This is the kind of stat that I don’t really believe in, but…
When was the last time a film won Best Picture without being nominated for Best Editing?
25 years ago, Ordinary People did it.
Yes, every film that won Best Picture, even Driving Miss Daisy, got an editing nomination since then
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20 Weeks To Oscar: Rush To Poor Judgment?
20 Weeks Extra: Could There Be One More Turn?
“I don’t really think, Sean, that you need to know about my various sexual liaisons. Or that anyone else needs to. I did write about them. I filled a hundred pages of Moleskine notebooks with my one-night stands, my affairs. But I decided they didn’t belong in a professional memoir. First of all, these are real people we’re talking about. Many of them were enjoyable. Some were abject failures. My wife said to me when she read the pages, ‘Of what purpose is this in a memoir? Of what purpose is this other than to titillate?’ The point is, I never see them. It’s because I have nothing in common with them, frankly. And probably didn’t at the time. I could not provide a sensible reason why I married these women. The thing is, in the case of my marriages, it takes two people to fuck up a marriage. It wasn’t simply the fault of these women that I lost interest in them and realised they were insignificant relationships. Which is how I look at them right now–as being insignificant. I see them as blips.”
~ William Friedkin On Cutting Interviewers Off At The Sass
“I have to imagine from Mr. Spielberg’s point of view, the paradigm shift in the 1970s was just the new “normal,” a “halcyon era” from which we are straying in the 21st century–because theatrical exhibition is tenuous (as it has been since the 1940s), the home video market has dried up and people are watching pirated movies on their phone. Spielberg’s coming-of-age era was for him the halcyon period that the 21st century “implosion” will cause to go “crashing into the ground.” But he is wrong. The market for movies is actually diverse and highly segmented–although from the top-down movie industry vantage point and media punditry you would not think this to be true. Would we really mourn for Mr. Spielberg or ourselves if Lincoln would have been made for cable or had played on public television? Is it bad for humanity that cable television is creating wonderful, resonant stories in long-form series that people want to watch at home on TV (or streamed onto their computer)? I don’t think so, but it is a paradigm shift and it might affect people’s theatrical moviegoing habits. Televisions in people’s homes have had that effect for seven decades–it is not a new phenomenon. As Art House cinema impresarios we need to focus on what WE can do at our theaters and in our communities. It is not productive for us to fret over what pundits say or about what well-meaning filmmakers like the Stevens–Spielberg and Soderbergh–say. We should fret about what we can do in our communities. What we can do to support filmmakers.”
~ From A Response By Russ Collins, CEO, Michigan Theater – Ann Arbor And Director, Art House Convergence, To Mr. Spielberg
It would appear only Crash and Munich have a shot at the prize if this stat is to be taken seriously.
I’d like to also mention BM was snubbed in the technical categories. Anne Hathaway’s hair alone should get a nomination in its own category.
Seriously though, thanks for the stat. Strangely the phenomenon is “recent.” In 1975 and 1978, Godfather II and Annie Hall won respectively without getting an editing nod (and who could say they didn’t deserve them!).
Oh no. You’re going to make the BBM’ers even more nervous now. Here it comes.
omg, I’m so scared. barf.
You can’t just take stats that support your position seriously. It doesn’t work like that. Instead of talking down the hard and firm facts why not just say “BBM will break the mold”?
As long as we’re throwing out stats, Dave…
(1) When was the last time a film with only 5 nominations won Best Picture? (hint: even farther back than 1980)
(2) How many times has the Best Picture with the fewest nominations gone on to win the Oscar? (hint: even less often those Pics that won without an Editing nod)
Dream on, Dear Dave…
Driving Miss Daisy is the worst Oscar winner of the past 35 years.
I really think someone read the wrong card.
David Poland said “(quote)When people start trying to rationalize how some
Please. What is he trying to say? Jesus, Munich getting a nod is like when they nominated Godfather III out of politeness. Godfather III incidentally was nominated for SEVEN Oscars! Won none of course. Now only a footnote in Sofia Coppola’s career.
Since David opened the BBM discussion, I thought I’d point you over to an article in the Toronto Star today that was rather interestings, and counters David’s claims of a no-prejudice modern society.
The Article
Let’s try that again since HTML doesn’t work on this site…
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1138575009740
What’s with the low blows at Godfather 3?
Maybe it’s not too late for Brokeback to reedit… I hope to God that Munich didn’t get an editing nomination… it wouldn’t deserve it unless they edited out about a half hour from the movie
It did.
The other 4 were Cinderella Man Constant Gardener, Crash, Walk the Line.
It’s an interesting piece.
But I have NEVER made an argument that society is without bias OR that it is easy to be gay in today’s society or in the 70s OR that it has ever been easy to come out.
