If ever a film is made about Slant’s rolling Oscar coverage, laurels will surely be given to the sound editors who had to convey the blood-curdling magnitude of the hissy fits that Eric Henderson and I throw every year when trying to dodge—or, rather, slap our way out of—having to write about this category. Last year, when this burden was also foisted on me, I obligatorily mentioned that the average Academy member probably can’t tell the difference between sound mixing and sound editing, and that when they’re caught between a show tune and so much sturm und drang, they know where to draw the line in the sand. I then called the race for Hacksaw Ridge, the nominee with the sounds that were, well, the mostest, only for Arrival, our favorite, to persevere. Baby Driver, which recently won the Association of Motion Picture Sound’s mixing award, rolls up to this party as a serious threat in both sound categories, though perhaps less so in this category that tends to favor films that are also best picture nominees. Which means that this is the recent Cinema Audio Society-winning Dunkirk’s to lose.
Will Win: Dunkirk
Could Win: Baby Driver
Should Win: Baby Driver
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