The Oscar ceremony is the most glamorous, even if not the most prestigious, movie award event. True, there are plenty of movie festivals held in high regard, but none as luxurious and entertaining as the Oscars. It is a perfect blend of entertainment and content, even though we all must agree it is not the only measure of a movie’s quality. The Oscar ceremony has it all. The glamour, intrigue, original and sometimes dubious fashion choices, music, and laughter. Hours and hours of pleasant escapism, which, in these insecure times, happens to be just what the doctor prescribed, at least for some of us.
Hoping to hype you up for the upcoming long hours of the famous spring ceremony, we created an article about this year’s Oscars.
Betting experts at Aucasinoslist.com, spearheaded by our team’s cinephile Leslie Nixon, reached out to film critics and film journalists who have been covering film industry awards to analyse the odds and offer expert predictions for the Oscars 2024. We have then decided to share the main takeaways of our in-depth research in this exclusive article.
Best Picture Contenders
The Best Picture of the Year is among the most anticipated Oscar categories. Many of us fondly remember frequenting cinemas with our parents or friends and choosing the Oscar champions, hoping for high quality.
As our middle-aged or older readers remember, other marketing platforms, like YouTube channels, didn’t exist back in the day. For many, movie award festivals were the only recommendation of what to watch and who was relevant then. We must admit the streaming and TV show domination era has changed things a bit.
Still, movies remain important for many, and Oscars still entertain millions, even if the overall attraction of the event is on a slight decline. But our team is more than excited; hopefully, you are too. So, let’s review the contenders!
Best Picture Nominations List
- “American Fiction”
- “Anatomy of a Fall”
- “Barbie”
- “The Holdovers”
- “Killers of the Flower Moon”
- “Maestro”
- “Oppenheimer”
- “Past Lives”
- “Poor Things”
- “The Zone of Interest”
We have turned to Leslie Nixon, our Aucasinoslist.com cinephile and betting expert with extensive knowledge of film industry awards, for her insight into this category’s nominations.
“All of the listed movies have been nominated or have won the title in another ceremony,” shares Leslie. “For instance, many of them appeared in The Golden Globes, where the best drama movie title was conquered by the epic historical biopic Oppenheimer. The charming little Christmas drama The Holdovers was a delightful surprise. It is great to see small, heartfelt movies like this can still capture the attention of a demanding audience. Oppenheimer also dominated the BAFTA Film Awards with 13 nods, and Poor Things received 11 nominations for the UK version of the Oscars. As you can see, the nominated titles have already triumphed elsewhere. We’ll have to be patient to see how they fare in the Oscars,” she concludes.
Past Lives and Anatomy of a Fall were the most discussed and awarded movies in foreign languages and have received a generally positive mark from audiences. We must admit, they have managed to impress our team of movie buffs as well, and we hope they get the Oscars, even though the most conventional choice, as Oscars usually go, would be Oppenheimer. We’ll just have to wait and see.
That’s all nice and dandy, but for all of you betters out there, this is the section that requires close attention. The Oscars odds. Oppenheimer leads as a winning candidate (-1000), closely followed by Poor Things (+1400). Favourites like Killers of the Flower Moon and Anatomy of a Fall occupy the middle section (+2500 and +3300), and Past Lives is at the bottom (+6000), probably because the past two years rewarded Korean movies. Just a quick reminder: a minus means you are most likely to win but with fewer gains, and a + denotes a less conventional but more valuable win.
Notable Directors
Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese are not a surprise as nominees. They are, after all, renowned directors with their styles and a loyal fanbase. The gentlemen have directed many famous Hollywood movies, after all, so their inclusion is just as routine as it is deserved. However, the absence of Greta Gerwig did shock some. Just as a reminder, she has impressed the fans with her coming-of-age Ladybug and the Little Women adaptation. Her polarizing summer hit Barbie has, however, failed to bring her the nomination for this year. Nevertheless, we are sure we have not seen the last of Gerwig.
