It’s awards season in Hollywood, between the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA. The culmination of this whirlwind of amazing talent is the Oscars. The Oscars Academy and the public is ready to honor their peers on Sunday, March 12. Paul Mescal, known to many as Connell from the show “Normal People” is nominated for Best Actor for his haunting portrayal of Callum, a young father struggling with depression in “Aftersun.” 

He competes against Austin Butler, nominated as the eponymous “Elvis,” for which he has already won a Golden Globe award for Best Actor, and Brendan Fraser for his role as 600-pound Charlie, a teacher who struggles with maintaining a relationship with his teenager daughter. 

Returning after a break in acting, Fraser has received standing ovations at other awards ceremonies for his emotional portrayal in “Charlie the Whale,” a grueling role which required him to wear a prosthetic that weighed up to 300 pounds. In the Best Actress category, Cate Blanchett, in playing conductor Lydia in, “Tar,” competes for the honors against the other veteran actress Michelle Yeoh for her portrayal as Evelyn in the science fiction hit, “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.” Michelle Williams is also in the category, for her portrayal in “Fabelman” as the mother of Sammy, a semi-autobiographical character based on the life of the film’s legendary director Steven Spielberg. 

The highlight of the Oscar ceremony, however, is the show’s last honor of the night, for the producers of the Best Film. The winner last year was, “Coda,” and this year’s nominees include the musical biopic, “Elvis,” along with “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and “Top Gun: Maverick.” The latter two stand out as being the sequels to wildly successful films, but the original “Top Gun” did not receive Oscar recognition. 

The science-fiction “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once,” the historical character-driven Irish drama, “The Banshees of Inisherin,” the drama, “Tar,” about fictional conductor Lydia Tar, the coming-of-age drama, “The Fabelmans,” loosely based on the life of director Steven Spielberg, and the historical war drama, “All Quiet on the Western Front” round out the list of nominees. One thing that is different this year is that a “Crisis Team” is in place for any unexpected events, particularly of an emotional nature, following Will Smith’s slap of host Chris Rock at last year’s ceremony. 

Will Smith went on, later in the night, to win as Best Actor for his portrayal of Serena and Venus William’s father Richard in “King Richard.” He was allowed to keep the award but was banned from attending the Oscars for 10 years. 

“I feel like I only started watching and caring about the Oscars recently, and this year the movies are very unique and diverse,” said Madison Ems (11). The categories this year are seeing new faces and new plots with ideas that have never been seen before.