|
'No Country', Day-Lewis set for Oscars glory: betting
2008-02-22
Crime drama "No Country for Old Men" is the heavy favorite to win this year's best picture Oscar and only a huge upset can prevent Daniel Day-Lewis from picking up his second best actor statuette, bookmakers and pundits said Friday. Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country for Old Men," which has been nominated in eight categories at Sunday's 80th Academy Awards, led the best picture betting on all leading betting websites monitored by AFP. William Hill had "No Country" as the 1/3 favorite, while Blue Square gave odds of 2/7 and CanBet.com was only offering a return of 36 cents for every dollar wagered. The Coen brothers were also heavy 1/4 favorites with CanBet.com to win the best director prize, with nearest rival Paul Thomas Anderson at 9/2 for his oil industry epic "There Will Be Blood." The star of "There Will Be Blood," Ireland's Day-Lewis, is regarded as a shoo-in for the second Oscar of his career following his statuette for "My Left Foot" in 1990. Day-Lewis was priced at 1/14 by William Hill, Blue Square and CanBet.com, while 30 out of 32 experts polled by the Los Angeles Times' theenvelope.com picked the actor as the favorite. "They can put the Oscar on his seat at the beginning of the show, that's how sure we are he will win, and there's no question in that category," said Benjamin Eckstein, an analyst with America's Line, a Las Vegas-based company specializing in sports, politics and award show betting. Eckstein said the best actress race would see a shoot-out between British veteran Julie Christie, who plays an Alzheimer's sufferer in "Away from Her," and France's Marion Cotillard, superb as Edith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose." Although Cotillard was capable of scoring an upset, Christie remained the narrow favorite, he said. William Hill listed Christie as a 4/9 favorite, against 1/2 for Blue Square, while 29 out of 32 Los Angeles Times pundits also picked Christie. While the supporting actor category is expected to go to "No Country for Old Men's" Javier Bardem for his performance as a psychopathic hitman, the supporting actress field was less clear-cut. Australian actress Cate Blanchett is the marginal favorite for her gender-bending portrayal of Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There," priced at 5/4 with William Hill, 6/5 with Blue Square and evens with Eckstein.
| 
