It’s time for the 2014 Awards Season! With an award show almost every weekend during January, the beginning of the year has already been filled with excitement for Hollywood, where the awards will be held.

Golden Globes

The Golden Globes helped kick off the 2014 awards season on January 12th. The Globes honor achievements in film and television in two different categories, Comedy/Musical and Drama for a total of 25 categories.

The big wins of the night were Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: “American Hustle”; Best Motion Picture, Drama: “12 Years a Slave”; and Best Animated Feature Film: “Frozen”.

Fashion Club advisor at East Marisa Kimzey watched the Golden Globe awards and was not surprised to see “Breaking Bad” to win the award for Best TV Series, Drama. She was also happy to see Jennifer Lawrence win the award for Best Supporting Actress, Motion Picture for her role in “American Hustle.”

Leyden student and aspiring actress, Heidi Reinhofer, didn’t get to watch the Golden Globes, but was more than happy to hear that two movies that won awards were films that she had seen: “Frozen” won best animated feature film and “12 Years a Slave” won best motion picture, drama.

“I think ’12 Years a Slave’ was nominated because it was such an astonishing movie like none other before,” Reinhofer said.

“12 Years a Slave” is also nominated for best picture in the Academy Awards.

It “captured and recreated such powerful and emotional moments before your very eyes, and it was both incredible and heartbreaking to watch,” she added.

Yet, Ms. Kimzey noted how much focus tends to be on what is seen on the red carpet rather than on the screen.

“I feel that many people talk about what the actors and actresses wore to the award shows more than they talk about category winners.”

Screen Actors Guild

Another important award show, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, took place on Saturday, January 18.

This award show presents honors in five motion picture categories and eight television categories with votes coming from the SAG membership which is approximately 125,000. The membership is composed of media performers including actors, singers, dancers, voice actors.

The SAG awards are often seen as a preview of what is to come in the Academy Awards because nearly 20% of the Motion Picture Academy’s membership is comprised from the actors branch.

The motion picture “12 Years a Slave” which stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and is directed by Steve McQueen, led the SAG Awards with four nominations and, as stated before, is also nominated for an Oscar.

Yet, the film’s only win was for break out actor Lupita Nyong’o for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actress in a Supporting Role.

Some of the big winners to walk away with “an actor” from the SAG awards also included first time nominee and winner Matthew McConaughey for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in “Dallas Buyers Club,” as well as his fellow cast member Jared Leto for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.

The T.V. series “Breaking Bad” and “Modern Family” were also big winners with two awards each.

Grammys

The Grammys is another award show that takes place during Awards Season. They honor achievement within the world of recording arts and categories have grown to now include over eighty categories.

The main categories in the Grammys are: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.

LL Cool J will be hosting this year’s show, and it’s his second year hosting it.

Some of the headline grabbing performances that will take place this year are Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, who are predicted to be big winners, as well as Taylor Swift, John Legend and many more.

This year’s Grammys will take place on January 26th and will air on CBS at 7 p.m.

Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, will be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres on March 2, which wraps up Awards Season.

In preparation for the Oscars, the East Leyden Movie Club is hosting a contest where participants predict the winners in eight categories for bragging rights.

Club sponsor Alex Jamarron will post the winners on Twitter on Monday, January 3.

While there is fun to be had in making predictions on the big winners, Reinhofer also noted the importance of Awards Season.

“I think award season is important because it’s a great way to acknowledge specific actors, movies, and songs that really stood out in their performances.”

According to CNN, the Oscars, which honor achievements in film and have twenty four categories, are considered the most important awards in Hollywood.

The Academy Awards will air on ABC at 7 p.m. and anyone interested in participating in the East Leyden Movie Club Oscar contest can fill out the ballot here.