Oscar 2015 - Editing

I decided to change a bit the order of my entries, comparing to the one used in the last years when I kept it relatively similar (well .. on the sections where I managed to post something). Not that I have a specific reason for this, but I realized that I don't have yet any other section where I've seen all the nominees. So, editing today ...

"Boyhood" is the expected winner here (as on many other sections ...). I'm not in the mood to talk about the movie now. It's a very overrated one, including the editing. The only thing to appreciate (and again, this applies to many other sections) is that the movie was shot across a 12 years span and who's credited for editing (Sandra Adair) probably had a much tougher job than usual to bind consistently all the material. Call me mean, but I don't see anything else here ...
"The Imitation Game" has a nice editing. I would even say it's a good example of the main criteria that make a movie visually appealing in a cinema: the cinematography and/or the editing, in this case being mostly the 2nd part. Some of the direct passings between the different time periods left me a bit confused for a short moment and I think they could've been integrated a bit better. Overall is, however, quite ok, and even if I'm not really a fan of a story split on two different temporal threads I think in this case was the best approach. Still, I always thought that Goldenberg's editing is a bit "old school" ("Heat", "Seabiscuit", etc), maybe excepting "Argo", in the sense that I don't see that "edge" that makes a difference ...
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" has the most interesting editing from what we have here. I don't know how much credit in this has Barney Pilling, the editor, and how much Wes Anderson (the director), but I think it's the most representative movie for the latter concerning his specific style (also met in "Moonrise Kingdom" or "Fantastic Mr. Fox") = short scenes, quick alternations over repetitive frames, etc. The effect is a very peculiar one keeping an alert feeling, given mostly by the editing (+ the sound), which is in direct contrast with a constant calm (again very specific)kept by the script/story no matter how tensed the movie situations get to be.

"Whiplash" has probably the same chances as the previous nomination to steal the Oscar here. I guess the editing is the most significant aspect to be noticed in this movie. So significant that it's ... well, obvious compared to the rest (yep, I'm mean again). To be fair though it is a good editing ... especially considering that we're talking about a "musical drama" ( seems I can't stop bashing this, so I should move on :) ).
"American Sniper" looks for me as the outsider here, even though we're talking about a war movie which normally has an extremely favorable context for this section. What can I say ... the movie has a decent editing. I've actually been impressed by an alternation between two scenes happening at quite a distance from each other, and connected through a phone line (if you see the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about). The problem is a different one for this movie, and is augmented by the editing as it is also by the acting, script or directing. But, let's leave this for another time ;) ...