Sound, Editing & FX | Muldoons Maladies

Sound

Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco, A Complete Unknown
- It was less about the sound and more about the music (which is incredible, of course). Sorry. I can't/won't hear your acceptance speech.
Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill, Dune: Part Two
- The sandworm, the thumper devices that drew them, the seeking missile, the sound (not the shape) of water. Amazing. JUST LIKE THE FIRST MOVIE. JEEBUS!!! Shhh....shhhh...ohm....ohm....serenity....now.....
Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta, Emilia Pérez
- Music and gunfights aside, I am hard-pressed to identify a signature sound production that would signify this movie as worthy. Sometimes a movie viewed as ground-breaking just gets everything included -- editing, production design, best setting for the popcorn bucket trick. This is one.
Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis, Wicked
- Ok, deserved here. This is such an immersive world, with pretend and actual magic. But I distracted myself by repeatedly humming Miss Gulch's theme every time Elphaba was flying (yes, I know she wasn't on a bicycle).
Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts, The Wild Robot
- A brilliant animated film that is in the pantheon of Toy Story and Inside Out. So much effort went into this production, it has to win something. Sound would be fitting, if not all three categories in which it was noted.

Editing

Sean Baker, Anora
- This guy triple dipping? Actually, he dipped more times that I do when the kids are asleep and there's Ben & Jerry's on hand. He wrote, directed, produced, cast and edited the movie. This a lack of trust in others? An inability to delegate? Or is Sean Baker a union buster? Bugs Bunny, first base. Bugs Bunny, second base. Bugs Bunny, shortstop....
David Jancso, The Brutalist
- I didn't know Mr. Jancso before this nomination. He looks like a nice man. I'm sure he's well respected in his home country of Hungary. But...WTF!!! You owe me 90 minutes of my life back. This did not need to be that long. In fact, I think you strung all of the tape together in order, had a bottle of Tokaj and called it a day! That's not editing, it's postázni.
Nick Emerson, Conclave
- This was well done. There were multiple scandal threads, interwoven with unrest outside the Vatican. It all added to the theological tension.
Juliette Welfling, Emilia Perez
- She demonstrated her superior talent on a movie not enough people saw: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. She didn't win then (undeservedly) and won't win this year (deservedly).
Myron Kerstein, Wicked
- He seems to have settled on editing musicals that were brought to the big screen (also In the Heights and tick, tick...BOOM!) He did better work on the brilliant TV series House of Lies. Having been lied to by many consultants, that one resonated for me.

Visual Effects

The category to satisfy geeks like me who got their first boner to Princess Lay-Me in Star Wars. If you've played D&D (IYKYK) or watched all of the Marvel spin-off shows on Disney+, this category is for you. And a good year, it was, Padme.

Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan, Alien: Romulus
- The Alien series is a spaceport hijacking of High Noon. I'm ok with that. We're also getting into Rocky territory with remakes in this series. (I'm waiting for Alien: The Final Battle, Part IV of XII). But from an FX perspective, all of these movies are the same. Blood that eats through everything until it gets to earth and then goes straight to China (but doesn't go through the Alien's veins or skin); the giant spaceships that travel for centuries without running out of resources; and the synthetics that vomit milk from time to time. But there's nothing new here. Blow these people out of the airlock into deep space.
Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs, Better Man
- "Luke....I am your father...and you'll get nothing and like it."
Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer, Dune: Part Two
- See Alien: Romulus comments above.
Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
- I love the reboot of the Planet of the Apes series. I was a kid when Charlton Heston railed at the damn, dirty apes and the unknown bastards who blew it all up. I thought that was great acting. The modern incarnation is nuanced and compelling. The FX are amazing, particularly the movement of the apes. Like my prior complaints, much similarity between Kingdom and the other PofA movies. But they continued to evolve the effects. My choice. Likely to lose to:
Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould, Wicked
- I am a sucker for a believable, immersive world. Accomplished brilliantly here.