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‘Moneyball’ Is Longshot for Best Picture as ‘The Artist’ Remains Favorite to Win Big at 84th Academy Awards

Get your tuxedo and ball gowns ready, it’s time for the Oscars.

While movie award season has been in full swing, the Academy Awards will cap it off this Sunday with the 84th annual episode.

It’s going to be a special evening as it looks like a silent film might steal the show. In an era where someone always has something to say –- either into a microphone, in a tweet or on a webcam –- it seems quite odd that a silent movie could make the most noise.

The Artist has been the darling so far, gathering a number of film awards and it’s favored to take the golden statue in a number of major categories as well.

Odds to Win Best Picture
The Artist 1/12
The Descendants 10/1
The Help 12/1
Hugo 20/1
Moneyball 40/1

Collecting the hardware

The Artist doesn’t have Michael Bay-like explosions. There isn’t an A-list cast featuring Julia Roberts or Angelina Jolie. There’s no marketing hype. Even so, The Artist has turned out to be a critic’s dream.

It’s already taken home the award for Best Picture at the Critic’s Choice Movie Awards at the BAFTA’s and the Golden Globes. At the Oscars, The Artist is going to have a whopping 10 chances to bring home an award including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score. If the odds makers are accurate, they’ve got a great chance to celebrate.

Best picture again?

The Artist has already won the Best Picture award multiple times so it seems to be a shoe-in at the Academy Awards as well. The experts tend to agree.

The Artist is a massive favorite with The Descendants, The Help, Hugo and Moneyball trailing far behind. The Artist would appear to be the most complete choice as The Descendants is somewhat overshadowed by the performance of George Clooney while The Help and Hugo appear to be less adored by the critics. Hugo is also hurt by the fact that it’s more of a kids movie.

Odds to Win Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) 1/7
Martin Scorsese (Hugo) 10/1
Alexander Payne (The Descendants) 20/1
Terrance Malik (Tree of Life) 40/1
Woody Allen (Midnight In Paris) 40/1

Best director too?

The Artist could very well do a clean sweep of many of the main categories just as it has through most of the awards season. In the Best Director Category, Michel Hazanavicius is a heavy favorite.

Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen are interesting choices as both are venerable directors that will get their fair share of love. Scorsese’s Hugo leads the Oscars with a total of 11 nominations but it has mostly lost out to The Artist among the critics through awards season.

Scorsese might be a good choice for this particular category, even though he’s listed as a huge underdog. He took home the Golden Globe for Best Director and that’s sometimes a telling foreshadow of what’s to come at The Oscars.

The 84th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 26 starting at 7:00 p.m. EST.