January is here and with that comes the beginning of awards season, the granddaddy of which is the Academy Awards in late February. There is definitely a lot of buzz this year surrounding the Oscars, especially because there is a very good chance that Leonardo DiCaprio will win his first ever Best Actor. However, there are also many other what-ifs and locks for Oscar gold.

Here are my predictions as to who will win the night.

Best Picture: Spotlight

                The Best Picture race is usually a close one. Last year, it was between Birdman and Boyhood; however, this year many analysts and critics have predicted that Spotlight, a film about the Boston Globe reporters who exposed members of the Catholic Church for molesting young boys, will come home with the big prize. This can be chalked up to high caliber performances from the entire ensemble cast, some of whom are nominated for Oscars in other categories, great direction, and a killer screenplay. Spotlight will most likely be the only sure-thing of the night.

Best Director: George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road

                Unlike Best Picture, the category of Best Director is definitely a contentious one. Some notable nominees include Big Short director Adam McKay and previous Oscar-winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu for The Revenant. However, the man most likely to win the prestigious award is long-time director and previous Academy Award-nominee and winner, George Miller, for his superb direction of the action-hit Mad Max: Fury Road. Miller’s well-paced and shot action-reboot should net him the Oscar for the second time in his long career.

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant

After years of speculation about when his first Oscar-win would come after a long and illustrious career, it looks like six-time Oscar-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio will finally get the award the Internet has always wanted him to get. In The Revenant, DiCaprio plays a man searching for revenge after his son is killed and his fellow explorers leave him for dead. DiCaprio gives visceral and physical performance in The Revenant; at times it’s difficult to watch simply because it feels so real, especially in the opening act. Expect a speech more than 15 years in the making come Oscar night.

Best Actress: Brie Larson for Room

                First time Oscar-nominee Brie Larson sets her sights on the Academy Award for her work in Room, which tells the story of a mother and son held captive in a single room for over five years and how they adapt to the outside world after they escape. Larson gives a sharp and emotional performance as the mother of a child who has never known the outside world. A win for Larson is all but set in stone barring a shocker from any of the other nominees.

Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone for Creed

                Despite his long career, Sylvester Stallone has never won an Academy Award for acting and has only been nominated once for his role as Rocky Balboa in the original Rocky. Now, Stallone has been nominated again, once again for his role as Rocky Balboa in the seventh installment of the Rocky franchise, Creed. Look for the Academy to award some points to his odds of winning because of his long career and the fact that he has never won before, and expect these points to be able to give him the edge necessary to beat out other Oscar-favorite Mark Rylance for his work in Bridge of Spies.