The Cinema Audio Society nominees for Best Sound Mixing are: “American Sniper,” “Birdman,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Interstellar” and “Unbroken.”
Of these, “Interstellar” is our overwhelming frontrunner to win the equivalent Oscar. And “Unbroken” is the only other CAS contender that numbers among our top five predicted Oscar nominees, coming in at #3. We are predicting the rest of the slate announced Thursday to be “Into the Woods” (#2), “Whiplash” (#4) and “Fury” (#5).
As a precursor prize, these kudos, now in their 51st year, have an uneven track record with only about two-thirds of the nominees going on to contend at the Oscars.
Last year, “Gravity” won Best Live-Action Sound Mixing at the Cinema Audio Society Awards, beating Oscar rivals “Captain Phillips,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” and “Lone Survivor” as well as “Iron Man 3.” At the Oscars, “Iron Man” lost out to “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” for the fifth Sound Mixing bid. “Gravity” repeated at the Oscars.
In 2012, only three of the five CAS nominees — “Les Miserables,” “Lincoln” and “Skyfall” — went on to reap Oscar bids. “Les Miserables” won both awards. The rest of the CAS slate — “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey“and “Zero Dark Thirty” — was replaced at the Oscars by “Argo” and “Life of Pi.”
In 2011, “Hugo” won over “Hanna,” “Moneyball,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and “Super 8” ath CAS. It went on to claim the Oscar as well with only “Moneyball” also contending there. The other Oscar nominees were: “The Girl with the Dragon Tatttoo,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “War Horse.”
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In 2010, “True Grit” edged out “Black Swan,” “Inception,” “Shutter Island” and “The Social Network” for the CAS award. “Inception” beat it as well as “The Social Network,” “Salt” and “The King’s Speech” at the Oscars.
In 2009, the CAS bestowed its top prize on “The Hurt Locker” which went on to win the Oscar as well. Four of the five Cinema Audio Society nominees for sound mixing also contended at the Oscars with just “District 9” being replaced by “Inglourious Basterds.”
In both 2008 and 2007 three of the five CAS picks for sound mixing were Oscar nominees as well. “Slumdog Millionaire” won with both the CAS and the Oscars in 2008. The 2007 CAS champ was “No Country for Old Men” and the Oscar went to “The Bourne Ultimatum.”
And though “Dreamgirls” took both prizes in 2006, in each of the previous four years the CAS winner lost at the Oscars. (In 2002, CAS winner “Master and Commander” lost the sound-mixing Oscar to “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,” but it won the prize for sound editing.)
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This year’s CAS nominees for sound mixing in an animated feature are: “Big Hero 6,” “The Boxtrolls,” “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “The Lego Movie” and “Penguins of Madagascar.”
On the TV front, the drama nominees are: ““Boardwalk Empire,” “Game of Thrones,” “Homeland,” “True Detective” and “The Walking Dead.” Comedy conteders are: “Family Guy,” “Modern Family,” “Nurse Jackie,” “Parks and Recreation” and “Veep.” The movies and miniseries in the running are: “American Horror Story,” “Fargo,” “Houdini,” “The Normal Heart” and “Sherlock: His Last Vow.” And the non-fiction nominees are “Cosmos,” “Deadliest Catch,” “Foo Fighters Sonic Highway,” “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History” and “2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.”
The awards will be presented on Feb. 14 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. The lifetime achievement honor will be given to production sound mixer David Macmillan, a three-time Oscar champ (“The Right Stuff,” “Apollo 13” and “Speed”).
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