Oscar 2014 Best Editing Prediction: 'American Hustle' Is the Front-Runner, But Anything Can Happen

The Academy Award for Best Editing is generally as one of the most important categories. No film since 1981 has won the Best Picture of the year without a nomination in this category. However, in order to win the top prize, a film does not need to win this award. The 2014 Best Editing race looks to be the hardest category to predict as it includes five Best Picture nominees and no clear front-runner. Previous winners include "Argo," "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," "The Social Network," "The Hurt Locker" and "Slumdog Millionaire."

"American Hustle" - For his work on David O. Russell's film Jau Cassidy garnered his third Oscar nomination. Meanwhile, Crispin Struthers received his second nomination while Alan Baumgarten obtained his first nomination. "American Hustle" is currently the front-runner to win this category after having won the EDDIE award, which is the highest editing achievement. The organization that votes for the EDDIE also contains numerous Oscar voters. However, the movie won the comedy category while "Captain Phillips" won the dramatic category, making the Paul Greengrass film a favorite as well. The other reason why "American Hustle" should be considered a lock is bcause it lost the BAFTA award. The British Organization gave the award to "Rush," which is not even nominated for the Academy Award. While the BAFTA is not the most accurate Oscar precursor, there are 250 Oscar voters in that organization and a loss there could also mean an Oscar loss.

"Captain Phillips" - Christopher Rouse garnered his third nomination at the Academy Awards. He previously won for "The Bourne Ultimatum and was nominated for "United 93." His work on "Captain Phillips" won the EDDIE award in the dramatic category and the San Diego Film Critics. However, he failed to win the Critics Choice and BAFTA award. "Captain Phillips" is also not generating a lot of buzz and its failure to score major nominations at the Oscars exhibits a lack of enthusiasm from the Academy. While it could win, the fact that the EDDIE winners were both Best Picture nominees could end up cancelling each other out. In 2011 "The Artist" and "The Descendants" won at the EDDIEs but ended up losing the Oscar to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

"Dallas Buyers Club" - John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa received their first nominations for the AIDS drama. The nomination for the film was the biggest surprise in this category. Pundits had narrowed it down to only six contenders but had never predicted that Jean-Marc Valle picture had so much strength with the Academy. With a lack of awards or precursors in this category and an emphasis on the performances by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, it is likely the film gets little attention in this category.

"Gravity" - Alfonso Cuaron is receiving his sixth nomination at the Academy Awards and his second in the editing category. Meanwhile, Mark Sanger garnered his first Oscar nomination. "Gravity" was once considered the clear front-runner in this category until it lost the EDDIE and the BAFTA awards. The film won nine precursor awards but mysteriously lost the biggest awards. The film still has a chance if the Academy decides to give it Best Picture as it could easily sweep every technical award. However, if the Academy decides to spread the wealth to other Best Picture nominees, the science fiction film will lose this accolade.

"12 Years a Slave" - Joe Walker received his first Oscar nomination. The editor won one editing award but failed to win the BAFTA, Critics Choice, and EDDIE awards. The category tends to go for showier pieces and "12 Years a Slave" is the type of slow film that the Academy generally does not reward in this category. However, the Steve McQueen film is currently the front-runner to win Best Picture and if the Academy decides to give the film a number of awards, Walker will easily take it home.

Predictions: This is by far the most confusing category to predict as the precursors have not been unified. However, given the showy nature of the award and the Academy's recent trends, expect "American Hustle" to take home this award.