La La Land The Odds-On Favorite To Win Best Picture

The official nominations for the 89th Academy Awards have been revealed and (to the shock to absolutely nobody) La La Land has been cemented as the film to beat in plenty of categories. This particularly goes for the Best Picture Oscar, as La La Land has been pegged as a massive -700 favorite to win the statue.

The musical tied the record for most noms with 14 (the others being Titanic and All About Eve) and enters the Oscars sweeping several major awards, including a dominant performance at the Golden Globes. La La Land harkens back to the old days of film where the world feels magical, but it still seems to hold a relevant message that can speak to all generations.

The next closest film behind La La Land is Moonlight (+550). The powerful film has been somewhat disregarded due to La La Land’s impressive list of nominations, but Barry Jenkins crafted a complex and haunting tale that likely tells the best story of any film of 2016.

Archived Articles

It’s Oscar season, which means we are getting inundated with all the critically acclaimed movies that studios hope can take the hardware come the Academy Awards. For a movie to be considered for an Oscar, it must be released by the start of the new year and studios push their biggest movies at the end of the calendar year in order to generate the biggest buzz ahead of the nominations.

This year, the biggest buzz surrounds La La Land. The film, which is directed by Damien Chazelle in his first directorial performance since Whiplash, sees a struggling jazz musician (Ryan Gosling) and aspiring actress (Emma Stone) fall in love with old Los Angeles as a backdrop. It is a -400 favorite according to Sportsbook and rightfully so, as Chazelle has a proven track record with the Academy and the duo of Gosling and Stone will garner plenty of public interest. It also doesn’t hurt that Hollywood loves Hollywood – remember The Artist won in 2011.

The dark horse to keep an eye on is Manchester by the Sea (+700). 

Though Manchester by the Sea lost the Best Picture - Drama at the Golden Globes to Moonlight, there is no doubt that the movie has all the pieces to win the Oscar. In fact, since it lost at the Globes, we have seen increased value from Kenneth Lonergan's film. The films complexity and storytelling is masterful and, though it doesn't touch on any hot button issue, it is a narrative that feels incredibly true to life.