The best linked category to the Best Sound award at the Oscars will either be the start of a new conversation or the end of it. Will Sound of Metal win or will there be a surprise. We shall see.

CINEMA AUDIO SOCIETY AWARDS

Best Sound Mixing – Live Action

Greyhound (RU:Wesley, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)
Mank
News of the World
Sound of Metal (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: Sound of Metal feels like the surest winner this category has seen in some time. Greyhound might be the biggest potential spoiler because of its wartime sounds.
Peter J. Patrick: Nothing tops Sound of Metal this year. Selecting a runner-up is a much more difficult task. Let’s throw one to The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Tripp Burton: No movie relied on its sound design quite like Sound of Metal this year, and I don’t see it losing here.
Thomas LaTourette: Sound of Metal totally deserves this award. It would seem shocking if it went to anything else.

Best Sound Mixing – Animated

The Croods: A New Age
Onward (RU:Peter)
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
Trolls World Tour (RU:Wesley, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)

Wesley Lovell: Soul is once again the frontrunner. It’s hard to believe anything else will win, but the musical Trolls World Tour has the best chance at being a usurper.
Peter J. Patrick: Soul would appear to be the favorite here as it is practically everywhere else. Onward for the runner-up.
Tripp Burton: The sound to Soul is so key to its success that it should win here easily.
Thomas LaTourette: Soul seems like the obvious winner unless they go for all the singing of Trolls World Tour.

Best Sound Mixing – Documentary

The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Thomas, RU:Wesley)
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (RU:Peter)
My Octopus Teacher (Wesley, Peter, Tripp)
The Social Dilemma (RU:Tripp)
Zappa (RU:Thomas)

Wesley Lovell: My Octopus Teacher is likely to win based on its underwater soundscape. Of course, music-oriented biographies are popular with this group as well.
Peter J. Patrick: The eponymous octopus wins this with David Attenborough’s latest doc the runner-up.
Tripp Burton: My Octopus Teacher keeps surprising in wins all year, and it might again here.
Thomas LaTourette: Not that they always choose music docs to win, but those seem the most likely to dominate here. So I’ll go with the Bee Gees to win with Zappa in second.