Joey Magidson
It is indeed time for another one, ladies and gentlemen! Continuing a tradition I’ve been keen on for years, I’m ranking the new crop of Academy Award winners. For nearly all of the Oscar categories, you’ll see me list the top 25 recipients of that prize. Sometimes, our newest winner will appear. Other times, they’ll be relegated to the Honorable Mention category. Who knows, maybe one or two won’t even make the cut? It’s a list series that I’ll do each and every single year, in the weeks after the ceremony concludes. So, while this is a fun way to think about the Oscars in the aftermath of the latest telecast, it’s also a beginning for another column here on the site. Of course, definitely show us your own lists as well, in the comments section below. We’re definitely keen to know what you think!
This week, we’re honing in on the Best Film Editing category, which is one I always enjoy diving deep on. I know I mention it in a handful of categories, but this is another where best can mean most sometimes. As much as that can be the case, there are some real instances where the Editing on display is just phenomenal. Of course, the queen of editors is Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese‘s longtime editor. She’s cited twice below in my top five, for The Departed and Raging Bull. Making up the top tier list of winners for me, in addition to those, is The Matrix, Saving Private Ryan, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Which one took my top spot? Where does Paul Rogers slot in for Everything Everywhere All At Once now? What about What about a prior recent one in Dune and Joe Walker (interviewed here)? Did Sound of Metal retain its position among the honorable mentions from last time, or did it move down/up? Plus, where does Jennifer Lame debut for Oppenheimer? Read on to find out…
Here are what I consider to be the 25 best winners of the Best Film Editing Oscar, to date:
25. Lawrence of Arabia
24. Rocky
23. High Noon
22. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
21. Dune
20. Jaws
19. Traffic
18. On the Waterfront
17. Everything Everywhere All At Once
16. The Social Network
15. Star Wars
14. Argo
13. JFK
12. The Bourne Ultimatum
11. Raiders of the Lost Ark
10. The Hurt Locker
9. Dunkirk
8. Whiplash
7. The Departed
6. Black Hawk Down
5. Oppenheimer
4. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
3. Saving Private Ryan
2. Raging Bull
1. The Matrix
Honorable Mention: Bullitt, Ford v Ferrari, Gravity, Mad Max: Fury Road, Slumdog Millionaire, and Sound of Metal
Stay tuned for another category early on next week!
No love for Dede Allen cutting The Hustler?
Doesn’t quite make my cut, no, but yours can certainly be different.
Did… did Dede Allen win the Oscar for The Hustler? I could’ve sworn West Side Story stomped the competition in pretty much every category at the Academy Awards that year…
The Hustler was actually not nominated in Editing…
Also, the film wasn’t nominated, let alone won, so it wouldn’t qualify for this list
My updated list
25.From Here To Eternity
24.The Sting
23.Whiplash
22.The English Patient
21.Witness
20.All That Jazz
19.Hight Noon
18.Mad Max Fury Road
17.The Best Years of Our Lives
16.The Sound of Metal
15.West Side Story
14.The Sound of Music
13.Oppenheimer
12.The Social Network
11.Jaws
10.Star Wars
9.Gravity
8.Raging Bull
7.Schindler’s List
6.Chicago
5.Mary Poppins
4.Cabaret
3.The Apartment
2.Everything Everywhere All At Once
1.Who Framed Roger Rabbit
HM
National Velvet
On The Waterfront
Lawrence of Arabia
In The Heat of The Night
The Right Stuff
The Deer Hunter
The Killing Fields
Unforgiven
Solid list!