It's always difficult to watch the Oscars. I usually look for the face lift scars or people who are high as a kite. The Red Carpet is always a fun show to play "Spot the Pothead/Spot the OxyContin addict/Spot the Plastic Surgery Nightmare," but this year I just went to the gym before the ceremony started. You know, get a run in before I watch all the anorexics get their gold.
I'm kidding. Sort of.
Anyway, if you put money down on some folks, you came back with some cash this year after a couple of big surprises on the ladies' part. Here's how it all went down:
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men(1/8): He was pretty much a lock for this award. The only other actor that had a chance was Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton, and that's a tough guy to beat in any year. For every $8 you bet on Javier, you won $1-- not a big money maker.
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton(9/2): Here was the first shock of the night. It was pretty obvious that even Tilda was shocked. But she's such an underrated actress that it was cool to see her win. For every $2 you bet on Tilda, you won $9, which is a nice little profit.
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood(1/10): I mean, really. Daniel Day-Lewis could barely be anything on film and he'd win an Oscar. He's that brilliant. Which means that you didn't win much-- $10 won you $1, which isn't much at all.
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard - La vie en Rose(7/2): And your other shocker of the night was for a really great performance. Foreign actors swept all the acting awards, and that was cool to see-- a different kind of feel to the awards. For every $2 you bet on Marion, you won $7. Not bad at all.
Best Director: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen - No Country for Old Men(2/3): While Paul Thomas Anderson had the even odds for There Will Be Blood, the Brothers Coen had the slightly better chance of winning odds-wise. That doesn't mean you made any money, though. For every $3, you won $2-- just a little less than even money.
Best Picture: No Country For Old Men(1/4): Once again, There Will be Blood was right behind this at 3/2, which was close but not quite close enough. The Academy loves these guys, and I think they felt better giving them an award for a darker movie than for something like O Brother, Where Art Thou? For every $4, you won $1.
I'm not sure I agree with Jon Stewart hosting the Oscars again. There's something about it that just seems... I don't know. Awkward? He just seems too not-Hollywood-like to host it. Too New York. I guess I just long for the days of the old Jon Stewart Show on MTV. The ending of the writers' strike has made the world a better place, hopefully. Because if it had still gone on, the Oscars would be more of a trainwreck than it already will be.
What that means, though, is that there won't be old jokes. Jon Stewart loves the political, and Fidel Castro recently retiring from Cuba will probably be a topic in his opening monologue. Bodog has a little prop on whether Jon will tell a joke about the former President of Cuba. The Yes on if he'll tell a joke is -150 and the No is at +110, which means he's likely to drop a punchline about Fidel.
Sure, but how many jokes about Fidel is he going to tell? And which celebrity is he going to connect with him? There's always good 'ol Jack Nicholson with his front-row seat every year, the bastard.
The nominations won't be announced until January 22nd, but already with the Golden Globe nominations already being out, there's already some speculation on who may get nominated for an Oscar next month.
betUS has put together a list of movies most likely to get nominated, and we've rounded up the top contenders:
Atonement (+300): Both Keira Knightley and James McAvoy are nominated for Golden Globes, as well as the film for Best Picture - Drama. It's been getting tons of buzz here in the States.
No Country For Old Men (+300): The Coen brothers came back in a big way this year with this film based on the Cormac McCarthy novel. Javier Bardem received a Best Supporting Actor nod, which helps their chances.
Charlie Wilson's War (+500): It's almost a perfect formula for Oscar gold: Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, director Mike Nichols, and screenwriter (and West Wing creator) Aaron Sorkin. Throw an Oscar at this flick and someone's bound to catch one.
American Gangster (+500): All the critics were basically in agreement about this movie: it wasn't great, but Denzel Washington is fantastic. Denzel could be reading a box of Rice-A-Roni and get nominated.
There Will Be Blood (+500): This is the latest film from Paul Thomas Anderson, who also directed Boogie Nights and Magnolia, both movies garnering him a lot of attention, but there's a chance the film may get buried because of so many other nominated movies.
Sweeney Todd (+750 ): There's probably a pretty good shot for the latest Johnny Depp/Tim Burton collaboration to get nominated, but it's harder for musicals when it comes to the Oscar nods.
