Ant-Man Gets ACE Eddie Award Nomination

Sci-fi and superhero action got their due in the nominations for the 66th annual ACE Eddie Awards, handed out by the American Cinema Editors, which welcomed both Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Ant-Man to the awards race.

The force is with editors Maryann Brandon, ACE, and Mary Jo Markey, ACE, whose Star Wars film had been a non-entity in the various awards handed out by film critics and industry groups, due in part to Disney's decision to hold all screenings until shortly before the film's December 18 U.S. opening. ACE accepted nominations ballots until December 29, giving members plenty of time to catch the movie before voting. It joins Mad Max: Fury Road, edited by Margaret Sixel, The Martian, edited by Pietro Scalia, ACE, The Revenant, edited by Stephen Mirrione, ACE, and Sicario, edited by Joe Walker, ACE, in the category of Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic).

Meanwhile, Ant-Man, edited by Dan Lebental, ACE, and Colby Parker Jr, ACE, squeaked into the Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy) category along with The Big Short, edited by Hank Corwin, ACE, Joy, edited by Jay Cassidy, ACE, Alan Baumgarten, ACE, Christopher Tellefsen, ACE, and Tom Cross, ACE, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, edited by David Trachtenberg, and Trainwreck, edited by William Kerr, ACE, and Paul Zucker. The Marvel movie is unlikely to be a player in the Academy Awards, but it's nice to see voters thinking well outside of the usual box of year-end prestige pictures when it comes to celebrating great editing.

Given the unusually wide-open nature of this year's Oscar race, it's hard to say exactly what the ACE results might portend for the Academy Award nominations, but it's worth noting one glaring absence — Tom McArdle's work on Spotlight, the presumed front-runner for this year's major Oscars, did not make ACE's list. Does that bode ill for the film's Best Picture chances? Not necessarily … but it's not a good sign, either. We'll have more to chew over on Wednesday, when the ASC Award nominations for feature-film cinematography are announced just in advance of the close of Oscar nominations polling on Friday, January 8. 

Other feature film nominations from ACE today included three for Best Edited Feature Film (Animation): Anomalisa, edited by Garret Elkins, Inside Out, edited by Kevin Molting, ACE, and The Good Dinosaur, edited by Stephen Schaffer, ACE; and five for Best Edited Documentary (Feature): Amy, edited by Chris King, Cobain: Montage of Heck, edited by Joe Beshenkovsky and Brett Morgen, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, edited by Andy Grieve, He Named Me Malala, edited by Greg Finton, ACE, Brian Johnson and Brad Fuller, and The Wrecking Crew, edited by Claire Scanlon.

ACE also announced its slate of television awards nominations, led by Better Call Saul and Game of Thrones, both of which earned nominations for two different one-hour episodes. Also recognized by ACE were the widely lauded "12 Angry Men" episode of Inside Amy Schumer, nominated for Best Edited Half-Hour Series, and the final episode of Mad Men. The full list of film and television nominees follows below.

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):

Mad Max: Fury Road
Margaret Sixel
The Martian
Pietro Scalia, ACE
The Revenant
Stephen Mirrione, ACE
Sicario
Joe Walker, ACE
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Maryann Brandon, ACE & Mary Jo Markey, ACE

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY):

Ant-Man
Dan Lebental, ACE & Colby Parker, Jr., ACE
The Big Short
Hank Corwin, ACE
Joy
Jay Cassidy, ACE, Alan Baumgarten, ACE, Christopher Tellefsen, ACE & Tom Cross, ACE
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
David Trachtenberg
Trainwreck
William Kerr, ACE & Paul Zucker

BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

Anomalisa
Garret Elkins
Inside Out
Kevin Nolting, ACE
The Good Dinosaur
Stephen Schaffer, ACE

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE):

Amy
Chris King
Cobain: Montage of Heck
Joe Beshenkovsky & Brett Morgen
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Andy Grieve
He Named Me Malala
Greg Finton, ACE, Brian Johnson & Brad Fuller
The Wrecking Crew
Claire Scanlon

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (TELEVISION):

Keith Richards: Under the Influence
Joshua L. Pearson
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst “Chapter 1″
Richard Hankin, ACE, Zac Stuart-Pontier, Caitlyn Greene, Shelby Siegel
The Seventies: The United State vs. Nixon
Chris A. Peterson, ACE

BEST EDITED HALF-HOUR SERIES FOR TELEVISION:

Inside Amy Schumer: 12 Angry Men
Nick Paley
Silicon Valley: Two Days of the Condor
Brian Merken, ACE
Veep: Election Night
Gary Dollner

BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:

Better Call Saul: “Five-O”
Kelley Dixon, ACE
Better Call Saul: “Uno”
Skip Macdonald, ACE
Fargo: “Did You Do This? No, You Did It!”
Skip Macdonald, ACE & Curtis Thurber
The Good Wife: “Restrain”
Scott Vickrey, ACE
Mad Men: “Person to Person”
Tom Wilson

BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:

Game of Thrones: “The Dance of Dragons”
Katie Weiland
Game of Thrones: “Hardhome”
Tim Porter
Homeland: “The Tradition of Hospitality”
Harvey Rosenstock, ACE
House of Cards: “Chapter 39”
Lisa Bromwell, ACE
The Knick: “Wonderful Surprises”
Mary Ann Bernard

BEST EDITED LONGFORM (MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE) FOR TELEVISION:

Bessie
Brian A. Kates, ACE
Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors
Maysie Hoy, ACE
Orange is the New Black: “Trust No Bitch”
William Turro

BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES:

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: “Bay Area”
Hunter Gross, ACE
Deadliest Catch: “Zero Hour”
Josh Earl, ACE & Ben Bulatao
Whale Wars: “The Darkest Hour”
Eric Driscoll, Nik Jamgocyan, Chris Kirkpatrick, David Michael Maurer, ACE, Greg McDonald, Marcus Miller & Alexandria Scott