Exactly half of the ten shortlisted films will earn nominations. This is the third year that there is just one sound race rather than sound mixing and sound editing being split. The Cinema Audio Society and Motion Picture Sound Editors have nominations that are informative, with The Batman, Elvis, and Top Gun: Maverick performing particularly well. Avatar: The Way of Water was also cited by both groups (the original Avatar earned nominations in both sound races), as were All Quiet on the Western Front, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio and Moonage Daydream, albeit in the foreign, animation and documentary categories, respectively (though Pinocchio did manage a regular music editing mention from MPSE). Aside from Roma, you have to go back almost two decades to find a foreign film mentioned. Animated films have been recognized regularly in the past, but only one film has done so in the past decade – Soul. Only one documentary has ever been nominated, and that was more than half a century ago, in 1970: Woodstock. Everything Everywhere All at Once managed three bids from MPSE, and though they were cited by neither group, Babylon and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are expected to be strong technical contenders and may get in here too (the first Black Panther earned nominations in both sound races).

Predictions: All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, Elvis, Everything Everywhere all at Once, Top Gun: Maverick