The Ace Eddie Award is given by Hollywood's film editor's guild. It was a very good year for music, since three of the big winners (20 Feet From Stardom, Frozen, and Behind the Candelabra) are musicals or in bed with the genre somehow. But that's not the big story.
The big surprise has to be the win for Captain Phillips which was up against both Gravity and 12 Years A Slave, the two presumed frontrunners for the Best Picture Oscar. What a tight race this year is bringing us and BEST EDITING, when it's announced on Oscar night, will not tell us who's winning Best Picture. It's oft repeated that it's nearly impossible to win Best Picture without an Editing nomination. But it's VERY possible to lose Editing and still win Best Picture. In fact, nearly half of modern Best Pictures do lose that statue...
The Past Twenty Years - Editing/Picture Disagreements
1995 Apollo 13/Braveheart
1998 Saving Private Ryan/Shakespeare in Love
1999 The Matrix/American Beauty
2000 Traffic/Gladiator
2001 Black Hawk Down/A Beautiful Mind
2004 The Aviator / Million Dollar Baby
2007 The Bourne Ultimatum/No Country For Old Men
2010 The Social Network / The King's Speech
2011 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo / The Artist
It's worth noting that when the Oscar for editing does not match Best Picture it nearly always goes to a film that depends heavily and obviously on its editing: films that lean toward suspense, war, sci-fi or genre thrills of some type. I am beginning to wonder if Captain Phillips and Gravity might split this natural appeal, leaving 12 Years a Slave a path to the win for its precise drama.
EDDIE WINNERS, FEATURE FILMS
Jay Cassidy. Three time winner
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC)
Captain Phillips Christopher Rouse, A.C.E.
Rouse previously won both the Eddie and the Oscar for The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL)
American Hustle Jay Cassidy, A.C.E., Crispin Struthers & Alan Baumgarten, A.C.E.
This is Cassidy's third Eddie win (they really really like him) following Silver Linings Playbook, and An Inconvenient Truth. He has yet to win an Oscar. Baumgarten previously won the Eddie for television's Recount.
BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Frozen Jeff Draheim
This is Draheim's second lead job on a feature following The Princess and the Frog
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
20 Feet from Stardom Douglas Blush, Kevin Klauber & Jason Zeldes
They hand out television prizes too...
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (TELEVISION)
The Assassination of President Kennedy Chris A. Peterson
BEST EDITED HALF-HOUR SERIES FOR TELEVISION
The Office: “Finale” David Rogers & Claire Scanlon
BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Breaking Bad: “Felina” Skip MacDonald A.C.E.
BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Homeland: “Big Man in Tehran” Terry Kelley, A.C.E.
BEST EDITED MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE FOR TELEVISION:
Behind the Candelabra Mary Ann Bernard
BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES:
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: Tokyo Nick Brigden
BEST STUDENT EDITING
Ambar Salinas, Video Symphony