In two days time, Chris Hemsworth and the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Cheryl Boone Isaacs will announce the nominations for the 86th Academy Awards. With the dust from the Golden Globes still setting, this year’s nominations will indelibly include some surprises and snubs because with 2013 being such a crowded year for talent, there really is no other option.

Two categories overflowing with potential nominees include Best Actress which is really a six-horse nom race between Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Sandra Bullock, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, with Cate Blanchett all but assured the win. At this point, even though Adams scored big over at the Globes, I’m willing to bet that old blood rings true and she misses out on her fifth nomination.

In the best actor category, Chiwetel Ejifor, Robert Redford, Bruce Dern, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Hanks, and Leonardo DiCaprio will duke it out for a spot and Leo’s spotted history with the Academy (they have a tendency to overlook his work) suggests to me that it’ll be him who misses the mark by a margin.

As far as Best Picture goes, I would be shocked if all ten of these films receive nominations but I figure it’s best to nominate more rather than less. I wouldn’t be surprised to see The Butler, Captain Phillips or even Saving Mr. Banks missing out. Although the new policy has dictated nine Best Picture nominees in the past two years, I have a feeling that with 2013 being so divided, it might be closer to eight or even seven.

And finally, no, I have not bothered predicting any shorts.

BEST PICTURE:
American Hustle
12 Years a Slave
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Inside Llewyn Davis
Saving Mr Banks
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST DIRECTOR
Steve McQueen “12 Years a Slave”
Alfonso Cuaron “Gravity”
David O. Russell “American Hustle”
Paul Greengrass “Captain Phillips”
Martin Scorsese “The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejifor “12 Years a Slave”
Matthew McConaughey “Dallas Buyers Club”
Robert Redford “All is Lost”
Bruce Dern “Nebraska”
Tom Hanks “Captain Phillips”

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett “Blue Jasmine”
Emma Thompson “Saving Mr. Banks”
Sandra Bullock “Gravity”
Judi Dench “Philomena”
Meryl Streep “August: Osage County”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto “Dallas Buyers Club”
Michael Fassbender “12 Years a Slave”
Daniel Bruhl “Rush”
Barkhad Abdi “Captain Phillips”
Bradley Cooper “American Hustle”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o “12 Years a Slave”
Jennifer Lawrence “American Hustle”
June Squibb “Nebraska”
Julia Roberts “August: Osage County”
Oprah Winfrey “The Butler”

BEST EDITING
Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger “Gravity”
Joe Walker “12 Years a Slave”
Thelma Shoonmaker “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers “American Hustle”
Christopher Rouse “Captain Phillips”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Spike Jonze “Her”
Bob Nelson “Nebraska”
Joel and Ethan Coen “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Woody Allen “Blue Jasmine”
David O. Russell and Eric Singer “American Hustle”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
John Ridley “12 Years a Slave”
Terrence Winter “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater “Before Midnight”
Billy Ray “Captain Phillips”
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope “Philomena”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Hunt
The Grandmaster
The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Great Beauty
The Notebook

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki “Gravity”
Sean Bobbitt “12 Years a Slave”
Bruno Delbonnel “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Roger Deakins “Prisoners”
Phedon Papamichael “Nebraska”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Adam Stochausen & Alice Baker “12 Years a Slave”
Catherine Martin & Beverly Dunn “The Great Gatsby”
Michael Corenblith & Susan Benjamin “Saving Mr Banks”
Jess Gonchor & Susan Bode, “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Dan Hennah & Ra Vincent “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

BEST SOUND MIXING
Gravity
Rush
All is Lost
Lone Survivor
Inside Llewyn Davis

BEST SOUND EDITING
Gravity
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Rush
Lone Survivor

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson “American Hustle”
Daniel Orlandi “Saving Mr Banks”
Michael O’Connor “The Invisible Woman”
Catherine Martin “The Great Gatsby”
Patricia Norris “12 Years a Slave”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Hans Zimmer “12 Years a Slave”
Steven Price “Gravity”
Thomas Newman “Saving Mr Banks”
Alex Ebert “All is Lost”
John Williams “The Book Thief”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Act of Killing
Blackfish
Stories We Tell
The Square
20 Feet From Stardom

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Frozen
Monsters University
Ernest and Celestine
The Croods
The Wind Rises

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity
Iron Man 3
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Star Trek into Darkness
Oblivion

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
American Hustle
Dallas Buyers Club
The Great Gatsby

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Let it Go” – Frozen
“Young and Beautiful” – The Great Gatsby
“The Moon Son” – Her
“Amen” – All is Lost
“Ordinary Love” – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom