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The American Cinema Editors are one of the oldest guilds in existence, at least in terms of which guilds give out awards. As such, they are a crucial forecaster of the Best Editing Oscar and can also give hints as to what films might just carry over to Best Picture wins.

AMERICAN CINEMA EDITORS AWARDS

Best Drama Editing

American Sniper (Wesley, Tripp, Thomas)
Boyhood (Peter, RU:Wesley, RU:Thomas)
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game (RU:Peter)
Nightcrawler
Whiplash (RU:Tripp)

Wesley Lovell: While it’s always possible that the understated editing of Boyhood trumps the more gripping editing for American Sniper or Gone Girl or the more frenetic editing of Nightcrawler or Whiplash, but I wouldn’t count on it. If Boyhood wins, it may be the juggernaut everyone thought. If Sniper wins as I suspect, then the status quo doesn’t change.
Peter J. Patrick: The seamless editing of a movie made over a period of 12-13 years would seem to be an irresistible choice, but, who knows, the more obvious editing back and forth over various time periods in The Imitation Game may impress ACE voters more.
Tripp Burton: Much like Captain Phillip‘s win here last year, I’m guessing that the combination of war scenes and Best Picture prestige of American Sniper will bring it a win here. Or maybe the rhythmic editing of Whiplash. Boyhood is the film that really needs a win here, though, although the lack of flash to the film will probably hurt it.
Thomas LaTourette: This is a difficult category to predict. While Boyhood may be the frontrunner, it is not the typical type of film that wins here. That is why I have put it in the runner-up category, though I was tempted to drop it further in favor of Whiplash, with its striking cuts of the drum playing. I think the winner will be American Sniper, which seems the most action packed film. Captain Phillips won last year, which set a bit of a precedent for an action film winning here instead of the eventual Oscar winner for best film. It will be a tight race.

Best Comedy/Musical Editing

Birdman (Peter, Tripp, RU:Wesley)
Guardians of the Galaxy (RU:Thomas)
Into the Woods
Inherent Vice
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wesley, Thomas, RU:Peter, RU:Tripp)

Wesley Lovell: None of these nominees are your typical flashy editing styles. This group will gravitate towards Oscar nominees, which suggests Birdman will miss out, though if they feel slighted that the film didn’t make the Oscar cut, they could give it a boost. My bet is they go with Oscar-nominated The Grand Budapest Hotel in honor of the consistent style and effortless flow of Wes Anderson’s film. A win by Guardians of the Galaxy or Inherent Vice wouldn’t surprise me either.
Peter J. Patrick: The how-did-they-do-that aspect of making Birdman look like it was filmed in one take could provide an easy victory over the more traditionally edited Grand Budapest Hotel or Into the Woods.
Tripp Burton: This probably comes down to the two Best Picture nominees, and the trickery of Birdman is a much more certain thing than the more classical Grand Budapest Hotel.
Thomas LaTourette: As much as I would like to forecast Birdman for an award here, I think its long takes with fairly seamless editing will be viewed more as a cinematographic feat than an editing one. Therefore it appears the more stylized The Grand Budapest Hotel will end up winning. A best picture nominee has often won here, and I don’t think this year will be an exception. Probably its strongest competition is from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Best Animation Editing

Big Hero 6 (Thomas, RU:Tripp)
The Boxtrolls (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
The Lego Movie (Wesley, Peter, Tripp)

Wesley Lovell: Two action-heavy films and a stop-motion film are competing to see who can win an award for editing. My gut tells me that editing together actual figures in live-action might appeal to them more, I lean towards the consistent rise and fall of action in The Lego Movie over the more traditional action narrative of Big Hero 6.
Peter J. Patrick: I have no idea what impresses the ACE voters when it comes to animation, but both The Lego Movie and The Boxtrolls are films I liked in part because of their smooth transition form scene to scene which is a hallmark of good editing so they would get my vote.
Tripp Burton: These Animated categories are starting to baffle me this year, so your guess is as good as mine.
Thomas LaTourette: Without a nomination for best animated feature, I am dropping The Lego Movie out of the running, though I could see it winning here. That leaves Big Hero 6 and The Boxtrolls, both of which have an Oscar nomination. Big Hero 6 seems the stronger competitor, but having not seen Boxtrolls yet does put me at a disadvantage here. I will go with the Disney movie.

Best Documentary Editing

Citizenfour (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Finding Vivian Maier (RU:Wesley, RU:Thomas)
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me (RU:Peter, RU:Tripp)

Wesley Lovell: When in doubt, and with this category I’m always in doubt, go with the Oscar front-runner to win Documentary Feature. Glen Campbell isn’t nominated. Of the remaining two, I lean towards Citizenfour, though the photo / old footage elements of Finding Vivian Maier may seem a bit more complex and thus more appealing to this group.
Peter J. Patrick: The more critically acclaimed Citizenfour would seem to be the winner here, with the Glen Campbell movie a heavily sentimental alternative.
Tripp Burton: I tend to assume that Citizen Four wins any of these, especially if Life Itself isn’t in the running.
Thomas LaTourette: Although I found it slow moving in places, I have a feeling that Oscar frontrunner Citizenfour will easily win the Oscar. If anything were to pull an upset, I would think it would be fellow nominee Finding Vivian Maier.

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