Now that the Golden Globes have aired, award season is in full swing and soon to culminate with the quickly approaching Oscars. The nominations were announced Jan. 24, which is about a month in advance before the show airs on February 26. Although La La Land received 14 nominations as predicted, the nominations announcement came with many surprises, snubs, and record breaking nominations for actors of color this year.

This year, nine movies are nominated for the “Best Picture” category. The nominated films include: Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, and Hidden Figures. Films also nominated are La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, and Moonlight. Although all of these films are deserving of an Oscar, many critics believe that La La Land, which also won the Golden Globe for “Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy”, will win in this category.

Many notable actors have been nominated in the category “Actor in a Leading Role.” The actors nominated include Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea, Andrew Garfield for Hacksaw Ridge, Ryan Gosling for La La Land, Viggo Mortensen for Captain Fantastic, and Denzel Washington for Fences. Following up his Golden Globe win for “Best Performance By an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama”, many critics predict that  Affleck will take home the Oscar.

Many amazing actresses were nominated for “Best Actress in a Leading Role” this year. The actresses nominated are Isabelle Huppert for her performance in Elle, Ruth Negga for her performance in Loving, Natalie Portman for her performance in Jackie, Emma Stone for her performance in La La Land, and Meryl Streep for her performance in Florence Foster Jenkins. Although this is Streep’s 20th nomination, helping her to break her own record for most nominated actor in the history of the Oscars, many critics believe that either Portman or Stone will go home with the Oscar.

Although all of the movies and actors are deserving of each of their nominations, there are also many notable movies and actors that did not receive appropriate recognition. This includes Amy Adams who was not recognized for her leading role in Arrival, and Hugh Grant who was not nominated for his supporting role beside Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins.

On the other hand, there were many nominations that came as a pleasant surprise to the public. This includes Ruth Negga’s nomination in the category “Best Actress in a Leading Role” for her performance in Loving, and Mel Gibson’s nomination for “Best Director” for directing “Best Picture” nominee, Hacksaw Ridge.

The Oscars have come a long way since last year after there was outrage due to no diversity in their nominees. In contrast to last year, this year’s Oscars is a record breaking year for actors of color. Some of these records include six black actors being nominated this year, and seven nonwhite actors being nominated, which makes this forthcoming Oscars the most diverse since 2007. Some record breaking actors include Viola Davis, who broke the record for the number of acting nominations for a black, female actress; she received three nominations. Also, Denzel Washington broke his own record for most Oscar nods for a black, male actor with his seven nominations. Although Hollywood has a long way to go, having a more diverse group of Oscar nominees is a step in the right direction.

Make sure to watch the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 7:00 pm on ABC to see which nominees grab the golden statue.