With 2018 wrapped up, movie-going audiences all around the world have the year’s entire film catalog at their disposal to enjoy. The likes of bombastic and energetic big summer blockbuster season will be yearned for until the summer of 2019, but underway lies awards season.

This period of time began in early Oct. 2018 and is continuing into the New Year until the 91st annual Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 24 that functions as the official honorary season for cinema.

What makes this year’s awards season so special?

It has to do with the films nominated for Academy Awards. The Oscars, which recognize the absolute best in every aspect of filmmaking for the year,  yet do not always get it right. This year they have made some significant breakthroughs with their nominations, and there were many long-awaited first time occurrences.

But at the same time, the Academy chose to disregard some great artists and films from their nominations, shielding some wildly unrecognized gems from proper recognition.

To begin, not every film that any average movie-goer sees in theaters is an “Oscar film.” What I mean by that is that there is usually a rough collection of genres and standards that an “Oscar film” is molded by, being biopics, dramas or tragic historical and period films.

This year however, filmmakers from Marvel Studios broke the Oscar mold as they have made it possible for the first ever comic-book/superhero film to be nominated for best picture, the most prestigious award at the ceremony with the flim “Black Panther.”

During the 81st Academy Awards, 10 years prior, many believed that Christopher Nolan, who directed “The Dark Knight,” would be the most decorated comic-book film for a long time with best-supporting actor and sound mixing.

This year it looks like “Black Panther’s” seven nominations, including best picture, could see it as being the highest achieving comic-book film.

The musical romantic drama film, “A Star is Born” performed well early on with audiences and critics alike, showcasing Lady Gaga’s singing talents with nominations for best song and score and first time acting performance in a big feature film with a nomination for best actress.

However, nothing could have launched this film into the minds of the audiences and the conversation for best picture, which it is also nominated for, like its first time director, Bradley Cooper (“Silver Linings Playbook”), who has been nominated for several acting awards in the past.

One of the most glaring snubs of this year’s Academy Award nominations is the absence of a best director nomination for Bradley Cooper. A body of the highest profile directors in Hollywood nominated him for a Director’s Guild of America Award; yet, the Oscars didn’t honor him in such a fashion.

Films like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Green Book,” which are based off real-life historical events or people, belong to a category of films that are often mired for their historical inaccuracies, or dislike for the portrayal of the historical figures in the film.

This year, controversy enveloped these films in all shapes and sizes. Bryan Singer, the director of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” had to be fired from production because of allegations that arose about him sexually assaulting a minor.

Viggo Mortensen, (“Lord of the Rings”) plays an Italian-American cab driver Tony Lip, who is hired to drive the highly esteemed, Dr. Don Shirley, a gay, African American classical pianist in the 60’s portrayed by Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”), through the Deep South for a concert tour in “Green Book.” Unfortunately, in an interview about the film Mortensen inadvertently said the N-word and it left audiences shocked. It also did not help that the real Dr. Don Shirley’s brother was outspoken about the film’s inconsistent portrayal of Shirley’s life.

These two films have both received best picture nominations, yet they are also scarred by the controversies that will be weighing on Oscar voters’ minds come voting time. Both films are also honored with best actor nominations for the remarkable performance by Mortensen as Tony Lip, and Rami Malek’s (“Mr. Robot”) eccentric and fascinating performance as Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic.

One of the most prominent and surprising rising stars in this year’s Oscar race is the film “Roma,” directed by Alfonso Cuarón (“Gravity”). He was the first Hispanic film director to win the Academy Award for best director for his film “Gravity” in 2014.

The film “Roma” was not on anybody’s radar when it debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, but it became mainstream when it officially debuted on Netflix.

The film is semi-autobiographical as it explores an iteration of Cuarón’s upbringing in Mexico City. It is thematically and visually unique from the other nominated films, being in black and white and having no score. It portrays a very detailed sense of everyday life and is heavily reliant on the performances, the dialogue and the cinematography to capture realism.

The film has 10 nominations, the most this year, with best actress and best supporting actress nomination, and best director, picture, cinematography, original screenplay, sound and design, along with best foreign language film; most of these credited to Cuarón.

One of the most notable snubs comes from the category of best documentary feature. A very moving, very timely, and exceedingly emotional documentary titled, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” which examines the life and legacy of the late, great Fred Rogers. Mostly known as  the creator of the all-time classic television program, “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood,” was not included in the nominations.

Many reactions from critics, fans, and filmmakers themselves revealed the immense popularity and emotion behind this feature and believed it would be a frontrunner at the Academy Awards this year. Its absence from the list is louder than if it would have nominated. This was a highly questionable decision indeed by the Oscar voting body this year.

Given that this year the general populous has seen a few more frontrunner films than prior years, it would seem that the 91st Academy Awards ceremony has started a trend of taking more diverse film genres and artists into consideration for their prestigious honoring.

Maybe in the future, the average movie-goer will not have to browse through a catalog on unknown films come Oscar season and will be able to recognize more and more of the films nominated. This disjunction between the fan and the critic feels like it is being fixed and it is starting with this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, where history might be made, again.