Jessica Chastain won the Best Actress Award at the Golden Globes for her role as Maya in the 2012 film “Zero Dark Thirty.” (Courtesy of AP)

Alas, awards season is coming to a close.

The 87th annual Academy Awards will take place this Sunday, Feb. 24.

Seth MacFarlane of “Family Guy” will host the event, which is considered one of the most anticipated shows of the year.
Below are my predictions of the estimated winners.

Best Picture: “Argo”

Ben Affleck’s film centering around six American fugitives stuck in Iran in 1979 is based on real events.

“Argo,” which won the Critics Choice Award and the Golden Globe for best picture fits exactly in this year theme in movies of the unsung hero.

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis

So far Daniel Day-Lewis has won each time he has been nominated in the 2013 awards season.

Day-Lewis is a highly acclaimed actor and is the obvious choice for the best actor category.

His recreation of President Abraham Lincoln was a challenging role due to the lack of recordings available. Nevertheless, Lewis did a fantastic job.

Best Actress: Jessica Chastain

Chastain won the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for her portrayal of Maya in “Zero Dark Thirty.”

Although Chastain is now considered an A-list actor, some critics argue that her performance did not ask for as much depth as the other competitors who were nominated. Nevertheless, it is only fitting that she would win the Academy Award seeing as the odds are in her favor.

Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz

Christoph Waltz is the predicted winner due to his incredible multilingual performance in “Django Unchained.”

Waltz won the Golden Globe, but was snubbed in the Critics Choice Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Tommy Lee Jones respectively.

His recent visit to “Saturday Night Live” was proof enough of what a truly versatile actor he is.

Actress in a Supporting Role: Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway’s predicted win for “Les Miserables” seems inevitable.

She performed a challenging scene in one take, while singing live and having her actual haircut off.

She has won all of the awards for Best Supporting Actress thus far in the awards season and I see no reason as to why she should not be granted an Oscar.

Animated Feature: “Brave”

This Scottish animated film received wide critical acclaim and would not be a shock to viewers of the film.

Voices of Julie Walters and Emma Thompson are recognizable in this story about a young princess trying to save her kingdom.

Cinematography: “Life of Pi”

Ang Lee’s vision for “Life of Pi” was brought to life via 3D animation.

A new world was brought to moviegoers and that definitely deserves an Oscar.

Directing: David O. Russell for “Silver Lines Playbook”

According to the Directors Guild of America (DGA), Ben Affleck was the best director for his film, “Argo.”

In addition to the DGA, the Critics Choice Award and the Golden Globe went to Affleck.

Chris Hewitt of “Twin Cities” said “in the nomination phase, the director nominees are selected not by the entire voting body, but by other directors. And my guess is that enough directors remembered that when actors are nominated for the directing prize, they tend to win. That’s because, after the nomination phase, everyone gets to vote on best director, including actors, who are by far the largest group of members in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and who seem to like voting for their own.

Adapted Screenplay: “Silver Linings Playbook” by David O. Russell

There was so much buzz over this film due to its mental illness subject matter.

David O. Russell, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper have received high criticism about their work on the film.

The writing was adapted well to create a visual representation of such a touching story. It was rather like a romantic comedy, which is unusual for Oscar nods.

Original Screenplay: “Django Unchained” by Quentin Tarantino

Tarantino won the Golden Globe in this category. He is notorious for his violent, over the top and very lengthy films.

His unique sense of adapting ideas from films he had seen in his past as a movie rental store clerk allows him to have a genius-like ability to create distinctive screenplays.

Tune in to the Academy Awards on Sunday at 7 p.m. on ABC to see if my predictions are right.