With months to go until the 91st Academy Awards, Hollywood is buzzing with predictions for major nominees. Wins from last year’s awards include “The Shape of Water,” Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing”) for supporting actor and Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”) for best actor. Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”) and Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”) also took home trophies for lead and supporting actress, respectively. While it is too early to speculate who will receive an Oscar in February, as upcoming releases are still potential contenders, favorites for a coveted nomination are flooding social and print media.

Frontrunners for Best Picture include “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Roma” and “The Old Man and The Gun.” Bradley Cooper for “A Star is Born” and Steve Carell for “Beautiful Boy” are the shoo-ins for Actor in a Leading Role. Vera Farmiga in “The Front Runner” and Emma Stone for “The Favourite” are likely frontrunners for the Actress in a Leading Role award. The probable nominees for Actor in a Supporting Role are Adam Driver for “BlacKkKlansman” and Michael Jordan in “Black Panther.” The favorites for Actress in a Supporting Role include Nicole Kidman in “Boy Erased,” Lupita Nyong’o for “Black Panther” and Meryl Streep in “Mary Poppins Returns.”

Last year, “Coco” received the Oscar for Animated Feature Film. For this category, films such as “Incredibles 2” and “Isle of Dogs” are frontrunners. Ryan Gosling’s’ “Blade Runner 2049” took the previous Oscar for Cinematography. This year, “A Star is Born” and “First Man” may have the chance.

Directors Bradley Cooper and Spike Lee are favorites for an Oscar nomination for their work with “A Star is Born” and “BlacKkKlansman,” respectively. Who will take the award for directing can be very unpredictable, as demonstrated by Clint Eastwood being overlooked for “American Sniper.” Other backend nominations include Film Editing and Visual Effects. The win for Film Editing could go to “First Man” or “If Beale Street Could Talk.” Visual Effects frontrunners are “Ready Player One” and “The Avengers: Infinity War.”

Some films awarded in the Academy are for amazing costume design, makeup and hair styling. Examples from last year are “Phantom Thread” for Costume Design and “Darkest Hour” for Makeup and Hairstyling. This year, “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Mary Poppins Returns” are shoo-ins for Costume Design, while “Deadpool 2” and “Suspiria” are the frontrunners for Makeup and Styling.

Other popular Oscar categories are Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Original Song and Original Score. Current frontrunners for Best Original Screenplay are “Eighth Grade” and “First Reformed.” Probable nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay are “Windows” and “Annihilation.” The Academy Award for Production Design previously included nominations such as “The Shape of Water,” which ended up winning over “Beauty and the Beast” and “Dunkirk.” Shoo-ins this season are “Black Panther” and “The Favorite.”

Nominees for Original Song and Original Score can be those that entertain both young and old with  either catchy ballads or emotions and moods that can portray and heighten during such films as last year’s “Dunkirk.” This year, “A Star is Born” and “Hearts Beat Loud” are favorites for Original Song. “Black Panther” and “Annihilation” will have their chance at the Oscar for Original Score.

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