Oscars Preview: Is this Leo's year?
Posted Friday, February 26, 2016 at 1:25 PM Central
Last updated Friday, February 26, 2016 at 1:25 PM Central
by John Couture
When all of the controversy and politics are forgotten Sunday night, there will only be one question left to answer. Is this Leonardo DiCaprio's year to finally take home his elusive Oscar?
It seems to be the only thing anyone is talking about in the buildup to this year's Academy Awards, which are set to air Sunday night on ABC. The anticipation has launched numerous hashtags on twitter including #LeoAtTheOscars and #RedCarpetRampage. The latter refers to that awesome 8-bit game that we covered earlier in the week.
Well, that and how Chris Rock is going to respond to the racial controversy surrounding this year's ceremony. But, at the end of the day, it's always about who wins (or loses) and their reaction. Aside from the Best Actor and Best Actress categories, where Leo and Brie Larson are virtual locks according to website OnlineGambling.lv, this year's event looks to have the most wide-open races in recent memory. For instance, OnlineGambling.lv calculates that half of the nominees for Best Picture have better than 10/1 odds. The long shot, Bridge of Spies, clocks in at 14/1 which just underscores that philosophy imparted upon us by Dumb and Dumber, "So, you're telling me there's a chance?"
OnlineGambling.lv has updated odds for each of the categories and some fun prop bets as well. For instance, it's practically guaranteed that a presenter will mess up their lines or mispronounce a nominee's name and 1000/1 odds that someone will pull a "Steve Harvey" and announce the wrong winner. If you're filling out your Oscar Office Pool, definitely check them out for guidance.
If you're reading this, there's a pretty good chance that you're a film lover. As a fellow film lover, you have to appreciate MoviePass. For the uninitiated, MoviePass allows you to pay one low rate, starting at just $30 a month, and see unlimited movies in theaters. With the cost of theater tickets skyrocketing, this seems like a no-brainer for die-hard movie fans. They are running Oscars contest where the grand prize winner will win a free annual pass, that's 12 months of free movies at the theater.
After you've entered the contest and gotten all of your Oscar snacks prepared, fire up Twitter feed and follow along live as we skewer and salute the best and worst moments of this year's ceremony. And don't forget, we will have all of the winners and a wrap-up on our site Monday.
Until then, cheers and party like a movie star. Oh, and say a prayer for Leo because if he doesn't win on Sunday night, then there's a pretty good chance that he'll go on a real rampage through Hollywood. The 88th Annual Academy Awards will air live on ABC at 7:00 PM Eastern time. You can check out the nominees and follow along with the winners on our site here.