On Monday, the New York Film Critics Circle will present the first critics' awards of the season and will officially get Awards Season off to a big start.

The New York Film Critics is an organization comprising critics from daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, magazines, and qualifying on-line general-interest publications. The organization was founded in 1935, and every year in December the organization has met in New York to vote on awards for the previous calendar year's films.

The organization is known as a big Oscar predictor as the majority of the films that win go on to get nominated for Best Picture and sometimes win. Last year the critics surprised and gave "American Hustle" Best Picture and it allowed that movie to generate more buzz and an eventual Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination.

Other NYFCC winners have included "Zero Dark Thirty," "The Social Network," "Milk," "Brokeback Mountain" and "United 93." The organization has also coincided with the Academy on several occasions as it named "No Country for Old Men," "The Hurt Locker" and "The Artist" Best Picture.

In the acting categories, the organization has not been as accurate, but it has raised the visibility for some smaller films. For example, last year Robert Redford won the Best Actor award for "All Is Lost" and the year before Rachel Weisz surprised by winning the award for Best Actress for a little seen film, "The Deep Blue Sea."

That same year, Matthew McConaughey also won the Best Supporting Actor award for his work in "Bernie" and "Magic Mike." In 2011, the organization also named Albert Brooks the Best Supporting Actor for "Drive" and in 2008 Sally Hawkins won Best Actress for "Happy-Go-Lucky." While none of these performances went on to get Academy Award nominations, their work was recognized by many more critics' societies.

The NYFCC have, however, predicted some of the eventual acting winners. Last year, Cate Blanchett and Jared Leto picked up their first awards before going to win the Oscars. In 2012, Daniel Day-Lewis won his first trophy for "Lincoln," while in 2011 Meryl Streep took her first award for "The Iron Lady."

This year is a very unpredictable year as there is no clear front runner and the races all look cloudy. The Best Actress race seems to be the only race that has a clear favorite. Julianne Moore is expected to win for her work in "Still Alice."

However, the Best Actor race will be disputed between Benedict Cumberbatch for "The Imitation Game," Steve Carell for "Foxcatcher," Eddie Redmayne for "The Theory of Everything" and Michael Keaton for "Birdman." However, given how crowded the category is, Timothy Spall could surprise for "Mr. Turner," as well as David Oyelowo for "Selma."

The Best Picture race could be a surprise, as well. While "Birdman," "Boyhood," "The Imitation Game" and "Foxcatcher" are critical favorites, the past two years have seen the NYFCC go for films that have not been released and that were studio films. "Zero Dark Thirty" and "American Hustle" had not been seen by most critics and had not been released at the time of their win. As a result, many pundits suspect that "Unbroken," "Selma" or even "American Sniper" could go home with big wins.

Other films that could surprise include "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "Gone Girl," "Into the Woods," "A Most Violent Year" and "The Theory of Everything."

The NYFCC awards will be announced on Twitter and Latin Post will cover them live as they are handed out.

List of Winners:

Best Picture: "Boyhood"

Best Director: Richard Linklater-"Boyhood"

Best Actor: Timothy Spall-"Mr. Turner"

Best Actress: Marion Cotillard-"Two Days One Night" & "The Immigrant"

Best Supporting Actor: J.K Simmons-"Whiplash"

Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette-"Boyhood"

Best Screenply: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Foreign Film: "Ida"

Best Nonfiction Film: "Citizenfour"

Best Animated Film: "The Lego Movie"

Best Cinematography: "The Immigrant"

Best First Film: Jennifer Kent-"The Babadook"

Special Award: Adrienne Mancia

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