(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) This years Academy Awards winners will be announced at a ceremony hosted by actor Neil Patrick Harris in Los Angeles on February.
Show business satire Birdman and colorful caper The Grand Budapest Hotel led the Academy Award nominees on Thursday with nine nods apiece including best picture in the quest for Hollywood’s top film prize.
The two Fox Searchlight films are joined in the best picture Oscar race by American Sniper Boyhood The Imitation Game Selma The Theory of Everything and Whiplash. The Academy chose only eight films to compete for its highest honor although it can nominate up to 10.
British World War Two biopic The Imitation Game garnered eight nominations including best actor for Benedict Cumberbatch while Iraq war portrait American Sniper and coming of age tale Boyhood each earned six. The best picture race promises to be competitive with no clear frontrunner before the Feb. 22 Oscars ceremony. Several of the top films have pushed cinematic boundaries with novel approaches to storytelling.
Boyhood which director Richard Linklater made over 12 years with the same actors was considered a favourite after winning the Golden Globe for best drama last weekend.
Birdman from Mexican director Alejandro G. Inarritu lost in the best comedy or musical category to Wes Anderson’s quirky Grand Budapest Hotel. Both films offer innovative visual spectacles and original characters. Birdman features Michael Keaton a best actor nominee as a washed-up former superhero actor battling to make a comeback by putting on his own Broadway play his angst captured in what looks like one long shot in the cramped confines of the theater.
The Grand Budapest Hotel was an early favourite last year with critics with its whimsical story of a hotel concierge caught up in a murder plot. It won nominations for its colourful production design costumes and makeup among others.
“It’s harder and harder to get any film made and all of these movies are really original and difficult” said Tim Gray awards editor at Variety. “On the scale of difficulty all of these are off the chart.”
The Oscars are given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This year’s winners will be announced at a ceremony hosted by actor Neil Patrick Harris in Los Angeles on February. 22.
Following is a list of nominees in leading categories.
BEST PICTURE
American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
BEST ACTOR
Steve Carell “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Eddie Redmayne “The Theory of Everything”
BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard “Two Days One Night”
Felicity Jones “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon “Wild”
BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro G. Inarritu “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Richard Linklater “Boyhood”
Bennett Miller “Foxcatcher”
Wes Anderson “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Morten Tyldum “The Imitation Game”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke “Boyhood”
Edward Norton “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Mark Ruffalo “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons “Whiplash”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette “Boyhood”
Laura Dern “Wild”
Keira Knightley “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Meryl Streep “Into The Woods”
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Jason Hall “American Sniper”
Graham Moore “The Imitation Game”
Paul Thomas Anderson “Inherent Vice”
Anthony McCarten “The Theory of Everything”
Damien Chazelle “Whiplash”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Alejandro G. Inarritu Nicolas Giacobone Alexander Dinelaris Jr. Armando Bo “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Richard Linklater “Boyhood”
E. Max Frye Dan Futterman “Foxcatcher”
Wes Anderson Hugo Guinness “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Dan Gilroy “Nightcrawler”
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CitizenFour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga
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