Everyone knows the Oscars are about fashion and awards.

Clever you, might know the Oscars are the second most watched event on television. The Super Bowl is #1 but you knew that right?

What might surprise you is the Academy Awards are the world’s most-gambled on non-sporting event. Really.

Growing up, I never really wanted to be a movie star however I do love to gamble and being a bookie has always been a dream of mine. I have yet to overcome a few obstacles tho; most bookies hang out at local clubs and bars during major sporting events like the Kentucky Derby, World Series and Super Bowl. I only drink little cokes and sweet tea and I don’t really understand sports–I yell Go GO GO for both the right and the wrong team more often than I like to admit. Probably my biggest handicap towards realizing my bookie dream would be my math skills.  Counting out money accurately under pressure (or anytime really) is a challenge for me. Not good in the bookie business.

My odds are just not favorable around a possible career change from pet spoiler to bookie. My mom will be relived– on the other hand she has always wanted to be an assassin and I can see the possibility of a duel business plan. My mom is bad at math but she is one heck of a good shot. Perhaps my dad and Cole could handle the books for us.

It’s such a shame Joe died he would have loved this business plan. No he didn’t gamble but the whole gangster thing would have appealed to him and he had all the skills–sports knowledge, loved to drink, good with money, knew every line in pulp fiction and the Godfather..sigh.

Lets talk about the Academy Awards.  Since I am not set up to take bets (yet) I thought it would be fun to have an Academy Awards contest on Odd and invite you to play.

• The prize is a cash pot. Its costs $10.00 to play-you can pay using this paypal link below or just send me the cash (e-mail me for my address).
• Once the pot has reach $100.00 (10 players) the house will add $100.00 (Odd has a generous benefactor).
• Make your predictions and type the category number and the letter of your prediction in the comment section of Odd by 6pm, February 27th
• The sheets will be scored on Monday and the winner will be congratulated

Use this link to pay for your contest entry-$10.00

 

One pick per category. Write the catagory number and the letter of who you think will win in the comment section of Odd.  Each correct answer is worth one point. In the event of a tie the earliest submission will win.  This information is from Oscars 2011 Nominations List: Academy Awards Nominees. Thank you Nancy Leahy for the contest idea and researching our contest sheet.

Example  Comment

(1)  F

(2)  B

(1) Best Motion Picture of the Year

(A) Black Swan

(B) The Fighter

(C) Inception

(D) The Kids are All Right

(E) The King’s Speech

(F) The Social Network

(G) 127 Hours

(H) Toy Story 3

(I) True Grit

(J) Winter’s Bone

(2) Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

(A) Annette Bening (The Kids are All Right)

(B) Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)

(C) Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)

(D) Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

(E)Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

(3) Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

(A) Javier Bardem (Biutiful)

(B) Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)

(C) Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)

(D) James Franco (127 Hours)

(E) Jeff Bridges (True Grit)

(4) Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

(A) Christian Bale (The Fighter)

(B) John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone)

(C) Jeremy Renner (The Town)

(D) Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right)

(E) Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech)

(5) Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

(A) Amy Adams (The Fighter)

(B) Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)

(C) Melissa Leo (The Fighter)

(D) Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)

(E) Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

(6) Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

(A) How to Train Your Dragon

(B) The Illusionist

(C) Toy Story 3

(7) Best Documentary Short Subject

(A) Killing in the Name

(B) Poster Girl

(C) Strangers No More

(D) Sun Come Up

(E) The Warriors of Qiugang

(8) Best Short Film (Animated)

(A) Day & Night Teddy Newton

(B) The Gruffalo Jakob Schuh and Max Lang

(C) Let’s Pollute Geefwee Boedoe

(D) The Lost Thing Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

(E) Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) Bastien Dubois

(9) Best Short Film (Live Action)

(A) The Confession Tanel Toom

(B) The Crush Michael Creagh

(C) God of Love Luke Matheny

(D) Na Wewe Ivan Goldschmidt

(E) Wish 143 Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

(10) Achievement in Art Direction

(A) Alice in Wonderland

(B) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

(C) Inception

(D) The King’s Speech

(E) True Grit

(11) Achievement in Cinematography

(A) Black Swan (Matthew Libatique)

(B) Inception (Wally Pfister)

(C) The King’s Speech (Danny Cohen)

(D) The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)

(E) True Grit (Roger Deakins)

11A  Achievement in Costume Design

(A) Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)

(B) I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)

(C) The King’s Speech (Jenny Beaven)

(D) The Tempest (Sandy Powell)

(E) True Grit (Mary Zophres)

(12) Achievement in Directing (1 point)

(A) Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)

(B) David O. Russell (The Fighter)

(C) Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)

(D) David Fincher (The Social Network)

(E) Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)

(13)Best Documentary Feature (1 point)

(A) Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)

(B) Gasland Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)

(C) Inside Job Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)

(D) Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)

(E) Waste Land Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects)

(14) Achievement in Makeup (1 point)

(A) Barney’s Version

(B) The Way Back

(C) The Wolfman

(15) Achievement in Film Editing (1 Point)

(A) Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)

(B) The Fighter (Pamela Martin)

(C) The King’s Speech (Tariq Anwar)

(D) 127 Hours (Jon Harris)

(E) The Social Network (Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall)

(16) Best Foreign Language Film of the Year (1 point)

(A) Biutiful (Mexico)

(B) Dogtooth (Greece)

(C) In a Better World (Denmark)

(D) Incendies (Canada)

(E) Hors la Loi (Algeria)

(17) Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

(A) How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)

(B) Inception (Hans Zimmer)

(C) The King’s Speech (Alexandre Desplat)

(D) 127 Hours (A.R. Rahman)

(E) The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)

(18) Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

(A)“Coming Home” from Country Strong Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey

(B) “I See the Light” from Tangled Music and Lyric by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater

(C) “If I Rise” from 127 Hours Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong

(D) “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

(19) Achievement in Sound Editing

(A) Inception

(B) Toy Story 3

(C) TRON: Legacy

(D) True Grit

(E) Unstoppable

(20) Achievement in Sound Mixing

(A) Inception

(B) The King’s Speech

(C) Salt

(D) The Social Network

(E) True Grit

(21) Achievement in Visual Effects

(A) Alice in Wonderland

(B) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

(C) Hereafter

(D) Inception

(E) Iron Man 2

(22) Adapted Screenplay

(A) 127 Hours (Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle)

(B) The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)

(C) Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)

(D) True Grit (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)

(E) Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik and Anne Rossellini)

(23) Original Screenplay

(A) Another Year (Mike Leigh)

(B) The Fighter (Paul Attanasio, Lewis Colich, Eric Johnson, Scott Silverand Paul Tamasy)

(C) Inception (Christopher Nolan)

(D) The Kids are All Right (Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko)

(E) The King’s Speech (David Seidler)

(24) Bonus questions

(A) How many awards will the best picture winner win in the telecast?

(B) How many times will the word thank you be mentioned.

(C) What actor will first mention Wisconsin or Gov. Walker?

(D) How many actors will offer support to Libya?

(E) How many actors will offer support to Wisconsin? (must use the state name)