Awards season is well underway and the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards, more informally known as the Oscars, were announced on Jan. 15, 2015.

The award show will take place on Feb. 22, 2015 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles (oscar.go.com). There are currently 24 categories for awards varying from best actor in a leading role to best sound mixing.

Some of the nominees for best picture include “American Sniper,” “The Imitation Game,” “The Theory of everything” and more. It is predicted that “Boyhood” will win in this category (Indiewire.com).

Nominees for best actor in a leading role are: Benedict Cumberbatch, Steve Carell, Michael Keaton, Bradley Cooper and Eddie Redmayne. Most predictions point to Michael Keaton for “Birdman.”

Similarly, nominees for best actress in a leading role include Marion Cotillard, Rosamund Pike, Felicity Jones, Reese Witherspoon and Julianne Moore. The most likely to win in this category is Julianne Moore for her performance in the film “Still Alice.”

In the categories best actor in a supporting role and best actress in a supporting role, there are five nominees each. The projected winners are: from “Whiplash,” J.K. Simmons for supporting actor and from “Boyhood,” Patricia Arquette for supporting actress.

In the category for best writing-adapted screenplay, there are five nominees, three of which are based on a true story. The most popular nominee expected to win, according to Indiewire, is “Whiplash.”

Nominated for five Oscars are “Foxcatcher,” “Interstellar,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Whiplash.” The film “American Sniper”  is nominated for six Oscars along with “Boyhood.” The only movie with eight nominations is “The Imitation Game.” Finally, “Birdman” has nine nominations as does “Grand Budapest Hotel.”

Overall, this year’s Oscars are expected to have winners from both smaller movies and big-box-office movies.