OVP: Best Sound (2021)
The Nominees Were...
Denise Yearde, Simon Chase, James Mather, & Niv Adiri, Belfast
Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, & Rom Bartlett, Dune
Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey, & Mark Taylor, No Time to Die
Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie, & Tara Webb, The Power of the Dog
Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson, & Shawn Murphy, West Side Story
My Thoughts: We are finishing off the aural categories today with a look at the Sound nominees. As a reminder for those keeping score at home, the Sound categories combined in 2020, and so we no longer differentiate between mixing and editing. This resulted in a fascinating dichotomy, as we know the Mixing categories were more inclined toward Best Picture nominees & musicals, while Sound Editing was more adventurous, and would go with Pixar & VFX films. While in 2020 the citations for Soul and Greyhound at the expense of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and The Trial of the Chicago 7 made it look like the editing-style nominees would be a better fit for Oscar going forward, that changed in 2021, with several films that are very much of the old school "Mixing" variety.
Belfast is one of them. The movie has one musical sequence, and a pretty active song score, but it is hardly an effects film (and certainly not animated, even if Jamie Dornan resembles a Disney prince). The nomination, itself, though begs the question of why. Aside from Dornan's cover of Robert Knight's "Everlasting Love" (which is very good, and I love the nostalgic reverb in it) the sound work isn't particularly noteworthy, and it's not super consistent. We aren't getting a Michael Mann or Sergio Leone-level detailing of the sound, and while the scenes at the cinema, in particular, are quite fun aurally, I'm not super swept away. I generally liked Belfast, but this isn't an attribute I think is really necessary to applaud.
The same cannot be said for the four remaining nominees, including The Power of the Dog, which is another "mixing" nominee as it has very little editing hooks. But here's a movie that knows what it's doing (very much in a Mann/Leone style). It gives us crisp sound throughout, knowing when to lean into Jonny Greenwood's score and when to pull back, and we get a sense of the decay of the land, the way that it intoxicates with its vast, openness. A quality western is measured not just in guns and crescendoing music, but when they step back and give us just the natural noises of the prairie. The Power of the Dog does that, and it gets a distinctive styling to its sound as a result.
West Side Story is the final nominee that clearly would've been a "Mixing only" contender. Here we have a classic, brilliantly-played musical. The sound work is generally marvelous in it, particularly the orchestral cues, like the dance at the gym or some of the opening ballet sequences between the Jets & the Sharks. I will quibble that the patter song of "America" isn't perfect, though this is maybe because you're comparing it to Rita Moreno's flawless diction in the original (you just can't beat that), but this is quibbling over hairs, as this is overall one of the film's best attributes.
The same can be said for Dune, which is the sort of movie that would've won Editing but been a bit behind for Mixing. This is partially because the (very good) Hans Zimmer score is overpowering in some sequences and, if we're going to split hairs, maybe pockets a bit too much into the film itself when it doesn't need to be. But the effects work is fascinating, particularly the sand worms and the way that it knows how to make the dialogue scenes cavernous (think of the near ringing that happens in the scene between Charlotte Rampling & Timothee Chalamet where she tests him).
Our final nominee is No Time to Die, another strong effects film that maybe leans into its score too much to underline the action scenes. But here we have grand work with the actual sound effects. The early scene with Ana de Armas & Daniel Craig fighting is meticulous and well-coordinated, the sort of action scene that's so well-choreographed with sound work it's seamless (this is harder to do than you'd think, just watch most action films to understand how great this works). I also thought the sinking ship works splendidly as well, getting the splashing water & scoring across without having to sacrifice the dialogue.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Cinema Audio Society splits its nominations between animated and live action. In 2021, no animated film was even shortlisted for the Oscar, but the nominees for the CAS are Encanto (the victor), Luca, Sing 2, Raya and the Last Dragon, and The Mitchells and the Machines, while Live Action went with Dune atop No Time to Die, Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Power of the Dog, and West Side Story. BAFTA also went with Dune, though they chose a much more fascinating lineup of No Time to Die, West Side Story, Last Night in Soho, and A Quiet Place Part II. In terms of sixth place, we actually had a shortlist, so sixth was either Last Night in Soho (should I see this...is it good?), The Matrix Resurrections, Spider-Man: No Way Home, A Quiet Place Part II, or tick, tick...BOOM!. Given Tick Tick did well enough to get in for editing, that probably makes sense, but if you told me that the box office behemoth Spider-Man was also in the running, I wouldn't be stunned.
Films I Would Have Nominated: When we get to My Ballot, I'll be splitting the Sound categories into the traditional Mixing & Editing, and with the exception of Belfast, all of Oscar's nominees will show up in at least one of the two categories, so I'll be honest-Oscar did all right here. But once again, it's a crime that The Green Knight, which beautifully incorporates its medieval score with wonderful dialogue and effects, didn't get in at least here.
Oscar’s Choice: In a world where these were split, I could see Dune losing out to West Side Story for Mixing, but with them combined, it was a landslide in its favor.
My Choice: I'm also going with Dune atop West Side Story. It has the most cohesive overall sound, and its (minor) sins are less than WSS. Behind them I'll say Power of the Dog, No Time to Die, and then Belfast.
Those are my choices-how about you? Does everyone agree that Dune is the best here, or does someone want to go with the also-rans? What do you look for to distinguish between good & great when it comes to the sound of a big-screen musical? And who do you think was sixth place here-Tick Tick Boom or Spider-Man? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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