One of the slightly butchered categories at this year's Academy Awards has to be Best Film Editing, if only because it seems that they don't know what they're awarding anymore. Three years ago, The Bourne Ultimatum won this category, and it wasn't nominated for anything above the technical level. It won because it displayed excellence in the craft for which it was nominated. I have my doubts in the Academy's ability to properly judge the race this year, strictly because of what wasn't nominated. I know that many are obsessed with Christopher Nolan being shut out of Best Director, but I'm far more shocked by Inception's omission from Best Film Editing.Anybody who saw Inception would agree that Lee Smith's editing is second to perhaps only one. It takes a lot of work to blend the several layers of the dream world together in a way that doesn't break the trance the film has on the audience, but Smith did 
it. Now that he's inexplicably out of the race, there should be only one reasonable alternative, and that's Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter for The Social Network. The film is briskly paced, and the editing moves things forward in a wondrously organic way. It never feels slow, and it never feels unnecessary. It's a work of pure precision.
it. Now that he's inexplicably out of the race, there should be only one reasonable alternative, and that's Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter for The Social Network. The film is briskly paced, and the editing moves things forward in a wondrously organic way. It never feels slow, and it never feels unnecessary. It's a work of pure precision.That should be the end of it, but somehow it just isn't. The film that was pretty much destined to be nominated, though I don't think it deserved to be, was The King's Speech. The other films nominated really displayed a unique craft, with 127 Hours' hyper-kinetic split-screens, Black Swan's dark and elegant subtlety, and The Fighter's raw brutality. They all earned their place in this field, but The King's Speech didn't display much craft in the editor's approach. It's plain and straightforward, much like everything else in the film. The weight of how many nominations it pulled off brings into question whether or not that will be enough to win. I certainly hope not, but there have been far too many unhealthy surprises this season. Why not another?
1. The Social Network2. The Fighter
3. Black Swan
4. 127 Hours
5. The King's Speech
Should/Will Win: The Social Network
Possible Upset: The King's Speech
Should Have Been Nominated: Inception
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