Oscars 2019: Top Picks to Win the Big Categories

As far as Oscars go, the 91st Academy Awards may be the most open in history. The lists of nominees are unexpectedly long, and yet there have been a surprising number of omissions. Plus, while there are three main movies with a good amount of nominations there are still plenty of others that are likely to take home wins. As Hollywood’s most celebrated ceremony draws closer, here are our picks for the biggest categories.

Best Picture

One of the most surprising and interesting elements of this year’s Oscars is the Academy’s apparent interest in both box office hits and smaller, indie films. The biggest blockbuster on the list is probably Black Panther, which – in addition to its stellar performance at the box office – has pretty good odds of winning at around +3300.00. With similar odds, there’s Bohemian Rhapsody, the epic retelling of Queen, BlacKkKlansman and, most surprisingly, A Star Is Born. The latter was expected to win all the big awards when it was first released but it seems as though the hype around Bradley Cooper’s flick has died down and other movies are becoming more likely to win.

One such movie is The Favourite, a true dark horse directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, and if that’s a little too eccentric for the Academy there’s also Roma. If the latter were to win, it would be the first non-English language movie to ever win Best Picture at the Oscars, as well as the first to be produced by an online streaming platform. The promise of these landmark moments have probably helped its odds (around -300.00) of winning reach extremely promising heights. As for the other nominees, while we won’t be too surprised if Green Book wins, we’d certainly be blown away if Vice, First Man or Backseat were to go home winners.

Our Prediction: Roma

Best Director

There aren’t nearly as many nominees in the Best Director category, as the Academy decided to omit Bradley Cooper, Berry Jenkins and Damien Chazelle for their films. With A Star Is Born, If Beale Street Could Talk and First Man out of the running, it leaves most of the remaining nominees on the same level. Adam McKay, Yorgos Lanthimos and Pawel Pawlikowski are each set at +3300.00 for Vice, The Favourite and Cold War, respectively. Spike Lee does have a pretty good chance of winning with BlacKkKlansman, but it is Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma that is a heavy favorite again, with odds of -2000.00.

Our Prediction: Roma

Best Actor

After triumphing at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, Christian Bale has certainly upped Vice’s chances of winning an Oscar. Bale’s performance as former vice president Dick Cheney is certainly impressive, so there’s a reason to believe he could take home Best Actor. Still, we can’t ignore Rami Malek, a best-price -350.00, who has won both a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for his role as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. As for Bradley Cooper, there’s a slight chance he may be given this award in exchange for a nomination in the Best Director category. Willem Dafoe and Viggo Mortensen, though? Well, we wouldn’t hold our breath.

Our Prediction: Rami Malek

Best Actress

Of all the categories, it is perhaps Best Actress that is the most competitive this year. Lady Gaga is certainly up there, having given an almost impeccable performance as the lead in A Star Is Born, but there is a chance of her being overshadowed by more recent releases. Olivia Coleman has already been awarded a BAFTA for her role as Queen Anne in The Favourite, and odds are currently +400.00 in her favor. However, it is Glenn Close that is most likely to win according to bookies (-500.00), after her role in The Wife delighted audiences and critics alike. As for other nominees, Melissa McCarthy and Yalitza Aparicio, it’s unlikely that this will be their year.

Our Prediction: Glenn Close

The 91st Academy Awards will be taking place on February 23 in LA, California, and we cannot wait to see what the oddsmakers got right and what surprises the Oscars have in store for us.