They’re here! That’s right — the nominations for the Academy Awards, one of the biggest award ceremonies in all of entertainment, are in.

The nominations were streamed live by the Academy on Tuesday, Jan. 23, where Andy Serkis and Tiffany Haddish hosted the announcement event and revealed the nominees.

They announced a lot of expected nominations and some surprising ones, too. Some deserving films were also snubbed, which is a common occurrence almost every year.

There are a total of 24 categories at the Oscars, covering everything from Sound Editing to Production Design to Best Picture.

This year, the film with the most nominations is Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” which came in at a grand 13 nominations — one short of tying the record of most nominations, which is currently held by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.”

Since there are too many categories for me to cover and offer my opinion, I will focus on these four categories: Best Picture, Directing, Actor in a Leading Role and Actress in a Leading Role.

The nine nominees for Best Picture are: “Call Me by Your Name,” “Darkest Hour, Dunkirk,” “Get Out,” “Lady Bird,” “Phantom Thread,” “The Post,” “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”

This is a strong category. I agree with almost all of these nominations except “The Post.” Although it was an intriguing story, I think the screenplay is stronger than the film itself, and I personally wouldn’t have put it in the Best Picture category.

I am surprised by the fact that “Get Out” received a Best Picture nomination. It was one of my favorite films of 2017, but it was the type of film that the Academy wouldn’t typically put up for Best Picture.

It’s hard to say which film will take home the Oscar, and it’s even harder for me to pick one myself, but I’m placing my vote for “The Shape of Water.”

The nominees for Directing are: Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”), Jordan Peele (“Get Out”), Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”), Paul Thomas Anderson (“Phantom Thread”) and Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”).

This is also another tight category. I have yet to see “Phantom Thread,” so I don’t have much too say on that film, even though Paul Thomas Anderson is a very good director.

I am so glad that Greta Gerwig was nominated for “Lady Bird” because I absolutely loved her film.

I am also satisfied with the fact that Christopher Nolan finally received a nomination in this category because he is one of my favorite directors of all time. However, I’m still unsure how I feel about “Dunkirk” being the film for which the Academy finally nominated his directing.

For directing, I’d have to put my money on Greta Gerwig for “Lady Bird.”

The nominees for Actor in a Leading Role are: Timothée Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“Phantom Thread”), Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out”), Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”) and Denzel Washington (“Roman J. Israel, Esq.”).

Again, I’m not sure about “Phantom Thread,” but this is supposedly Daniel Day-Lewis’ last film, so we’ll see if the Academy considers that factor.

Kaluuya and Chalamet were absolutely fantastic in their breakout roles. I also haven’t seen “Roman J. Israel, Esq.,” but I am surprised that Washington received a nomination because I saw no buzz for him at all in this category before the nominations came out.

Although I was in awe by Chalamet and Kaluuya’s performances, I’d have to go with Gary Oldman’s performance as Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour.” He gave a phenomenal performance, and I’d be surprised if he didn’t win.

The nominees for Actress in a Leading Role are: Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”), Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”), Saiorse Ronan (“Lady Bird”) and Meryl Streep (“The Post”).

I honestly have to say that this category, alongside Writing (Original Screenplay), is probably the strongest category of all. All of these phenomenal actresses gave extraordinary, magical performances, and it’s so hard for me to even try to imagine who would win.

All I have is praise for this category.

Since I have to pick, though, I’m going to have to go with Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Tonya Harding. Still, it’s so hard to say who’s going to win!

So, if you’re not caught up, go ahead and catch up on the nominated films and artists before the 90th Academy Awards airs on Sunday, March 4.

A great opportunity to do so is on Saturday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, March 3, at our local Marcus College Square Cinema, where they are hosting a 2018 Best Picture Festival and are showing all of the films nominated for Best Picture.