The Oscars are a once-a-year event presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that recognized the finest in film making in the past year.  This year’s ceremony will take place on April 25 at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. 

The nominees for Best Picture are, “Nomadland,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Sound of Metal,” “The Father,” “Minari,” “Mank,” and “Promising Young Woman.” As of right now, the expected winner is “Nomadland,” which leads all categories with six nominations.

The nominees for Best Actor are, Gary Oldman in “Mank,” Anthony Hopkins in “The Father,” Steven Yeun in “Minari,” Chadwick Boseman in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and Riz Ahmed in “Sound of Metal.” 

The favorites to win this category are Chadwick Boseman and Riz Ahmed. Both of those actors gave outstanding performances and it will be very interesting to see who will win it in the end. Steven Yeun and Anthony Hopkins also have a chance to take home the award.

The nominations for Best Cinematography are, “Mank,” “The Trial of The Chicago 7,” “News of the World,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” and “Nomadland.” 

The category for cinematography is a little weak this year, as films like “Mank,” “The Trial of The Chicago 7,” and “News of the World” didn’t provided consistently great cinematography.

Inconsistency does not mean that some of these movies had bad cinematography; for example, “Mank” had a great sequence of events where the cinematography for about 20 minutes was just perfection. 

The expected winner of this category is “Judas and the Black Messiah.” This film has some really great shots that you could just pause and look at like a painting. 

Another exciting category to look out for is Best Actress. This year was filled with a lot of good female-led movies. The nominees are Carey Mulligan in “Promising Young Woman,” Andra Day in “The United States vs.  Billie Holiday,” Vanessa Kirby in “Pieces of a Woman,” Frances McDormand in “Nomadland,”and Viola Davis in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” 

This year has been quite competitive when it comes down to Best Actress of the year, and there is no clear-cut winner. Each actress gave great performances that are all Oscar-worthy. This category promises to be a highlight of the night.

The Oscars will be a fun, competitive, and exciting award show to watch, and it will showcase the determination and hard work it takes to make these movies. Each category will find a winner on tonight (April 25) starting at 5 p.m.