LOS ANGELES—With the awards season in full-force, its one ceremony after another, as the 19th Annual Critics Choice Awards were held inLos Angeleson Thursday, January 16.  “American Hustle” was the big winner taking home three awards including Best Comedy.

Best Picture went to “12 Years a Slave,” with a gracious speech from director Steve McQueen who dedicated his award to the entire cast and crew of the picture.  Its does appear this picture is the front-runner in the race to the Best Picture Oscar, a win at the Screen Actors Guild on Saturday will solidify those chances in my opinion.

The ceremony was hosted by comedienne and talk show host Aisha Tyler. Who got the show off to a few laughs by addressing some big-time names, as well as a few stumbles along the way.

Leonardo DiCaprio picked up the award for Best Actor in a Comedy for his work in “The Wolf of Wall Street.” While Amy Adams took home the prize for Best Actress for her work in “American Hustle” and the five-time Oscar-nominee was quite gracious while on stage collecting her prize. “American Hustle” continues to prove that it’s a force to be reckoned with this awards season as it was the big winner in the Best Comedy race, which means it’s a duel between “Hustle” and “12 Years a Slave.”

The award for Best Acting Ensemble went to the cast of “American Hustle.” Oprah Winfrey presented the 2014 Joel Siegel Humanitarian Award to her co-star Forest Whitaker. Best Animated Feature went to Disney’s unstoppable flick “Frozen.” I’d say at this point the film is almost a given at landing the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

In the Best Supporting Actor race Jared Leto was victorious for his work in “Dallas Buyers Club” and gave a heartfelt speech dedicating his award to those living with HIV. Lupita Nyong’o took home her first award this season for her riveting performance in “12 Years a Slave” and received a standing ovation from several members in the audience. She was literally engulfed in tears while on stage.

Actress extraordinaire Meryl Streep presented the award for Best Director to Alfonso Cuaron “Gravity.” This is proving to potentially be Cuaron’s year for his technical achievement with a scoping a film that only so many could imagine.

In the Best Actor race, Matthew McConaughey won for his work in “Dallas Buyers Club.” While Best Actress was awarded to Cate Blanchett for her destructive performance in Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine;” she will indeed be a tough cookie to defeat come Oscar night. That woman was simply incredible.

Another award show comes and goes; it’s on to the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday, January 18. So any guesses as to who the big winners will be?

By LaDale Anderson