BEVERLY HILLS—It’s the day many actors wait for in their career, to hopefully get that early morning call that they have been nominated for an Academy Award. Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday, January 16, by “Thor” actor Chris Hemsworth.  Hmmm, could that have been a sign that his co-star Daniel Bruhl would pick up a nomination for his performance in the Ron Howard race-car thriller “Rush?’

Leading the pack of all nominees were the films“Gravity” and “American Hustle” with 10 nominations, followed closely behind was “12 Years a Slave” with nine nominations including Best Picture. There were indeed quite a few surprises in this year’s race, as a few names made the cut, and some expected names were left off the list. Like previous years we have a slate of Best Picture nominees for 2014 which include “American Hustle,” “Captain Phillips,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Gravity,” “Her,” “ Nebraska,” “Philomena,” “12 Years a Slave” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

There were some major snubs this season. No love for “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” also missing from the nominations is the critical darling “Fruitvale Station.”

Both the Best Actor and Best Actress once was one of the most competitive in years. Vying for the Best Actor statute are Christian Bale “American Hustle,” Bruce Dern “ Nebraska,” Leonardo DiCaprio “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Chiwetel Ejiofor “12 Years a Slave” and Matthew McConaughey “Dallas Buyers Club.” Snubbed in this race was Robert Redford for “All is Lost,” Tom Hanks “All is Lost” and Forest Whitaker “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.” With both Bale and DiCaprio in the race, this will indeed be a tough prediction to make.

For Best Actress the nominees include Amy Adams “American Hustle,” Cate Blanchett “Blue Jasmine,” Sandra Bullock “Gravity,” Judi Dench “Philomena” and Meryl Streep “August: Osage County.” Missing from this race is perennial favorite Emma Thompson for her work in “Saving Mr. Banks.” While Blanchett is considered the favorite, Streep who scores her record 18th nomination and Adams who is earning rave reviews could be major threats.

Nominated for Best Supporting Actress are Sally Hawkins “Blue Jasmine,” Jennifer Lawrence “American Hustle,” Lupita Nyong’o “12 Years a Slave,” Julia Roberts “August: Osage County” and June Squibb “Nebraska.” Shown no love was TV titan Oprah Winfrey for “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.” Lawrence has the momentum, but Nyong’o is a fave for heartbreaking performance in “12 Years a Slave,” so it will be a battle to the finish.

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor are Barkhad Abdi “Captain Phillips,” Bradley Cooper “American Hustle,” Michael Fassbender “12 Years a Slave,” Jonah Hill “The Wolf of Wall Street” and Jared Leto “Dallas Buyers Club.”  Hill is the big surprise in this category, taking a seat from possible nominees Tom Hanks “Saving Mr. Banks” and Will Forte “ Nebraska.”

In the Best Director the five contenders include Alfonso Cuaron “Gravity,” Alexander Payne “Nebraska,” Steve McQueen “12 Years a Slave,” Martin Scorsese “The Wolf of Wall Street” and David O. Russell “American Hustle.” Overlooked by the Academy includes Paul Greengrass “Captain Phillips,” Spike Jonze “Her” and newcomer Ryan Coogler “Fruitvale Station.” This is a three-person race between Cuaron, McQueen and Russell, where to be honest any of them can take home the big prize.

For Best Adapted Screenplay the nominees are Julie Deply, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater “Before Midnight,” Billy Ray “Captain Phillips,” Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope “Philomena,” John Ridley “12 Years a Slave” and Terence Winter “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

For Best Original Screenplay Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell “American Hustle,” Woody Allen “Blue Jasmine,” Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack “Dallas Buyers Club,” Spike Jonze “Her” and Bob Nelson “Nebraska.”

I will admit the 2014 Academy Awards delivered more surprises than one could have expected. 2013 could be heralded as the best year in cinema in quite some time.  The 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards this Saturday could be a strong predicator of how Academy members could vote in the acting races. A win could push a contender that much closer to Oscar, but there is always a shocking surprise or two come Oscar night particularly the Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress races.

The 86th Annual Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 2 from the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Hollywood and telecast live on ABC at 8:30 p.m. (EST). The ceremony will be hosted by talk show host and comedienne Ellen DeGeneres.  So were you correct in making your Oscar predictions?