All five of these movies that I've chalked up as having the Best Editing of the year all have one thing in common: Excellent pacing. And yet I'm fascinated at how incredibly diverse their tempos are, some finding rhythm in languid relaxation, others in frenetic montage. Check them out below.
20TH CENTURY WOMEN (Leslie Jones)
Develops a lucid, comfortable flow that puts me right in my chill zone.
The deceptively complex cutting between characters allows them to breathe numerous counter-intuitive emotions into a single conversation.
ARRIVAL
(Joe Walker)
Finds dramatic beats and visual associations that go beyond the blueprint in the script. Patience is its greatest virtue, building intrigue/suspense/wonder steadily within each scene.
HELL
OR HIGH WATER (Jake Roberts)
Assembles the car chases and shootouts with urgency and verve, but more important is the balance it finds in presenting the four central performances, maximally exposing the nuance of each relationship.
LA
LA LAND (Tom Cross)
Pieced together with the precision of a David Fincher thriller (those whip pan cuts!), while respecting the magic spell that an uninterrupted musical sequence can cast.
MOONLIGHT
(Joi McMillon, Nat Sanders)
Dictates the headspace and emotion of each scene in ways that are tremendously involving. Never have moments of floating in the ocean, walking briskly to class, or waiting for a meal had my heart so racing.
Other considerations:
13th (Spencer Averick)
Deepwater Horizon (Gabriel Fleming, Colby Parker Jr.)
Jackie (Sebastian Sepulvada)
Lion (Alexandra de Franceschi)
Weiner (Eli Despres)
And while I wouldn't deem a TV mini-series eligible to compete for movie awards, I feel I should give a shout-out to the gargantuan and masterful assembly job that was O.J.: Made in America.