The first Guild to announce its winners this year will be the American Cinema Editors who announce their selections on Saturday night. One of the best categories to use to predict the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Editing is one of the first places we look and the Best Picture frontrunner is the one we all agree will win this thing. Below, please find our winner and runner-up predictions in each of the group’s four categories along with commentary where submitted. (NOTE: I incorrectly stated that the awards were on Saturday and not Friday nights. My apologies)

AMERICAN CINEMA EDITORS AWARDS

Best Drama Editing

Arrival (Wesley)
Hacksaw Ridge (Thomas, RU:Wesley)
Hell or High Water (RU:Tripp)
Manchester by the Sea (RU:Peter)
Moonlight (Peter, Tripp, RU:Thomas)

Wesley Lovell: This is a tough choice. Two top tier Bset Picture contenders are in play, as are a science fiction spectacle, a war film, and a drama with a shootout. Since Manchester by the Sea didn’t make it through to the Oscar list, I’m tossing it first. Moonlight could be a spoiler, but its editing isn’t terribly flashy and while it connects three stories cohesively, I doubt this group will recognize it. While editing a war-set movie is a challenge, I’m giving Arrival the edge over Hacksaw Ridge. The reason why is that although it feels like a smoothly cohesive film, Arrival jumps back and forth through time with regularity, yet is never confusing. Although most audiences won’t connect the dots, and neither will Academy voters, this branch is much more likely to recognize the film’s strengths than anyone else.
Peter J. Patrick: It’s difficult to determine what the editors are looking for, but my gut tells me it’s going to be between the year’s two best reviewed dramas with Moonlight edging our Manchester.
Tripp Burton: A lot of these guilds should be split between our frontrunners Moonlight and La La Land, and they conveniently won’t always have to compete against each other much. Here, I think Moonlight will eke out another win over flashier films like Hacksaw Ridge and Hell or High Water.
Thomas LaTourette: This is a difficult category to predict as La La Land has won the most awards so far. I would think that either Hacksaw Ridge or Moonlight would win, with Hacksaw showing more of a chance as the battlefield movie lends itself to more exciting cuts.

Best Comedy/Musical Editing

Deadpool (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)
Hail, Caesar!
The Jungle Book
La La Land (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
The Lobster

Wesley Lovell: I find it hard to vote against the only title on the list that’s also an Oscar nominee, but it’s also the Best Picture frontrunner, which makes its win a slam dunk here. Apart from it, Deadpool is an action comedy, which gives it a bit of an edge over the more traditional comedy/musicals in this category.
Peter J. Patrick: I can’t see anything beating the obvious choice of La La Land. If there is an upset, the most likely would seem to be the box-office hit, Deadpool.
Tripp Burton: I can’t imagine La La Land missing here.
Thomas LaTourette: It is hard to imagine any of the nominees winning besides La La Land.

Best Animation Editing

Kubo and the Two Strings (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Moana (RU:Peter)
Zootopia (RU:Wesley, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)

Wesley Lovell: Although the Disney/Pixar efforts are high quality technical achievements, Kubo and the Two Strings required significantly more editing than any of the other films since it was done with stop-motion animation rather than computer animation, making it more challenging to smooth over rough spots. I suspect that Oscar heavyweight Zootopia might have a chance of upsetting, especially if it becomes the default winner in the Animated Feature category, but with a group like editors, they’ll recognize something a bit more daring than Academy voters might.
Peter J. Patrick: I have to go with my personal choice on this one.
Tripp Burton: I expect a lot of these animated categories to be between Zootopia and Kubo. The technical achievements of Kubo could push it over the edge here.
Thomas LaTourette: I may be going out on a limb predicting the stop-motion Kubo to win over the immensely popular Zootopia, but I could see it being viewed as the more difficult film to have cut.

Best Documentary Editing

13th (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
Amanda Knox
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years
O.J.: Made in America (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Weiner (RU:Tripp)

Wesley Lovell: Even at eight hours, O.J.: Made in America must cobble together vast amounts of historical data to meet content requirements. The others will have similar struggles, but they won’t have nearly the breadth of completeness of detail that the O.J. doc will.
Peter J. Patrick: Does size count? If so, O.J. wins easily.
Tripp Burton: This is a fantastic list of films, although the sheer volume of O.J. makes it one of the best edited films of the year, documentary or not.
Thomas LaTourette: Even at almost 8 hours in length, I could see the O.J. film winning as it has been the most talked about of the documentaries this year. If its length puts people off, then I would guess 13th to take the award.