The 86th Academy Awards is scheduled to take place on March 2, 2014 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Ellen DeGeneres will once again be hosting the show; she also hosted the Oscars 7 years ago. This year, it will be another tough battle amongst films that have mostly received positive feedback from the viewers.

Nine films are vying for the top spot of Best Picture. The two films that are most likely to win are 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, in what some film critics see as a rematch of previous years. An expensive film using 3D animation effects goes up against a more subtle film with a historical approach like Argo vs. Life of Pi and Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker. In previous years, the historical films took home the victory.

This year, determining who will win between these top films is a huge challenge, especially when you add to the mix American Hustle which has also received positive reviews from many film critics. However, for the Best Director award, Alfonso Cuarón of Gravity takes the frontrunner status. The directors of the other two films will have an uphill fight ahead of them.

For the Best Actress category, Cate Blanchett is poised to win for her superb role in Blue Jasmine. She has won the SAG, Critics' Choice and Golden Globes Awards. Many believe that she will most likely win the Oscars. However, Amy Adams's stunning performance in American Hustle might pull an upset in this close race.

The battle for Best Actor has already become controversial, shortly after the nominations; top actors who would have stood a chance such as Tom Hanks, Oscar Isaac, and Forest Whitaker were not even nominated. Instead, it will just be a competition between Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club and Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street. McConaughey is poised to have his first win but DiCaprio might pull off an upset.

Another sought-after award is the Best Animated Film. Disney's Frozen is poised to win after its huge success in other major awards as well as being a phenomenal hit at the box office. Whatever the results may be, the 2014 Oscars is definitely something to look forward to.