1. Gravity2. Captain Phillips 3. Rush4. 12 Years a Slave5. Rush(Alt: Iron Man 3) The sound categories are always a bit tricky to predict. If a movie is both a leading contender for Best Picture and a major aural experience than it's likely a lock in both categories. By those standards, we can safely count Gravity (which will no doubt win this category) and Captain Phillips as nominees. I also have a strong hunch that Rush will make the cut. The sound work of Rush, being a race car film, naturally is showcased prominently, and adds a lot to the pacing of the film. Plus, this sort middle-brow, action-drama film that aspires to be more is exactly the type of movie the crafts branches like to stick up for, even when the snooty glamour branches choose more sophisticated fair. Another common occurrence in the sound categories is for the leading Best Picture contender to rack up some extra nominations, even when the sound work isn't particularly noticeable (i.e. Argo). I think that is a distinct possibility, which is why 12 Years a Slave makes the cut. For the last position I should probably include some mega-blockbuster, because at least one of those multi-million dollar revenue making popcorn flicks always makes the cut, but instead I'm going opt with the sound branch using the opportunity to recognize Lone Survivor, a war film which does have strong pockets of support here and there and did do very well with the populace in its opening weekend. Otherwise, Iron Man 3 may sneak in the lineup.
A film fanatic at a very young age, starting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and gradually moving up to more sophisticated fare, at around the age of ten he became inexplicably obsessed with all things Oscar. With the incredibly trivial power of being able to chronologically name every Best Picture winner from memory, his lifelong goal is to see every Oscar nominated film, in every major category, in the history of the Academy Awards.
