Oscar Winner Predictions: Best Sound

The competition: Belfast (Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather, and Niv Adiri), Dune (Mac Ruth, Mark A. Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, and Ron Bartlett), No Time to Die (Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey, and Mark Taylor), The Power of the Dog (Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie, and Tara Webb), West Side Story (Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson, and Shawn Murphy)

Previous winners: Sound: Sound of Metal, 1917, Bohemian Rhapsody, Dunkirk, Hacksaw Ridge, Mad Max: Fury Road, Whiplash / Sound Editing: Ford v Ferrari, Bohemian Rhapsody, Dunkirk, Arrival, Mad Max: Fury Road, American Sniper
My winner: Coming soon
The facts: Adiri won for “Gravity” in 2013. Ruth was nominated for “The Martian,” “13 Hours,” and “Blade Runner 2049.” Mangini won for “Mad Max: Fury Road” and earned four additional bids. Green was previously nominated for “Blade Runner 2049.” Hemphill won for “The Last of the Mohicans” and has eight additional previous nominations. Bartlett was nominated for “Life of Pi” and “Blade Runner 2049.” Hayes won for “Les Miserables.” Tarney was nominated for “News of the World,” “1917,” “The Martian,” and “Captain Phillips.” Massey won for “Bohemian Rhapsody” and has eight additional previous nominations. Taylor won for “1917” and was also nominated for “The Martian” and “Captain Phillips.” Mackenzie won for “Hacksaw Ridge.” Maitland was nominated for “Joker,” “Seabiscuit,” “JFK,” and “Born on the Fourth of July.” Rydstrom won multiple prizes for “Saving Private Ryan,” “Titanic,” “Jurassic Park,” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” This is his twentieth nomination. Nelson won for “Les Miserables” and “Saving Private Ryan.” This is his twenty-second nomination. Murphy won for “Jurassic Park” and was also nominated for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.”

This category, for the second year, combines Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing into one. “Dune” and “West Side Story” took home prizes from the Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards, and “Dune” was awarded by the Cinema Audio Society. 

Who should win: This is a good list. I would choose “Dune.”
Who will win: This feels like a safe victory for Dune.