Every year there are discrepancies between guild/industry nominations and their Academy counterparts. And the Cinema Audio Society is no exception. Just last year, “Hanna,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and “Super 8” all yielded to “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “War Horse” with the Academy. And only twice in the Society’s history have their nods and the sound branch’s nominees for Best Sound Mixing (or Best Sound, as the category used to be called) matched up.
This year? Well, this year, who knows? It’s a strange season in that a number of people have missed a number of movies. So something like “Django Unchained” misses here. Then again, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” did find a place. The two perceived frontrunners in the category, “Les Misérables” and “Skyfall,” are there, but missing are summer blockbusters like “The Avengers” (which seemed all systems go for Oscar), “The Dark Knight Rises” (no surprise given the criticisms) and “Prometheus” (which boasts a heck of a track).
Let’s just get the nominees out of the way first. Those competing in the live action category are:
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“Les Misérables”
“Lincoln”
“Skyfall”
“Zero Dark Thirty”
That’s right. “Live action,” because this year, the Society has opted to split off animated films for the first time ever. The nominees there are:
“Brave”
“Frankenweenie”
“The Lorax”
“Rise of the Guardians”
“Wreck-It Ralph”
I don’t know if any of those can get in with Oscar, but it would be great to see “Wreck-It Ralph” find some room.
So anyway, first off, “Zero Dark Thirty” placing here makes it the only film to have been recognized by each of the industry groups that have announced nominees so far: the Screen Actors Guild, Writers Guild, Producers Guild, Visual Effects Society and Cinema Audio Society. We’ll see if that streak continues later this afternoon with the Directors Guild nominations.
As for Best Sound Mixing at the Oscars, just take a stab at picking which films you think will drop out. My guess is “The Hobbit” and maybe “Lincoln,” too. Replaced by “Django Unchained” and perhaps “The Avengers.” Or maybe “Argo” can make good and slide in, despite missing here. It’s happened for eventual Best Picture nominees “War Horse,” “The King’s Speech,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Gangs of New York” in recent years.
We’ll know in two days’ time. For now, keep track of all this craziness via The Circuit.