Oscar Winner Predictions: Best Sound

The competition: Black Panther (Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin), Bohemian Rhapsody (Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali), First Man (Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis), Roma (Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and José Antonio Garcia), A Star is Born (Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow)

Previous winners: Dunkirk, Hacksaw Ridge, Mad Max: Fury Road, Whiplash, Gravity, Les Miserables, Hugo
My winner: Announcing shortly after the Oscars!
The facts: Boeddeker also contends for sound editing this year and was previously nominated in this category for “All is Lost” in 2013. Devlin has four previous nominations, three of which are from the “Transformers” franchise. Massey has seven previous nominations, the most recent of which was in 2015 for “The Martian.” Cavagin and Ellis were both up for “Baby Driver” last year. Taylor has three previous nominations and Montaño has eight, both last nominated together in 2015 for “The Revenant.” Lee contended for “La La Land” in 2016 in both this category and sound editing, and earned that same double nomination this year. Lievsay won this prize in 2013 for “Gravity” with three additional previous nominations in this race, along with one for sound editing this year. Garcia contended in 2012 for “Argo.” All but “Roma” are nominated at the Cinema Audio Society Awards, and “A Star is Born” is the only film here not also contending for Best Sound Editing.

Who should win: All of these films sound great. To me, the definitive beat of life and combat in “Black Panther” or the toe-tapping concert acoustics in “Bohemian Rhapsody” are the most memorable.
Who will win: I think that Bohemian Rhapsody can take this, though I would have said “A Star is Born” a while back.