Oscar Winner Predictions: Best Sound Editing

The competition: Black Panther (Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker), Bohemian Rhapsody (John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone), First Man (Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan), A Quiet Place (Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl), Roma (Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay)

Previous winners: Dunkirk, Arrival, Mad Max: Fury Road, American Sniper, Gravity, Skyfall/Zero Dark Thirty, Hugo
My winner: Announcing shortly after the Oscars!
The facts: Burtt has seven previous nominations, with three wins from the 1980s for “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” Boeddeker was previously nominated in 2013 for “All is Lost” and also contends for sound mixing this year. Lee was nominated in 2016 for “La La Land” in this category and for sound mixing, and earned double nominations again this year. Morgan returns with her second bid after “La La Land.” Van der Ryan has five previous nominations, with wins for “The Two Towers” in 2002 and “King Kong” in 2005. Lievsay has previous nominations here for “No Country for Old Men” and “True Grit,” along with a win for “Gravity” in sound mixing and a nomination there this year too. All five of these films contend for multiple Golden Reel Awards from the Motion Picture Sound Editors, and only “A Quiet Place” is not also nominated for Best Sound.

Who should win: I distinctly remember the experiencing of hearing “Roma” just as strongly as seeing it, and “First Man” was also an incredible auditory product.
Who will win: It could be any of these, but I’m betting on First Man.