Oh. My. God. The Oscar nominations are in, and I wasn't wrong when I said that these may be the most competitive and surprising Oscar nominations I have ever been alive to witness. Wow! There were so many jump scares: I was shaking as I was watching the live coverage. Here are my thoughts on what, in my opinion, are the most important categories.

BEST PICTURE: Most of the nominations were as I expected: The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fablemans, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Elvis. Seeing 'All Quiet on the Western Front' in the running was surprising for me: I don't know how long critics will continue enjoy World War II films: it feels like people are flogging a dead horse. Whilst the event was very significant and saddening, it is ridiculous that movies surrounding the event are still held to such acclaim. I was not expecting 'Triangle of Sadness' to be nominated: I now need to watch that film. Having 'Tár' and 'Women Talking' nominated was a welcome surprise: I really do hope for the best for these films. Tár is a great film, and from what I've heard, so is Women Talking. Watching it is on my to-do list!

BEST ACTRESS: Let me say this much: Viola Davis was snubbed of a nomination. This actress was phenomenal in her role! She has always been excellent, but this was her magnum opus: this was worthy of a nomination and an Oscar in that respect. In saying this, however, I am pleased to find that, as expected, Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh were nominated. Both of them were excellent in their respective films, and I really hope that either of them get it. This, in my opinion, is the closest Best Actress race that I've ever been around to see. I have yet to see Ana de Armas perform. But Andrea Riseborough! I had not heard of her before today, until I had read an article about the BBC's nominations for Best Actress. They mentioned Riseborough and I thought they were crazy! But, evidently, they weren't. 'To Leslie' is a film I will be watching very, very soon.

BEST ACTOR: I expected Austin Butler, Colin Farrell, and Brendan Fraser to get nominations. I think that the two top contenders are Butler and Fraser - they have been put head to head in every other big awards show. In all the excitement, I completely forgot about Paul Mescal and Bill Nighy! I had barely registered that their films existed. I'll watch the films, but I doubt that either picture will win the award barring a significant upset.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: We can safely say that, in this category, Angela Bassett is the definite favourite to win. Her incredibly versatile character in Black Panther earned her that nomination, and will hopefully earn her a win. I don't know why Jamie Lee Curtis was nominated, but I guess that was at the discretion of the Academy. Stephanie Hsu also got a nomination, which I guess was deserved? She was good, but I wasn't sure if she was good enough to get a nomination. Just a note in general: WOW was the casting in Everything Everywhere All At Once good! The fact that the four main characters received nominations in their respective categories is a testament to what this little movie did.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: I will admit, this is the category that I know least about. Ke Huy Quan was OK in Everything Everywhere All at Once. The only other thing I can say is that I know the Banshees of Inisherin supporting actors were very good, and are definitely some of the front-runners to win in the race for the award.

BEST DIRECTION: I am not at all surprised that Steven Spielberg got a nomination for best director. No matter how good the Fabelmans is, the Academy has a definite obsession with the guy. He's a good director and all but the favouritism is so blatant that it's hard to ignore. With all the other awards 'The Banshees of Insherin' was nominated for, I expected a best director nomination. Everything Everywhere All at Once was directed relatively well, and so the nomination is not at all surprising. At last, Tár was also directed beautifully. My favourite to win is definitely Todd Field. I was interested to find that Baz Luhrmann wasn't nominated: he was definitely one of the favourites to win.

Side note: I didn't expect Triangle of Sadness to come up so much. It has stayed relatively under the radar in the other awards shows: I thought it would just be one of those films that are nominated for random, less mainstream awards. However, I guess I was wrong!

COSTUME, MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLE AWARDS: Honestly, no big surprises here. It is always pretty easy to predict which films will be nominated in these categories: it is something that can be judged at face value, and people can generally agree on which films are to be nominated. The first movie I expected here was Black Panther, and evidently I was right. Futuristic outfits and bold designs define the entire franchise. I also expected Elvis to be nominated: the costumes and makeup etc. are the things that made up the whole basis of the movie. Elvis' daring outfits and the liveliness of his era were captured perfectly in the film. I guess 'The Whale' deserved to be nominated: transforming Brendan Fraser to what he was in the movie is nothing short of impressive. Babylon and Mrs. Harris goes to Paris deserved their nominations for best costume design. The glitz and glamour of Babylon was captured effectively through the costume design. Considering that Mrs. Harris goes to Paris is a movie based around fashion and its effect on the protagonist, I would be disappointed if the film didn't score a nomination, but alas it did!Let's see what happens the fateful day all of the winners are announced. Until then, I have to keep busy and finish off all of the Oscar-nominated films!