Tomorrow morning, Hollywood will be waking up at 5:30 in the morning to hear the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announce its nominees for the 87th Academy Awards to honor the best of 2014.

If there is one word to define the 2014 awards season, it is perseverance. Two of the films likely to jockey for Best Picture were released long before the usual fall window, when awards bait floods theaters. Richard Linklater’s Boyhood was released by IFC Films during the summer. Fox Searchlight put Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel in theaters back in March.

Other films have continued to do well, despite earlier release dates. People are still talking about Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash. Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Birdman has been floating around since early October. David Fincher’s Gone Girl is still a mighty part of the discussion.

Now, let’s look at some of the major categories and how they will probably shake up.

image courtesy of INFphoto.com

[new page = Best Supporting Actor]

Edward Norton, Birdman
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

J.K. Simmons is going to win this for his role as a music teacher in Whiplash, so the debate is really over who will fill the remaining five slots. Since the BAFTA awards picked Steve Carell as a supporting actor for Foxcatcher instead of lead, it seems now likely that the Academy could go this route to free up a slot in the Best Actor category. Should they do that, I think Mark Ruffalo will still be nominated for his part in Foxcatcher.

[new page = Best Supporting Actress]
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into The Woods
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

This is another open and shut case, with Patricia Arquette poised to win, especially after her Golden Globe win. Still, Emma Stone should have a legit shot. Her performance in Birdman should answer any critic still questioning her skills.

It would be incredibly cool if Tilda Swinton got an out-of-left-field nomination for Snowpiercer, but that’s not going to happen.

As for Chastain, she’s got a lot of fans and already has nominations under her belt. She may not win for A Most Violent Year, but she’ll be there.

[new page = Best Actor]

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
David Oyelowo, Selma
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman

Best Actor is the most interesting acting race, since Michael Keaton’s win for Birdman doesn’t seem that secure any longer. Eddie Redmayne got a nice bit of legitimacy with his Golden Globe win and, depending on how the SAG Awards go, he will be the big threat to Keaton.

David Oyelowo needs to be nominated for Selma, thanks to his performance as Martin Luther King Jr. Jake Gyllenhaal’s unique performance in Nightcrawler is also going to get noticed.

It’s sad that there’s no room for Ralph Fiennes’ performance in The Grand Budapest Hotel. He’s so good in that comedic role and he’s long overdue for another Oscar nod. But the sad idea that Wes Anderson movies are more about the overall style than acting may keep Fiennes on the outside.

I also won’t count out Bradley Cooper. American Sniper is poised to be a big hit, so don’t be too surprised if the Academy had that in the back of their heads during voting.

[new page = Best Actress]

Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Like Best Supporting Actor, this is done already. Julianne Moore will win for Still Alice, but the rest of the field is up in the air. Hopefully the Academy isn’t going to fall for Jennifer Aniston’s “I want an Oscar nomination for a movie no one has seen” act and will nominate Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night.

You could argue that Moore is trying to do the same thing as Aniston. After all, Still Alice hasn’t reached theaters nationwide, just like Aniston's Cake. However, Moore has a history with the Oscars and she’s due for it.

[new page = Best Director]

Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay, Selma
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

It feels like Richard Linklater has been around for a long time and it’s astonishing that he’s never even been nominated for Best Director. Boyhood is the first time he’s being seriously considered outside of the writing categories.

Inarritu and Anderson are set for nominations as well. At least one director of the British biopics will be nominated and that’s going to be Morten Tyldum (who isn’t British).

Ava DuVernay seems like a long shot, especially after not getting a DGA nod, but her work on Selma has been widely praised.

[new page = Best Picture]

Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
American Sniper
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Interstellar
Gone Girl
Whiplash
Boyhood

There can be up to 10 films nominated for Best Picture, but lately nine have wound up with nominations. 2014 was a strong year, but I don’t think there will be 10. Boyhood is going to win, breaking the two-year streak of a Best Director/Best Picture split.

Could Interstellar actually be nominated for Best Picture? That didn’t even seem like a legit question to ask, but then we all saw Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic and it wasn’t as mind-blowing as we hoped. Still, the film’s technical merits will be recognized in other categories, so it still sounds like a very slim possibility.