It seems that people who want to spin my ideas just keep claimming it though… no matter what I actually say.
No prejudice society? Where is this utopia? Fantasy land?
If you want to prove something, you can usually find a stat to prove it. Wanna hear another ”oddball” statistic? Apparently, no Best Picture nominee that’s set in L.A., the home of many Oscar voters, has ever won Best Picture. Examples: ”Sunset Blvd.,” ”Chinatown,” ”L.A. Confidential,” ”The Aviator.” Now does that mean that ”Crash” won’t win? Who knows?
Here’s another one that a little more substantive: Eight movies that have won the PGA, the DGA and the Best Picture Golden Globe (for Drama or Comedy/Musical) have gone on to win the Oscar for Best Picture: ”Dances With Wolves,” ” Schindler’s List,” ”Forrest Gump,” ”The English Patient,” ”Titanic,” ”American Beauty,” ”Chicago” and ”Lord of the Rings.” And what’s the latest movie to win the PGA, the DGA and its Golden Globe? ”Brokeback Mountain.”
Does that mean it’s a shoo-in? No. But I’ll take ”Brokeback’s” odds over any other film.
Thanks to a TriviaChamp at Oscarwatch.com, here’s a list of NINE movies that have won the Best Picture Oscar without a Best Editing nomination:
”It Happened One Night”
”Life of Emile Zola”
”Hamlet”
”Marty”
”Tom Jones”
”A Man for All Seasons”
”The Godfather II”
”Annie Hall”
”Ordinary People”
Come to think of it, isn’t anyone else surprised that ”Good Night, and Good Luck” didn’t score an Editing nod either? It must’ve taken skill to cut back and forth between the new footage and the archival stuff, and make it look seamless.
You’d THINK that wouldn’t you? I’m glad The Constant Gardener got in for Editing though – particially makes up for missing Ralph Feinnes and Cinematography. grrr.
The reason that the editing snub was curious to me was because it was a duel job with the late Peroni. Usually they go for posthumus techs. However, it really is a silly stat (of which i understand Dave is agreeing with – how come others don’t see that?) because the editors branch aren’t the largest one of AMPAS.
Can I please put it out there that I was one of the first to be predicting Crash for Best Picture and Director? Cause I was.
By the way, the American Cinema Editors, which give out the Eddies, DID nominate ”Brokeback” in its guild awards. ACE divides movies into dramatic features and comedies/musicals. In the drama category, ACE nominated: ”Brokeback,” ”The Constant Gardener,” ”Crash,” ”Good Night, and Good Luck” and ”Munich.” ”Walk the Line,” which is up for an ACE for comedies/musicals, made the final 5 at the Oscars, and so did ”Cinderella Man.” And they wound up displacing ”Brokeback” and ”Good Night, and Good Luck.”
In GN&GL, it probably was not very hard at all to cut the archival footage with the newly-shot footage, for the simple fact that they probably shot the new stuff around the old stuff, and had every tool at their hands to make things match.
Editing is editing.
But isn’t that a sign of “good” editing? What jeff is saying is that anyone can be an editor and it shouldn’t even be a category for awards. “Good Night, Good Luck” is looks seamless because of how well it is done. Everything done well looks easy.
Wayman_Wong: “Million $ Baby” was set in L.A.
ArchiveGuy, could’ve fooled me. There’s nothing about that movie that read L.A. to me. The funny thing is that I first heard that L.A. statistic quoted last year as a reason why ”The Aviator” wouldn’t win. Saw it mentioned on various film chat boards and never saw anyone say that ”Million $ Baby” is set in L.A. You’re the first!
Blustealer, you didn’t understand what I said. It was said above that GN&GL’s editing was made even more difficult by the process of matching archival footage to new footage. I said that the movie was almost certainly designed – shot, costumed, edited, to fit around the previously existing footage. So while any good movie is well-edited, the editors of that film didn’t really have a hurdle to work around but rather were being accomodated by other aspects of production.
I don’t think settings play that much into what wins and what doesn’t.
But some people like to use that as a way of justifying the fact their their favourite movies did not win.
M$B was unmistakably set in L.A.
At least one scene outside the gym shows the Library Tower in the background, and there is discussion about the proximity to Vegas (the fight where Maggie gets ***SPOILER***ed).
It’s in L.A. but the location is not primary to the plot, as it is in Crash, Short Cuts, Magnolia, etc.
The editing stat is interesting, but somewhat silly. Another silly historical stat is looking at the number of nominations among best picture winners. In the past 60 years, only three best pics had less than 7 nominations:
1. Ordinary People (1980)
2. Annie Hall (1977)
3. Greatest Show on Earth (1952)