Guide to Oscar: Best Sound Mixing

The award for Best Sound Mixing has been given out since the 3rd Academy Awards and honour the technicians who create the balance of sounds in a film, creating a sonic picture.

This year's nominees:

Friday's Top 5... My Favourite Best Picture Winners

#5: On The Waterfront

One of the few Best Picture winners that no one seems to argue with. The politics behind it remain a bit fraught, but the product itself is wonderful. Showcasing Oscar winning performances by Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint, On The Waterfront is a film that everyone should see at least once.

Guide to Oscar: Best Sound Editing

The award for Best Sound Editing honors the technicians who create a film's sonic world by balancing dialogue, effects, and music and making them work together in harmony. The category was first introduced in 1964, though in years when there isn't a sufficient number of films that qualify to be nominated, a Special Achievement Award is given in lieu of the Oscar.

This year's nominees:

Review: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)

* * * 1/2
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth

It begins, or perhaps it can better be described as ending, with the assertion that "we have a rotten apple." To suggest that there's just one, though, is an understatement. In the world of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy the good guys are the exception, not the rule, and the world itself is a dark place defined by paranoia and brutality. Based on the novel of the same name by John le Carre, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a cerebral spy saga that is totally engrossing from beginning to end.

Guide to Oscar: Best Original Score

The Best Original Score category was introduced in 1934. The category has taken various shapes since then, at one point allowing for as many as 17 nominees (as in 1940), and at various points splitting the category into two. From 1942 until 1961, the category was split into "Dramatic or Comedy Picture" and "Musical Picture;" from 1962 until 1969 and then off and on through the early 80s, it was split into "Original" and "Adaptation or treatment;" and from 1995 until 1998 it was split into "Dramatic Score" and "Musical or Comedy Score." Since 1998 all scores have been considered together in one category with five nominees.

This year's nominees: