The awards season is full swing, and will culminate with the Academy’s statuettes being doled out in March. But the buzz has been palpable since 'Gravity' triumphed at the Venice film festival, and with plenty of films receiving awards since then, it’s time for a brief recap.

Inside Llewyn DavisOscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis

Most recently – Saturday Jan 4th in fact – the Coen Brothers’ 'Inside Llewyn Davis' won big at the National Society of Film Critics. The story of the folk singer’s experience with the New York folk scene in 1961 also kicked off gong-giving season with a win at the Gotham Independent Films Awards on December 2.

'American Hustle' took the next win, taking the Best Picture award at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards on December 3. It was all about ‘Her’ next; the Spike Jonze-directed, Joaquin Phoenix –starring oddball romance picked up the National Board of Review award, with its helmsman picking up Best Director, too.

GravityGravity stands a strong chance at this year's Oscars

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards followed, and they saw both Alfonso Cuaron’s 'Gravity' and 'Her' share the Best Film award. The AFI awards then gave us our biggest clue as to which films will be nominated for The Oscars’ big award.

'12 Years A Slave', 'American Hustle', 'Captain Phillips', 'Fruitvale Station', 'Gravity', 'Her', 'Inside Llewyn Davis', 'Nebraska', 'Saving Mr. Banks' and 'The Wolf Of Wall Street' were all listed by the AFI, a body that got 8/9 Oscar nominees last year, and that was only because 'Amour' – a foreign film – wasn’t eligible.

It’s been a strange year, packed with visually stunning, emotively constructed, hilariously developed and hard-hitting films; Tom Hanks and Leonardo Dicaprio put in strong turns in their respective efforts, representing the old guard, while Jennifer Lawrence ('American Hustle') and Oscar Isaac ('Inside Llewyn Davis') continue to assert their authority.

Now the nominees have taken shape, it’s time to start predicting a winner…

American Hustle