A new year means a new stunning year in film, but first we must get through award season. With the Golden Globes over and a few more to come, there are only a few more weeks until the biggest award a person in Hollywood can receive, the Academy Award. This year, nine brilliant films will face off to take home best picture. This year is a tough race and with many snubs, this could be a shocking year.

There are three films in which are top runners for Best Picture: “Argo,” “Lincoln” and “Les Miserables.” These are this year’s top runners in my opinion, but you can’t forget about “Silver Lining Playbook,” which has surprised at other award shows. With beautiful cinematography and overall editing, “Lincoln” is the best bet for Best Picture. Do not forget about the popular “Argo” though, which I believe along with “Les Miserables,” has a chance to pull it off for Best Picture.

Best Actor in a leading role is a draw between two amazing performances between Daniel Day-Lewis playing Lincoln and Hugh Jackman in “Les Miserables.” Both of these fine actors deserve this award for their breathtaking performances. Day-Lewis has already got two Oscars and Jackman has been nominated once. My prediction is that Daniel Day-Lewis will walk away with his third Academy Award, knowing who the voters are for the Academy. Who knows, this could be Jackman’s first.

The ages for this category range from 82 to 9 years old. Unfortunately, there is a more deserving actress than both of those fine actresses.  Best actress this year should go to Jennifer Lawrence without a doubt for her role in “Silver Lining Playbook.”

I have yet to see “Silver Lining Playbook,” but from the clips and trailers I have viewed, she is stunning. She does have competition with Jessica Chastain from her role in “Zero Dark Thirty.” She could cause an upset.

Best supporting actor is full of great actors, including Alan Arkin, Tommy Lee Jones, Robert De Niro, Philip Seymour Hoffman and my prediction, Christoph Waltz for his epic performance in “Django Unchained.” He is by far the most deserving out of the five. His performance was one of my personal favorites of 2012, and this nomination shows his works.

This year for Best Supporting Actress, it’s an easy win for the breathtaking, perfect performance by the lovely Anne Hathaway for her role in “Les Miserables.” If she does not win this category, it will be an upsetting overall night. She gave so much emotion in her performance that it was hard to believe she was even acting. She is up against other great actresses, such as Amy Adams and Sally Field, but this award deserves to go to only one lady.

Those are just a few of the categories. More categories include anywhere from visuals to film editing. This is a very difficult choice for all of the awards this year because everyone deserves it for their hard dedication.

This year’s Academy Awards are on Feb. 24.