There were definitely some real shockers and shoe-ins last night. We laughed, we cried, we watched Jennifer Hudson out-sing Beyonce onstage. Here's your wrap-up of the winners and how you would've done last night:
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role-- Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland: This was pretty much a lock from the beginning. He won every major award he could for this role, and the acting community just loves him. Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role-- Helen Mirren, The Queen: I mean, betting on her would've been silly at 1/25, but a little bit of money is better than losing it, I suppose. Best Animated Feature Film of the Year-- Happy Feet: This was actually a shock, considering the love that Pixar gets for its films. And with 5/2 odds, you would've done pretty well for yourself here.
Best Achievement in Directing-- Martin Scorsese, The Departed: Did you really think he wasn't going to win it? They seriously had Francis For Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas give him the award. It was a lockdown.
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year-- The Lives of Others: Now this was the biggest shocker this year, because Pan's Labyrinth got all the attention during the press time leading up to the awards. At 4/1, not a huge cleanup, but pretty damn good.
Best Motion Picture of the Year-- The Departed: This had slightly better odds than Babel, so it really was a neck-and-neck race with these two films. And if you look back at the history of the Oscars, about 90% of the time the Best Director will also get Best Picture. Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role-- Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine: Another shocker last night. He was at 7/2, which were okay odds-- better odds than the favorite Eddie Murphy. But like I'd said in the guide, he's so underrated that he deserved it.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role-- Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls: Come on now, people. Like you seriously think this wasn't going to happen.
And I've been bragging about it ever since. I put early money on "Crash" and bought myself a lovely Coach bag and some hot Jimmy Choo shoes afterwards. You really, really can win money on this stuff. And most of the odds are long so you can win big money. If you've never bet the Oscars before...
You can read our Oscar's betting guide. Click here. You can see all the current odds at Bodog. Click here. You can email us with questions on how to deposit or bet on the big star's night. Click here. You can not bet, but still enter to win free prizes in our free pick'em contest. Click here.
Have a hot Oscar's weekend. I think they roll Joan Rivers out around 2pm, which means they'll start layering her makeup on around 11pm the night before. Have a shot in her honor then!
The Oscars are almost a week away, can you believe it? Seriously. And you can win free DVDs of all the winning movies in our Oscar Pick 'Em Contest!
Check out our handy betting guide to get all the odds on the major categories, then head over to the forums to place your picks for the winners of the night!
Everyone loves the Hollywood awards season! You know, with the Golden Globes and the Oscars! And who can blame us?, because we get to see our favorite celebs in their best attire on one of the most important nights of their lives! But what I'm ALSO interested in this week are the RAZZIE nominations! I mean, how great is it to have an annual awards show that presents the Dis-Honors for Worst Achievements in Film?! Where else can we publicly recognize celebrities like Tom Cruise for gracing us with the most ANNOYINGtabloid stories and stunts for the year? And how else can we show Paris Hilton that we just don't buy her acting "skills?" Well, my friends, this is all accomplished at the RAZZIES! Movies like "Little Man" and "Basic Instict 2" racked up 7 nominations EACH this year! (OUCH!) "Bloodrayne", "Lady in the Water", and "Wicker Man" are all in the running for Worst Picture. But my favorites are in the "Best Actress" category! I think the Razzies nailed these on the head!: We have repeat offender Jessica Simpson (Employee of the Year), re-hab queen Lindsay Lohan (Just my Luck), newcomer Kristanna Loken (Bloodrayne) and the Duff sisters, Hilary and Haylie (Material Girls). It's definitely gonna be a close call!! Bodog'sodds list Sharon Stone as the favorite to win at 2/5, and Jessica Simpson is the predicted longshot winner at 30/1. I must say, one of the most disturbing trends this year is for former "Home Improvement" funny man Tim Allen. He has been knocked with not 1, not 2, but 3 nominations within the Worst Actor category! I know you must be thinking: "But he was so good in "Santa Clause 3," "Shaggy Dog," AND "Zoom!" Oh wait, maybe not. Either way, I still feel bad for the guy! Bodoghas all the current odds up for this year's fabulous Razzies, which will be held February 24 - the night before the Oscars! If you ever thought you had an eye for dishonorable artists, now is the time to cash in on your expertise!! Putting your money on anything nominated from "Basic Instict 2" and/or "Little Man" are as sure as bets come!
