It’s that time of year ago. Film geeks all over will revel in the glory that is Oscar season. The 88th annual academy awards will be held on February 28th to honor the greatest in film achievement. This will help guide you through this year’s nominee and the front runners for the biggest awards of the year.

Best Motion Picture of the Year: The academy is historically known for giving the grand prize to films that don’t stand the test of time, but nevertheless the best picture prize comes with much attention. The early front runner was Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s film, “The Revenant”. His film, “Birdman,” won Best Picture last year, but the academy voters are hesitant to award the same filmmaker in back to back years. The emerging front runner is the star studded “Spotlight”, which seems likely to beat out “The Revenant”.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Leo! Leo! Leo! This is his year. Leonardo DiCaprio has been snubbed more times than any actor in the last three decades, but his incredibly strong performance in “The Revenant” makes him the obvious choice. Fellow nominees didn’t come close to the strength of Leo’s performance, but some notable nominees are star of “The Danish Girl,” Eddie Redmayne, last year’s winner, and Michael Fassbender the star of the film “Steve Jobs”.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: This category has an interesting mix of veteran and new actors. Jennifer Lawrence (“Joy”)  and Cate Blanchett (“Carol”) have three Oscars between them, and Brie Larson (“Room”) is a first time nominee. There is no obvious front runner, but after her win at the Golden Globes and the SAG awards, Brie Larson seems to be leading the pack and most likely to take the crown from Jennifer Lawrence and Cate Blanchett.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: With a category filled with versatile and strong performances, one would be surprised to see Sylvester Stallone (“Creed”) at the top of the list. He was nominated for the revival of his infamous character, Rocky Balboa, in the Rocky spinoff film “Creed”. Although Stallone’s comeback catches most of the attention, it would be ignorant to ignore the strong performances by Christian Bale (“The Big Short”), Tom Hardy (“The Revenant”), Mark Ruffalo (“Spotlight”), and Mark Rylance (“Bridge of Spies”), but it is unlikely any of them will knock out Sylvester Stallone for the award.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: In a year of such strong performances by actresses, the nominees of this category accurately reflect their great performances. Kate Winslet is back for her role in “Steve Jobs”, which won her the Golden Globe for her performance, but much of the attention is focus on Alicia Vikander for her role in “The Danish Girl”. Although she was only nominated for her performance in “The Danish Girl”, she gained much critical attention for her performance in “Ex Machina”. This emerging actress seems to be the most likely winner.

Best Achievement in Directing: Though the academy may be timid to give back to back Oscars, this year seems to be exception. Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s directing style in “The Revenant” and all his other films can only be described as visual poetry. The seamless camera work with a collection long intense actions shots make his direction unique and memorable. It will surely be memorable for Academy voters and will most likely nab Iñárritu his second Oscar for his direction.