“The Newsroom” – “We Just Decided To (Pilot)”
Anne McCabe, A.C.E.
Best Edited Miniseries or Motion Picture for Television
“Hemingway & Gellhorn”
Walter Murch, A.C.E.
Best Edited Non-Scripted Series
“Frozen Planet” – “To the Ends of the Earth”
Andy Netley & Sharon Gillooly
Golden Eddie (Filmmaker of the Year Award)
Steven Spielberg
Lifetime Achievement Award
Richard Marks, A.C.E.
Larry Silk, A.C.E.
Student Competition
Michael Smith – AFI