I probably won't be up at 5:30 in the morning for the Oscar nominations, but make sure you check back for your complete betting guide to the Oscars, happening as soon as odds are up!
In the meantime, it's a busy week! Week 2 of American Idol, Hilary's "In it to win," and David Beckham are gonna be making appearances this week.
Get ready to make some real cocktail cash in the next month, it's gonna be crazy!
Happy New Year, everybody! We hope your holidays were just as fabulous as ours were.
Start the New Year off right with the award show season kicking off later this month! This month we have the Golden Globes on the 15th, and we have your guide to the Globes here. Then on January 26th, the nominations for the Oscars will finally be announced, and we'll have all the nominees in our yearly betting guide.
And don't forget the Grammys on February 11th! We have all the odds on the nominees here, too!
It's a busy month, so cure the holiday hangover and make some money for that personal trainer today!
Borat was the #1 movie over the weekend, and the reviews are mixed as to Sasha Baron Cohen's performance and statement with the movie. But is it good enough for Oscar gold? BetUS has your odds on whether Baron Cohen may take home an Oscar for Borat:
I mean, really. Say what you want about the movie, or whatever Baron Cohen's trying to do, but there's no chance he'll get nominated for anything resembling an Oscar. Nice try, though. You could still make a couple of bucks betting against him being nominated, right?
Oh man. What a night. So before I get into the winners that were in our betting guide, let me just say that Three 6 Mafia winning for "It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp" was just classic. And their performance was the best highlight of the night.
Now, these odds are the numbers that were up on Bodog when the nominations were announced. So if you put any money down with these odds, you may have made a little money. If you waited for odds to change, like Jocelyn did, you could've cashed out pretty big.
Best Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote" (1/9): His numbers were a little inflated early on, because so many people were certain it was going to be a Brokeback sweep.
Best SupportingActor George Clooney, "Syriana" (1/1): George was even pretty much all the way up to the awards ceremony. There was too slim a chance for him to win for Best Director, and the Academy wasn't going to let him go home empty handed.
Best Actress Reese Witherspoon, "Walk the Line" (2/13): Felicity Huffman had the better numbers early on, but the sooner the show was approaching the more it was becoming obvious that Reese was going to win. But with those early numbers, that's a nice chunk of change.
Best Supporting Actress Rachel Weisz, "The Constant Gardener" (1/4): Like I said before, it was a backlash against Brokeback right before the ceremony, and the Academy likes her.
Best Director Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain" (1/17): This award actually made sense, if you think about the other categories the movie was shut out of. And it wasn't really given for the movie, it was given because Ang Lee is just a good director, period.
Best Picture "Crash" (1/1): Even if you had this as a hedge bet, you made a little bit. Its numbers were getting inflated toward the end because it seemed that Munich actually had a shot.
The dresses? Loved Kiera and Salma. What the hell was on Charlie's shoulder? And what was Lauren Bacall thinking with the hand-beaded fanny purse? You would think people would get it by now.
And Jon Stewart. I love him on The Daily Show, don't get me wrong. But he was hit and miss during the show. The joke about "Martin Scorsese, 0 - Three 6 Mafia, 1" was great.
For real. If you had put down money on Crash at any point on Friday, you probably cleaned up. The rumor going around all day Saturday was that it was going to win because the votes were going to be divided up between Brokeback and Munich. Jocelyn raked in a cool $1000 on that puppy!
Stay tuned, because on Wednesday, we'll give you the complete breakdown of the evening-- from the winners and losers, to the fashion, to Jon Stewart's hosting job. Keep it locked!
Join us this Sunday, March 5th for a fabulous Oscar party at the Free Zone! We'll be giving away cash prizes during the show, and giving away a New York New York gift package for two including tickets to Zumanity! Join us for food, cake, gift bags, and a champagne toast!
4pm Free Zone 610 E. Naples (between Swenson & Paradise) 702-794-2300 freezonelv.com
Oh, that's right, people. The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and the lines are going up as fast as the names were said. That means we'll be having your complete Oscar betting guide up just as fast.
Already, Bodog even has Razzie odds! Who was the worst of the year? Cash in!
