They may not be the closely watched Oscar bellwethers that the Screen Actors Guild or Directors Guild awards are, but that doesn't stop the American Cinema Editors from throwing quite a bash for their annual Eddie Awards.
Last month at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, about 500 people watched as the hefty statuettes were handed out in film and television categories."The Matrix" and "Being John Malkovich" were the big winners, for drama and comedy film editing respectively.
TV Winners included episodes of top-rated shows "Ally McBeal" and "Frasier," along with TV movies "Pirates of Silicon Valley" and "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge."
The Terminator and the King of the World were also on hand, as Arnold Schwarzenegger gave writer-director James Cameron, who is also a member of ACE, the Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award.
Cameron spoke of his great respect for the editing process: He said on "Titanic," the fact that Fox allowed the release date to be pushed back several months gave the filmmakers enough time to craft a million feet of film into the monster hit it became.
Comedian Byron Allen hosted the event, which went a little long as the tributes flowed for career achievement award winners Marge Fowler (not present due to health problems) and Dann Cahn.
Other celebrity presenters included Billy Zane, Thora Birch, Bill Paxton and Dwight Yoakam. Following is a list of the 1999 Eddie Award winners:
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL): "Being John Malkovich."
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC): "The Matrix."
BEST EDITED HALF-HOUR SERIES FOR TELEVISION: "Frasier" -- the "Three Valentines," episode.
BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR TELEVISION: "Ally McBeal" -- the "Car Wash" episode.
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY: "Old Man River."
BEST EDITED EPISODE FOR TELEVISION MINISERIES: "The '60s (Part 2)."
BEST EDITED MOTION PICTURE FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION: "Pirates of Silicon Valley."
BEST EDITED MOTION PICTURE FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION: "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge."