|
Natalia Kozenkova
The Oscars are an excuse for the celebrities to dress up and feel glamorous until that is they find out they haven’t won their category. Fortunately for the rest of us mere mortals, we can afford ourselves the luxury of picking and choosing our categories to win on.
BEST PICTURE ODDS
It has been a harder year than most others to predict the best picture. It appears to be a two-horse race: A Beautiful Mind and The Lord of the Rings. They are the only pictures whose directors also received nominations.
Lord of the Rings has the edge based purely on nominations; it grabbed 13 nominations compared to a Beautiful Mind’s 8 and historically the best Oscar goes to the film with the most nominations.
Lord of the Rings is the best fantasy film in decades. This three hours epic is one that is sweeping in both its visual and narrative scope. Everything production, design, costumes, cinematography are well formed in script
A Beautiful Mind is too sluggish, an over-hyped film, although blessed with a great performance from Russell Crow’s – who has his third straight nomination. The only great thing about A Beautiful Mind is that it is inspired by true events. But they are twisted so much that together with all melodrama, thrill and love sonata it remains underdeveloped.
Moulin Rouge is the third nomination, a first live-action musical to land a best-picture nomination since All That Jazz in 1979. Despite this accolade, there is little chance for the film to win.
You need to have an acquired taste for the films like Gosford Park. Agatha Christie’s type of mystery with humour, morality and wonderful ensemble of actors can’t be compared to the large scale of Lord of the Rings. The director of Gosford Park has never been a favourite with Hollywood establishment.
In the Bedroom touches the darker side of human nature and raises questions without giving any answers but hypothesis. This is a film you can never forget but cannot think of being number one.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Betting Verdict |
FIXED ODDS
4pts Lord of the Rings to win Best Film at 7/4
2pts Lord of the Rings to win 9 or more Oscars at 13/8
With so many bets to choose from, it is important to stay focused and not just to lump on all the favourites just because the bookmakers think they will win.
The headlines that will follow the Oscars will surely be all about Lord of the Rings. As mentioned earlier, it is normally the film with the most nominations that walks away with the Best film award. The odds of 7/4 certainly look worthy of a bet.
The fact that the Lord of Rings has received so many nominations, there is every chance of the film winning a large majority of the categories. It may be purely a speculative effort, but Lord of the Rings to win 9 or more Oscars at 13/8, should keep us entertained throughout the Oscars ceremony. |
|
|
|
