Reel and Roll Awards (8): Best Editing/Ensemble 2017

Reel and Roll's BEST EDITING

• Loved the way Phantom Thread threads around away its intricate, intimate story through memorable montages of dressmaking, indelible cutting to reaction shots to sell punchlines, incredible pace for a 2 hour plus film, just everything coheres into a beautifully adorned, knitted narrative, and even the narration which I wasn't sure about the first time I watched it, I grew to love on re-watch. 

• Although Dunkirk also makes a strong contender for my top choice. Here are my thoughts on the Oscar nominees.

• Good Time is a great example of how breakneck, rapid-fire editing, if done correctly, can result in something truly special. The frentic energy with which it hones in on this one eventful night of Connie's is marvelous, as it finds so much in this almost improvisational quality to the character's actions as we go along with him over the course of the night. It never loses its steam till the end, intentionally so, and by creating this atmosphere, is essential to the film's success.

• Get Out excels too in a different sort of way with the 'individual reacting to many events' plot scheme, the use of editing here for darkly comical, or deeply unnerving images, sequences, and interactions in the first half of the film is great, particularly the oft-praised hynopsis scene, while the second act is an mesmerizing experience, where the editing does so much to sell the intensity of the horror, and while I know some take issue with the editing of the comedy moments in the third act, I thought it contributed well to the offbeat tone of the film to have some levity in there, which I never felt compromised the horror.

• Okja's style of an 80s adventure film only ever enhanced by the efficient editing and pace to the narrative which cuts across several storylines in a way that always feels natural and hones in on Mija and Okja's friendship, while the similarly unshowy editing to Lady Bird does so much in selling the punchlines, and creating the effect of a very realistic, grounded life we are eavesdropping upon.

• Detroit's editing is outstanding in the first two acts, particularly the Algiers motel sequence, and in creating this nightmarish, closed-in atmosphere through the perfect timing of reaction shots, and the stitching together of visuals and sound, is incredible editing that is among the year's best. What knocks it down a bit for me is that the third act, while still well edited, falls off a bit in terms of pacing, making it feel a bit too brief. Still fantastic work overall though, but it's that which bumps it out of my top 5. 

1. Phantom Thread
2. Dunkirk
3. I, Tonya
4. Good Time
5. Get Out 
6. Okja
7. Detroit
8. Lady Bird 
9. The Shape of Water
10. Baby Driver  

Reel and Roll's BEST ENSEMBLE

So when it comes to discussing ensembles, it's always a tricky thing defining what makes a great 'ensemble'; how many actors do you take into account? Quantity over quality, or quality over quantity? How much does say, one bad performance affect the rest of the ensemble? Etcetera, etcetera. So let me just categorize the various good to great ensembles I've seen this year.

There's the likes of Phantom Thread and Logan which I haven't included here. Both these films are honed around a trio of incredible performances at their center. Now I would say that they are still 'great ensembles' so to speak, in that beyond these three performances everyone else is great in the cast too. For Phantom Thread all the very minor bit players fit just as nicely into the setting, with particular mentino to Brian Gleeson and Harriest Sansom Harris. For Logan Stephen Merchant is fairly remarkable in bringing out so much from Caliban as a character, Boyd Holbrook is a great classic sort of smarmy villain, and most of the bit players are quite good. I don't include them on the list just to spread the wealth a bit.

Just missing the cut was Blade Runner 2049, I like most of the cast but I'll admit when thinking about acting in the film, I always automatically think of Gosling and de Armas, and maybe Dave Bautista, everyone else is fine, Carla Juri verges on being pretty great, but I wouldn't say as an ensemble on the whole it stands out that much for me.

Uniformly solid/very good ensembles:

• The Death of Stalin - I liked if didn't love every member of the ensemble, and they work together brilliantly to create the darkly satirical tone of the film.
• Dunkirk - again, uniformly solid performances, with particularly stellar ones from Mark Rylance and Cillian Murphy. 
• The Florida Project - brilliance of the central few performances aside, everyone else is wonderful in just contributing to the tone. The sense of community is just so brilliantly conveyed. 
• It - not a single weak link in the cast, a few characters get a bit of a short shrift, but on the whole every actor gets their chance to shine, and shine they do, particularly the young cast in just bringing out so much from their fear of Pennywise. 

Then there's an ensemble like I, Tonya, which is strange because even though I think Allison Janney's performance is one of the more overrated of the year, I still think it's an incredible ensemble on the whole and she is good. Every cast member though is great in playing along with the film's irreverent tone, the underrated work of Sebastian Stan of course, but also Julianne Nicholson, and Paul Walter Hauser, and really every bit player. It's a great cast, and reminiscent of The Wolf of Wall Street in a very good way. Similarly, Paddington 2 has a delightful ensemble, Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson having the time of their lives, Ben Whishaw's delightful voice work, the Brown family, Julie Walters doing her usual thing to great effect, and all the minor parts like the prison guard or the judge played by Tom Conti. And The Shape of Water has a cast who all understand exactly what sort of film their in, and whether they're playing a fishman, a Russian spy/scientist, a devious All-American man, a gay artist, sassy janitor or mute janitor, play with the heightened tones of the film wonderfully. 

Then there's the 'great ensembles with flaws':

• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - I honestly would have placed this first if not for a few weak links in the cast. Abbie Cornish is a bit weak and distracting with her accent, and feels quite out of place. Lucas Hedges is mostly very good but has one or two bad line deliveries (he's a lot better in Lady Bird). Otherwise the ensemble is pitch-perfect, the smaller parts are cast well and played well, Peter Dinklage and Zeljko Ivanek are hilarious in their short screentime, Clarke Peters is an unexpected delight in the third act, and outside of the obvious domineering trio of Harrelson/McDormand/Rockwell, I found Caleb Landry Jones' performance as Red Welby hilarious but also incredibly moving. 
• Detroit has a phenomenal cast through the first two acts, Will Poulter being the highlight of course, but all the actors, whether it is the victims, particularly Algee Smith, Jacob Latimore and Anthony Mackie, or his fellow nasty cops, working together so brilliantly to create this tapestry of horror. Then comes the third act when John Krasinski comes in, now I don't think he's terrible, but he's very distracting, and honestly if it wasn't for that I'd probably grant this ensemble the win.
• Get Out is my win, it has minor flaws with its ensemble, Caleb Landry Jones isn't bad here, he's decent in being just the reprehensible deadbeat brother, but is a step below the rest of the cast who in both minor and major roles, create such a vivid portrait of this terrifying suburban trap Chris finds himself in, and Lil Rel Howrey deserves special mention for playing the best best friend in recent movie history. 

1. Get Out
2. Detroit
3. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
4. Lucky 
5. Paddington 2
6. The Shape of Water
7. Dunkirk
8. The Florida Project
9. The Death of Stalin