Betting on the Academy Awards has become one the most popular forms of prop wagering. In Part 2 of a three-part series, we highlight some of the lesser, yet still-important, Oscar award categories for the 2009 Academy Awards.
While there are no betting odds for the following categories, you can bet on the top categories – including Best Picture and Best Actor – at Sportsbook.com and Sportingbet.com.
The 81st Academy Awards take place Sunday at 8 pm ET on ABC.
Foreign Film: “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Germany; “The Class,” France; “Departures,” Japan; “Revanche,” Austria; “Waltz With Bashir,” Israel.
Well I have to admit I have not seen any of these Foreign Films and will guess that Revanche out of Austria will win.
Animated Feature Film: “Bolt”; “Kung Fu Panda”; “WALL-E.”
Now these I have seen and both Kung Fu Panda and Bolt were entertaining, especially the 3D Bolt but my hat goes off to WALL-E for the unique tale and overall look of the film.
Art Direction: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Duchess,” “Revolutionary Road.”
This is a real hard category because I loved The Duchess and Benjamin Button’s look, Changeling was good too, not so happy with Revolutionary Road. However, The Dark Knight stands taller than the rest.
Cinematography: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Okay. Slumdog Millionaire will probably take this category but my money is on The Dark Knight as the cool dark look of the film made audience members feel uneasy through the movie and that is what theatre going is all about. Make us squirm.
Sound Mixing: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”
This is difficult to pick because I get immersed into the films so deeply I hardly notice the sound mixing and that is the sign of great sound mixing. With that in mind I choose The Dark Knight even though Wanted and WALL-E stand out here too.
Sound Editing: “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”
Because this is one of the few categories Iron Man got nominated for I pick it to win. I still can’t believe that it was not nominated in more categories. Dark Knight is a close second.
Original Score: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Alexandre Desplat; “Defiance,” James Newton Howard; “Milk,” Danny Elfman; “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman; “WALL-E,” Thomas Newman.
I love Danny Elfman and he deserves to win and the unique score for Slumdog Millionaire was great. Yet I believe the Oscar will go to Thomas Newman for WALL-E because the songs in this animated feature are catchier than the others.
Original Song: “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E,” Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam.
Even though the odds are in favor that Slumdog Millionaire will win (two songs), I still think Down to Earth by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman was catchier, plus I am a Peter Gabriel fan.
Costume: “Australia,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Duchess,” “Milk,” “Revolutionary Road.”
No brainer here – The Duchess hands down.
