One week off and everything happens in the world of the Oscars. The Independent Spirit Awards announced its nominations and The Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle finally screened to varying degrees of praise. Now on to what’s happened since before Thanksgiving.

First off, the first major awards show announced their nominations, giving us some insight into who is gaining traction in the scheme of this awards season. The Independent Spirit Awards, which honor films that cost $21 million or less, won’t be able to honor several films that are major players in the Oscars this year (namely Captain Phillips and Gravity) but still gave major support to three particular films; Nebraska, Inside Llewyn Davis and 12 Years A Slave. While Slave has always played a prominent part in this awards season, Nebraska and Davis have been waiting for this kind of push that makes them more powerful in the scope of this crazy awards season.

Now, the last two major films that had to screen finally were viewed over the Thanksgiving break; The Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle. Hustle gained favorable reviews, with many focusing on the costumes and Jennifer Lawrence as the films highlights. The primary source of adulation came for The Wolf of Wall Street, which had nothing short of rapturous word of mouth coming out select screenings. The major recurring item of praise that’s coming out of these screenings is the quality of Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance. I’ve decided to add him into the Best Actor category due to all the praise he’s received.

Finally, I‘d like to get on my soapbox for a moment to declare one film that I feel deserves some Oscar glory; Frozen. The film, of which my admiration is no secret, is a stunning movie, to say the least, and deserves to be nominated in the Best Picture category as an example of some of 2013’s finest movies. The only problem is the Academy has been very disrespectful to the world of animation, with only three animated films ever being nominated for Best Picture. It’s a longshot to be sure, but it should still be considered.

Alrighty guys, here’s some updated predictions with all of these new tidbits in mind.

Best Picture:

* Gravity

* Lee Daniels’ The Butler

* Captain Phillips

* The Wolf of Wall Street

* Inside Llewyn Davis

* American Hustle

* Dallas Buyers Club

* 12 Years A Slave

* Saving Mr. Banks

* Nebraska

Best Director:

* Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

* Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)

* Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave)

* The Coen Brothers (Inside Llewyn Davis)

* David O. Russell (American Hustle)

Best Actor:

* Bruce Dern (Nebraska)

* Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

* Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave)

* Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)

* Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf Of Wall Street)

Best Actress:

* Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

* Sandra Bullock (Gravity)

* Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)

* Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

* Judi Dench (Philomena)

Best Supporting Actor:

* Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

* Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)

* Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)

* Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave)

* Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)

Best Supporting Actress

* June Squibb (Nebraska)

* Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)

* Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave)

* Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels’ The Butler)

* Scarlett Johansson (Her)