Tomorrow, the American Cinema Editors will select their choices for the best edited films of the year. Below are our predictions:

Best Film Editing

Drama Editing

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Wes)
Star Trek
Up in the Air

Comedy Editing

(500) Days of Summer (Wesley, Tripp, Wes)
The Hangover
It’s Complicated
Julie & Julia (Peter)
A Serious Man

Animation Editing

Coraline (Wesley)
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Up (Peter, Tripp, Wes)

Documentary Editing

The Cove (Peter, Wes)
Food, Inc.
This Is It (Wesley, Tripp)

Predictions Commentary

Wesley Lovell
Drama: Since this category was split into Drama and Comedy back in ’98, not a single winner of this trophy wasn’t also an Oscar nominee. And before that, going back all the way to the beginning of the award in 1961, only ONE time has the award not gone to an Oscar-nominated film (1983’s WarGames). Between Avatar, The Hurt Locker and District 9, the question is what is this group looking for. All are Best Picture nominees, so that doesn’t help in determining. And war seems to be a subject the editors frequently like, so The Hurt Locker it is.
Comedy: Of the four Oscar-nominated winners in this category, 3 were musicals. We have none. Matter of fact, we have no Oscar nominees in this list. So other than musicals, which account for 8 of the 11 winners in this category, there is one comedies, one action film and one animated feature. There are no action films in this bunch, and animation was pushed out to its own category this year, so we have to go with actual comedy. And with Being John Malkovich the only example of a comedy, you have to expect this group likes its comedy winners to be quirky and jumpy. While Julie & Julia cross-cuts between times, it’s a fairly bland film as are all the others except (500) Days of Summer and A Serious Man. But, quirky doesn’t always win, bouncing back-and-forth in time seems more difficult, so I give it to (500) Days of Summer.
Animation: I don’t have a history to reference for this award or documentary, so I’m flying blind here. Up might be the year’s most praised animated feature, but it’s not the kind of showy animation that you would expect to be well edited. Sure the opening montage featuring Carl & Ellie works exceedingly well, it’s not as wholly appreciable as the editing job in two stop-motion animated features. Just the style of filmmaking seems more recognizable as editing work. And between Coraline and Fantastic Mr. Fox, I would say that Coraline seems to benefit most from its pace and interweaving plot elements, so since it’s a kind of mystery whereas the others are not, I’m giving it the, edge, but I wouldn’t be surprised with any of these winners.
Documentary: This Is It seems like the more difficult job in this group as it must splice together random footage into a cohesive story. And with no ability for re-shoots of certain scenes, it makes it even more imperative they get what they need and piece it together effectively.
Peter J. Patrick
Drama: I think the Editors will add to the growing stockpile of awards for Bigelow’s film.
Comedy: (500) Days of Summer is a real threat, but Julie & Julia’s seamless intercutting between eras is an editing tour-de-force and the likely winner here.

Animation: Skillful editing on Fantstic Mr. Fox makes it a tough two way race, but Up is the more popular of the two and the sure winner in this category.

Documentary: I’m at a disadvantage here having only seen The Cove but it’s so skillfully edited I can;t imagine the others being better.      

Tripp Burton
Drama: There is not getting past the expert construction of all the action scenes of this film, and the editors should lean towards the tight, tautness of this action film over the broad, epic scope of Avatar.
Comedy: This is a wide open category, and I could see any of these five leaving with the award. (500) Days of Summer is the most creatively constructed of the films, and the “showiest” editing, which I think should push it over the edge.
Animation: I have no idea how they judge this category, so I will go with the critical favorite.
Documentary: Any of these three make a compelling case, but This Is It has the most flash and turns the least amount of footage into an unseen story.