The Motion Picture Sound Editors are a chaotic group. With so many categories, it’s possible that the Oscar winner is already here and the winners of this group’s award will point that out to us. The Sound Editing category at the Oscars is most closely associated with this organization; however, Academy members are more likely to vote the two sound awards in tandem than they are separately. So, if there’s a winner here that matches at the Cinema Audio Society, that’s probably a good bet for the Oscars.

MOTION PICTURE SOUND EDITORS AWARDS

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film

1917 (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Avengers: Endgame
Ford v Ferrari (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)
A Hidden Life
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
Joker
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker

Wesley Lovell: War films are sometimes the most complex to edit because of just how many effects have to be created. After all, like science-fiction, it’s impossible to generate the sounds of war in an actual environment. That said, Ford v Ferrari has a good chance of winning here, with Joker and Once Upon a Time as spoilers. 1917 is the likely winner, but anything else taking the prize could point towards an upset.
Peter J. Patrick: I’ll go with the two loudest contenders – 1917 for the win, Ford v Ferrari for the fallback position.
Tripp Burton: I’m not sure, but I think 1917 would be the obvious choice.
Thomas LaTourette: 1917 is both a war film and a character-driven one, so I expect it to prevail here. Its closest competition is Ford v Ferrari, which would be a not surprising winner, though I think it will come in a very close second.

Best Sound Editing: Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film

1917 (Wesley, Peter, Thomas, RU:Tripp)
Avengers: Endgame
Ford v Ferrari (Tripp, RU:Thomas)
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (RU:Wesley)
Rocketman (RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: Sound editors don’t just create sound effects, they also take care of post-production re-recording through Automated Dialogue Replacement. That means that films that don’t require a lot of new sounds, but are heavy on dialogue could win here. While I’m leaning towards 1917 because of the complexity of orchestrating dialogue for a film that’s supposed to look like a single take, might just be risky enough to merit an award. That said, I’m less solid on it here than I am in the previous category. Ford v Ferrari, Joker, Once Upon a Time, The Irishman, and Jojo Rabbit could each easily triumph in this category.
Peter J. Patrick: 1917 seems most likely with Rocketman a possible spoiler.
Tripp Burton: If it is between 1917 and Ford for these awards, they might split them?
Thomas LaTourette: Even if 1917 does not win the first category, I think it would win here over Ford v Ferrari.

Best Sound Editing & Music in an Animation Feature Film

Abominable
Frozen II (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Wesley)
The Lion King (RU:Tripp)
Missing Link
Spies in Disguise
Toy Story 4 (Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
White Snake

Wesley Lovell: Disney has often dominated the field in sound editing because of its legendary re-recording mixers on staff. That said, a film that requires more sound effects and dialogue will have a better shot with this group than anything else. How to Train Your Dragon is the most chaotic of these films and I could easily see it winning out over either of the three Disney submissions. That said, Frozen II, The Lion King, and Toy Story 4 could just as easily win it all.
Peter J. Patrick: Let’s go with the most popular nominees here with Toy Story 4 taking it over Oscar-snubbed Frozen II.
Tripp Burton: (no commentary required)
Thomas LaTourette: Frozen II might have the edge given that it is a musical, but I still think Toy Story 4 will win.

Best Sound Editing & Music in a Feature Documentary

Apollo 11 (Peter, Tripp, Thomas, RU:Wesley)
The Cave (RU:Peter, RU:Tripp)
Echo in the Canyon
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (Wesley, RU:Thomas)
Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
Rolling Thunder Revue
Sea of Shadows

Wesley Lovell: The complexity of taking historic sound elements, buffing them up, and putting them back together is a daunting task and while I think that could put Apollo 11 over the top, I’m going out in left field for this one with Making Waves. This is a documentary that celebrates sound designers and if any group is bound to recognize the sound design in this film, it’s MPSE.
Peter J. Patrick: Let’s go with Oscar nominee Apollo 11 with fellow Oscar nominee The Cave for back-up.
Tripp Burton: (no commentary required)
Thomas LaTourette: Apollo 11 wins, though Making Waves could easily upset it.

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Foreign Language Film

Atlantics (RU:Tripp)
The Fall of the American Empire (RU:Wesley)
Gully Boy
Parasite (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Shadow (RU:Peter)
The Sound Story (RU:Thomas)

Wesley Lovell: While it’s possible another film could win here, Parasite is well regarded for its various stellar elements and sound editing was among them. I’d be surprised if it didn’t win, but also not surprised if it lost…if that makes any sense.
Peter J. Patrick: Parasite should win this easily. I’ll go with Shadow as a long-shot spoiler.
Tripp Burton: (no commentary required)
Thomas LaTourette: Parasite should win this.

Best Sound Editing: Music in a Feature Film

Ad Astra
Dolemite Is My Name (RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)
Joker (RU:Tripp)
Jojo Rabbit (RU:Wesley)
Little Women
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Queen & Slim
Waves

Wesley Lovell: No director is more legendary for his sound and music mixes than Quentin Tarantino. None of these other films have that amount of celebrity, so I’d be surprised if Tarantino’s film didn’t win this.
Peter J. Patrick: It could be any of the nominees but I’ll go with Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood in which familiar music is well integrated into the film with Dolemite Is My Name as a possible spoiler.
Tripp Burton: (no commentary required)
Thomas LaTourette: Once Upon a Time just feels like it will win.

Best Sound Editing: Music in a Musical Feature Film

Cats
Echo in the Canyon
Frozen II (RU:Wesley, RU:Thomas)
Judy (RU:Peter, RU:Tripp)
Rocketman (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Rolling Thunder Revue
Western Stars

Wesley Lovell: There’s a lot of music here with nominees from other categories figuring to be considered for the win. That said, Rocketman is probably the most exciting of the films listed and is far more likely to appeal to sound editors than anything else. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if something else won either.
Peter J. Patrick: Rocketman should take this easily, with Judy its only real competition.
Tripp Burton: (no commentary required)
Thomas LaTourette: I expect that Rocketman easily should win this. I am thinking that only Frozen II stands much of a chance of displacing it, but I do not expect that to happen.