On Thursday, Survivor: Exile Island premieres. Check our our lovely betting guide on the new cast!
And don't forget to check the handy Grammy betting guide, and get your bets in before the 8th!
Get the exclusive! Join HollyWagers Weekly, and get bets before anyone else! This week, you can bet on the Super Bowl without even watching the game itself. Join today and get the scoop!
So, firstly, Oscar odds will be announced in the next day, and that means all kinds of ways to bet on who's going home with Oscar on the big night. It's the biggest entertainment betting event of the year, and we'll be posting a complete Oscar betting guide just as fast as we can. In the meantime, you may want to start handicapping the big race for the Academies by taking a loot at the winners of last night's unfortunately named SAG (Screen Actors' Guild) awards.
Let's run the winners: Best Male in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture: Philip Seymour Hoffman wins for Capote. Okay. I give up. I'll be shocked if he doesn't run the table this awards season. A lot of people think that Heath Ledger has a shot in this category, but so far at the Golden Globes and SAGs, it's been all PSH. I'd be surprised if the odds aren't ridiculously loaded for him to win after nominations are announced.
Best Female in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture: Reese Witherspoon wins for Walk the Line. So, this is interesting. At the Golden Globes, there are separate categories for dramatic film and musical/comedy films. Therefore, both Reese and Felicity Huffman (Transamerica) got to be honored. American loves Reese, but Felicty was powerful in an unusual role. This could go either way for Oscar. How does he like his women, this Oscar? Perky like Reese or serious like Felicity?
Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Paul Giamatti wins for Cinderella Man. This makes sense. People LOVE-loved him in Sideways last year. Nobody wants a Ron Howard film to end a night with zero awards. But let us look for a moment at who he beat:
Don Cheadle, Crash George Clooney, Syriana Matt Dillon, Crash Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
Looking at who's in the mix, there's reason to think that everybody in this category has a shot at being Oscar's good buddy on the big night. Brokeback Mountain is a heavy favorite to make an impact at the awards, and if Heath doesn't have much of a shot against PSH, then Jake is a great way to snake an award in to Ang Lee's masterpiece. Crash has been under-rated all year, and George Clooney gained weight for his role in Syriana, which we all know can translate to an award all on its own. It's a wild category that could go any way.
Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Rachel Wiesz wins for The Constant Gardner. This was a bit of an upset, with Michelle Williams for Brokeback Mountain having been the favorite with Catherin Keener for Capote and Frances McDormand for North Country right behind her. Even though we know Oscar loves Frances McDormand, he's unlikely to throw any awards towards North Country after the criticism it received for being a fabricated Oscar movie (as in it only got made to get nominations for its overblown drama). But if the field looks the same on Oscar night, I'd still look for Oscar to go home on Michelle Williams' arm despite the SAG upset.
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: This is a category Oscar doesn't even have, but it rewards a cast that acted as an ensemble. At the SAGs, Crash won this category, beating out Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night, and Good Luck and Hustle & Flow. The reason we're bringing it up? This award for Crash may be an indicator that Academy voters could think more of it than we guessed and some awards could float its way.
So there you have it. Take it and use it wisely when those possible Oscar bets start to happen.
In other news, you may want to know what the worst of Hollywood is this year. Fear not! The Razzie nominations came out today. We'll just run them down for you.
Worst Screenplay: Bewitched, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Dirty Love, The Dukes of Hazzard, Son of the Mask
Worst Actress: Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four and Into the Blue), Hilary Duff (Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and The Perfect Man), Jennifer Lopez (Monster in Law), Jenny McCarthy (Dirty Love), Tara Reid (Alone in the Dark)
Worst Actor: Tom Cruise (War of the Worlds), Will Ferrell (Bewitched and Kicking and Screaming), Jamie Kennedy (Son of the Mask), The Rock (Doom), Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo).
Worst Picture: Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Dirty Love, Dukes of Hazzard, House of Wax, Son of the Mask
Call us crazy, but we think Dirty Love may make a sweep.
Would you believe it? Awards season is almost upon us! Which means that the mother of all the award shows, the Oscars, is on it's way. This week over at Bodog, check out the odds on who may host next year's big show! This year, it looks like comedians are lined up for the job:
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