Probably the one list no one was really excited for, and I’m sorry. but as a blind film critic, telling you my top 10 choices in Cinematography or Visual Effects just doesn’t make sense to me. But I can hear just fine. So, since Sound Design and Sound Mixing are now one category at the Oscars, I also just have “sound”. I know which films I still “need’ to seee, and the only possibility that could have taken a spot on this list was Avatar The way Of Water, which despite its best efforts, will be a Disney Plus release for me. That movie is too long, and I don’t get the benefit of those stunning visuals.

10) The Woman King

9) Bullet Train

8) The Northman

7) The Batman

6) Dr Strange and the Multiverse Of Madness

5) Prey

4) bones and All

3) Tar

2) Top Gun maverick

1) All Quiet on The Western Front

Of the ten on this list, almost every title received either an A or A minus. Bullet Train was my lowest graded film at B, but that film benefits from having all that cacophony of sound in a limited space, which really enhanced the film itself. Some of this is more Sound mixing than Design, and vice versa. Ultimately, I chose the war film. There’s something about teh bullets whizzing around you, the explosions, and the immersive quality the sound team had with it’s mixing and design. It was made to make you feel like you were right in the shit, which was just enough to edge it over the terrific mixing and design of Top Gun Maverick that puts you directly in the cockpit of a fighter jet.

How i feel about Tar is how others feel about Elvis, I just thought the importance of sound in Tar was so much more. If we’re being honest, that “score” people keep talking about is likely being confused with just a terrific sound design. I didn’t include Elvis, because I felt that the sound was somehow less exciting in that film as Baz usually throws an assault on your senses on all fronts.

Bones and All enhances the horror and they bring out and focus heavily on the sounds of teeth ripping into flesh, and the devouring of a human body. Prey did an excellent job of the quiet moments, understanding when a lack of sound is often the best practice, especially in a film where one is being hunted.

I’m happy with my ten. Maybe Avatar would have knocked out The Woman king, but maybe not. However, all ten films had audio description when I watched them, and that’s a win in my book.