Our team cheers for the Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things), whose unique movies, like The Favourite, add a special flavour to the movie-watching experience, as well as Justine Triet for the dialogue-heavy psychological drama about a complex marriage, writers, and death, Anatomy of a Fall. We seem to have a clash between classic director names and ambitious, talented newcomers, which is always a treat to watch. We wish all of the contenders good luck because they certainly deserve it. If you love movies, check out this article about the cinematic exploration of Australian online casinos.
According to the odds, Nolan (-3300), Scorcese and Lanthimos are the most likely winners (+1400), followed by Justine Tiret (+1600).
Best Actor and Actress Contenders
A movie is nothing without the actors. An inspired performance can transform an ordinary story into a masterpiece, and a dull actor can destroy the most original story of all time. Join us as we list the best actors’ and actresses’ nominations and speculate about who might win the title.
Best Actor
- Bradley Cooper, “Maestro”
- Colman Domingo, “Rustin”
- Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers”
- Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
- Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”
The odds favour Cillian Murphy (-250) and Paul Giamatti (+225).
Best Actress
- Annette Bening, “Nyad”
- Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
- Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall”
- Carey Mulligan, “Maestro”
- Emma Stone, “Poor Things”
The odds predict Emma Stone (-138) and Lily Gladstone (+100) as potential winners.
The Golden Globe winners in the actor categories were Mister Oppenheimer himself, Cillian Murphy, and The Holdovers’ Paul Giamatti, whose bittersweet performance of an eccentric professor has received a well-deserved recognition. The Girl Wonder Emma Stone was unsurprisingly the best leading lady. If this achievement gets followed by an Oscar, she might be on her way to rivalling some of the super-successful Hollywood classics.
The Globes were a historical moment for Lily Gladstone, a Native American winner who delivered a part of her acceptance speech in the Blackfeet language. The visibility for the native populations has increased in the past years, which is a slow but hopeful progress for the movie industry.
Best Supporting Actor and Actress Contenders
Best Supporting Actor
- Sterling K. Brown, “American Fiction”
- Robert De Niro, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
- Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”
- Ryan Gosling, “Barbie”
- Mark Ruffalo, “Poor Things”
Best Supporting Actress
- Emily Blunt, “Oppenheimer”
- Danielle Brooks, “The Color Purple”
- America Ferrera, “Barbie”
- Jodie Foster, “Nyad”
- Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
The mesmerizing Da’Vine and the veteran Robert Downey JR received a Golden Globe award for their respective supporting performance, and we must wait and see if the Oscars will make the same choice. Of course, all of the nominees were impressive in their respective roles.
What about the odds? Robert Downey Jr. (-1000) and Ryan Gosling (+700) for men and Danielle Brooks and Emily Blunt for women, both with +1100 and Da’Vine Joy Randolph with -2000.
Other notable Oscar categories we won’t be dissecting here are International movies, Animated Movies, Soundtrack, Production design, Documentary short films, Film editing and much more. The ceremony is thorough and long and includes many aspects of the overall moviemaking process.
This sneak peek into the most famous categories will be enough to whet your appetite. The next best thing to the movies is music. Here is a comprehensive article on the connection between music and online casinos. May the rhythm serve you well!
Conclusion
This season has been amazing when it comes to movies. Several titles emerged as triumphant at many movie festivals and ceremonies, and quite deservedly so. We saw historical spectacles like Oppenheimer, original stories like Poor Things, complex dramas like Anatomy of a Fall and small, non-assuming human stories like The Holdovers with no special effects or glamour.
A common recent criticism has been centred around the fact there is no place for high-quality movies that are not epic, huge or CGI-heavy. Luckily, this year’s Oscars contenders have proven that, although impressive visual effects are still present in the industry, this by no means represents a final death for the small movies.
As the actors go, we have seen many veterans, emerging young stars, and much more long-due diversity. It is lovely to see the practice has become naturalized in such a short amount of time. We congratulate the many artists on their already-won victories and trophies and can’t wait to see how they fare at the Oscars.
