The final guild to announce its nominees is the MPSE, and leading the way with three nods apiece are Best Sound Editing Oscar nominees Argo, Life of Pi, and Skyfall, joined by The Hobbit. Django Unchained has two, while the fifth Oscar nominee, Zero Dark Thirty (whose sound design is excellent), was shut out completely. Guess they didn't see it in time?
This category is tricky for me every year, but this year in particular because the supposed Sound Mixing frontrunner, Les Mis, is not up for Sound Editing. Who takes it then? I'm thinking Life of Pi, but then wouldn't it take Sound Mixing away from Les Mis as well? Or will we see our first split in these categories since Slumdog Millionaire and The Dark Knight shared them in 2009?
Best
Sound Editing: Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film
Argo
The
Avengers
The
Dark Knight Rises
Django
Unchained
The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life
of Pi
Prometheus
Skyfall
Disappointing that Zero Dark Thirty is not here. At any rate, the guild love for Argo suggests that it is indeed still a force to be reckoned with at the Oscars, Director nod or no Director nod. I'd say Django Unchained is the best of this lot, but I'm guessing it'll go to Life of Pi.
Best Sound Editing: Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film
Argo
Beasts
of the Southern Wild
The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life
of Pi
Lincoln
Moonrise
Kingdom
Silver
Linings Playbook
Skyfall
No Dark Knight Rises? Boo-urns. I think the quibbles about Bane's voice are more on the hands of the mixers. In its absence, I think Lincoln is the most inspired nominee here, with all its congressional shouting matches and overlapping discussions, for which hearing the dialogue clearly was absolutely vital.
Best
Sound Editing: Music in a Feature Film
Argo
The
Cabin in the Woods
The
Dark Knight Rises
Django
Unchained
The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life
of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall
I'd give The Dark Knight Rises my vote here. Zimmer's scores are mostly composed without him seeing the film, so it's up to the sound editors to tailor the music tracks to what's happening on screen. Skyfall would make a handsome winner as well.
Best
Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in an Animation
Feature Film
Brave
A
Cat in Paris
Frankenweenie
The
Lorax
ParaNorman
The
Pirates! Band of Misfits
Rise
of the Guardians
Wreck-it
Ralph
Brave and Wreck-It Ralph lead this field in my opinion, with a slight edge to Brave.
Best
Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue, ADR and Music in a
Feature Documentary
Bully
Climate
Refugees
Jiro
Dreams of Sushi
Last
Call at the Oasis
Marley
Searching
for Sugar Man
More guild love for Sugar Man.
Best
Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in a Feature
Foreign Language Film
80
Million
Amour
Children
of Sarajevo
The
Hypnotist
The
Intouchables
Rust
& Bone
Rust and Bone sounded great, but you can never predict this category.
Best
Sound Editing: Music in a Musical Feature Film
Joyful
Noise
Les
Misérables
Pitch
Perfect
Rock
of Ages
It's gotta be Les Mis, right?
It's gotta be Les Mis, right?
