Variety has posted its predictions for the Oscar nominees. What do YOU think of the PREDICTIONS for Best Editing nominations?

So this isn’t an article so much as a discussion starter.

Variety has posted its predictions for the Oscar nominees. The nominations will be announced early in the morning of January 14^th.

I’m not interested in a “People magazine” discussion of actors and Best Picture. Most of you know me as an editor. So, take a look at Variety’s predictions of the Best Editing nominations. What do YOU think? And more importantly, to make this a valuable discussion for everyone, WHY do you think it should win? Let us know which of the top movies you’ve actually seen as part of your prediction. Obviously, if you haven’t seen them all, knowing which ones you’ve seen is important. How do you compare gigantic “tent-pole” action movies with something that is much less flashy? How can you compare “Mad Max” with “Spotlight” or compare “Star Wars” with “Room?”

What appealed to you about the editing of one movie over another? If editing is supposed to be an “invisible art” is it bad that you even notice the editing at all?

Almost all Best Editing nominees are from Best Pictures. How do you separate good directing or a good overall movie from the good editing? Almost all Best Editing nominees are from Best Pictures.

This is your chance to be part of an interesting discussion. I’d love to hear what you think. Please use the comment section below to voice your opinion – especially on WHY your predictions for editing nominees or winners are such exceptional examples of great editing. I’m more interested in your opinion than guessing who the Academy will actually choose. I want to know which ones were well edited and why.

I don’t know if I want to prejudice the discussion with my own opinions. I will say this, of the top 15 movies I’ve seen “Mad Max,” “Spotlight,” “The Martian,” “The Revenant,” “Star Wars,” “The Hateful Eight,” “Brooklyn,” and “Sicario.” I’ve also done interviews with the editors of all of them (or will do interviews shortly). Comparing those movies is very difficult for me. “Mad Max” was pure spectacle and exhilarating. “Spotlight” by contrast held me captive in the story and felt completely true and real. “Sicario” was incredibly tense and a lot of that was created by the pacing and rhythm of the editing. It also received many kudos from other editors whom I interviewed. It’s hard to separate the grand scale and scope of “The Hateful Eight” and “The Revenant” from the editing.  “Brooklyn” was lovingly paced… a slow character study that made me feel like I really knew the main character. “The Martian” is one that I think had a lot of difficult problems that needed to be solved in editing, so I was impressed by the story of the editing (which I covered). The editing itself was clearly fantastic, from double-Oscar winning editor, Pietro Scalia.

Before the awards are announced, be sure to check out all of the editing interviews in the Art of the Cut series and let me know what you think on Twitter @stevehullfish and #artofthecut.

Interviews with the editors of “The Revenant” and “Spotlight” are coming soon, followed by “Star Wars.”