With the Golden Globes already behind us, award season is officially in full swing.

All these other red carpets, beautiful gowns and various statues all lead up to the one that really matters: The Oscars.

The 85th Annual Academy Awards will take place on Feb. 24 on ABC at 7 p.m. With this iconic year anniversary, Seth MacFarlane is hosting for the first time.

The nominations were announced on Jan. 10, and there were quite a few surprises and snubs among the nominees.

“Lincoln” stole the show with 12 nominations while “Life of Pi” was right behind it with 11. Both films will be going head-to-head for the top award, Best Picture.

In the Actor in a Leading Role category, all the big names are present: Hugh Jackman, Bradley Cooper, Denzel Washington, Joaquin Phoenix and Daniel Day Lewis.

Experts and journalists are saying that Lewis is the front runner in this category for his performance as Lincoln. His win at the Golden Globes reaffirms this speculation.

Actress in a Leading Role does not have as clear a stand out, however. With big names like Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts nominated, the category also sees the oldest and youngest nominees in its history. Emmanuelle Riva is the oldest nominee for her role in “Amour” while Quvezhane Wallis is the youngest nominee in Academy history for her role in “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

While looking at the list of Supporting Actor nominees, some might get confused and think this was a leading man’s category. Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones, Christoph Waltz, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Alan Arkin are all nominated for their supporting roles this past year in film. With these big names, the competition for this award is higher than one can imagine in the past.

Similar to the Supporting Actor category, the Supporting Actress category is full of A-List, leading actresses: Anne Hathaway, Helen Hunt, Sally Field, Amy Adams and Jacki Weaver.

Despite this all-star list, Hathaway is pinned to win for her role as Fantine in “Les Miserables.” At the Golden Globes, she won out among the same group of actresses.

There are nine nominations this year for Best Picture, while the category can hold up to 10. The nine are “Amour,” “Argo,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Django Unchained,” “Lincoln,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Life of Pi,” “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Les Miserables.”

These nine films provide a nice range of films that audiences saw in theaters this year. With Lewis as the favorite for Best Actor, one can argue that “Lincoln” is also the front runner for Best Picture. At the Golden Globes, though, “Argo” won out over “Lincoln” in the Best Motion Picture –Drama category, leaving the Oscar open to any film.

Just as with every award nomination, the Oscars saw some major snubs that got movie lovers talking. The most noteworthy are Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow for Best Directing. While neither received a nomination for their directing, their films were recognized with a Best Picture nomination. Leonardo DiCaprio was also snubbed for his performance in “Django Unchained.”

With a great year of film being recognized, the 85th Annual Academy Awards will surely be a close, but exciting race on the Oscar stage.