The Oscars are over for another year and here’s the quickest wrap I can produce…
Oscars Competition
I had a total of 86 entrants in my 15th Annual Pick The Oscars competition. The tie breaker question wasn’t required because we had just one person with a perfect 6 out of 6. Well done to Josh Dagan. I’ve known Josh for more than 10 years and as a lover of film, I’m sure he’ll be happy with his efforts and will enjoy the $100 Amazon voucher.
Honourable mentions go to Peter Wickins, Solo Fogg and Gilbert Albertson who each managed 5 out of 6 – the same as me. Funnily enough, not a single entrant managed to ace the tie-breaker question. The presenter of the best picture Oscar, Sean Penn, is 54 years of age.
Oscar Betting & Tipping
It was another very predictable year. I nabbed 20 out of 24 for the second consecutive year. The categories I missed were original screenplay, animated feature, editing and sound mixing. Some pundits will have performed even better.
I lost a bit of cash early in the season by having $200 on Emily Blunt at the Globes and then $100 on Unbroken at the Oscars (all pre-noms). Thankfully I recouped most of that with a win on Eddie Redmayne at the Oscars (I had $100 on him at $3.50). It’s getting tougher and tougher to get good odds these days but I owe Eddie a drink if I ever meet him!
Here’s a look at my cumulative Oscar betting…
1996 – profit of $750 – won on Susan Sarandon
1997 – profit of $300 (cumulative profit $1,050) – won on Frances McDormand
1998 – loss of $250 (cumulative profit $800)
1999 – loss of $250 (cumulative profit $550)
2000 – profit of $620 (cumulative profit $1,170) – won on Kevin Spacey and Michael Caine
2001 – loss of $190 (cumulative profit $980) – won on director Steven Soderbergh
2002 – profit of $480 (cumulative profit $1,460) – won on Halle Berry
2003 – profit of $275 (cumulative profit $1,735) – won on Catherine Zeta-Jones and Adrian Brody
2004 – profit of $150 (cumulative profit $1,875) – won on Sean Penn
2005 – profit of $214 (cumulative profit $2,089) – won on Hilary Swank
2006 – profit of $350 (cumulative profit $2,439) – won on Reese Witherspoon
2007 – profit of $1,463 (cumulative profit $3,912) – won on Eddie Murphy at Globes, Alan Arkin & West Bank Story at Oscars
2008 – profit of $268 (cumulative profit of $4,280) – won on Tilda Swinton and the Coen brothers
2009 – profit of $253 (cumulative profit of $4,533) – won on Mickey Rourke & Kate Winslet at Globes, Kate Winslet at Oscars
2010 – loss of $830 (cumulative profit of $3,703)
2011 – profit of $30 (cumulative profit of $3,733) – won on Social Network at Globes, Tom Hooper & King’s Speech at Oscars
2011 – loss of $640 (cumulative profit of $3,093) – won on Jean Dujardin at Oscars
2012 – loss of $850 (cumulative profit of $2,243) – won on Ang Lee at Oscars
2013 – loss of $72 (cumulative profit of $2,171) – won on Matthew McConaughey at Globes and Oscars
2014 – loss of $50 (cumulative profit of $2,121) – won on Eddie Redmayne at Oscars
Oscar Results
The winners in the major categories were as follows:
Best Picture – Birdman
Best Director – Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman)
Best Actor – Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything)
Best Actress – Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
Best Supporting Actor – J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)
Best Supporting Actress – Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
Best Original Screenplay – Birdman
Best Adapted Screenplay – The Imitation Game
Best Animated Feature – Big Hero 6
Best Foreign Language Film – Ida
My heart wanted to see a Boyhood win but it was never a likely possibility after Birdman won the 3 major guild awards – SAG, DGA & PGA. It was a nice touch to see all 8 of the best picture nominees get to take home at least one award. Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel led the tally with 4 each. Whiplash surprised many, myself included, with 3 wins (great to see though).