Los Angeles: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's black comedy film "Birdman", starring Michael Keaton, and Wes Anderson's comedy "The Grand Budapest Hotel", starring Ralph Fiennes, are leading the 87th annual Academy Award nominations, with nine each, including best picture.
None of India's probable contenders, including Oscar winner A.R. Rahman, have made it to the final nomination list of the awards, announced at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills here Thursday.
The winners will be announced at a star-studded gala here Feb 22.
For the first time, nominees in all 24 categories were announced live by directors J.J. Abrams, Alfonso Cuaron, actor Chris Pine and Academy president Cherly Boone Isaacs in a two-part live event.
"The Imitation Gamea landed eight nominations in total while Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" and "Boyhood" had six each.
The Best Motion Picture category will see tough competition between "American Sniper", "Birdman", "Boyhood", "The Grand Budapest Hotel", "The Imitation Game", "Selma", "The Theory of Everything" and "Whiplash".
For the Achievement in Directing list, there's a neck-to-neck competition between "Birdman" (Inarritu), "Boyhood" (Richard Linklater), "Foxcatcher" (Bennett Miller), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Anderson) and "The Imitation Game" (Morten Tyldum).
The contenders for the Best Performance by an Actor in Leading Role are Steve Carell for "Foxcatcher", Bradley Cooper for "American Sniper", Benedict Cumberbatch for "The Imitation Game", Keaton for "Birdman" and Eddie Redmayne for "The Theory of Everything".
Those competing for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role trophy are Marion Cotillard for "Two Days, One Night", Felicity Jones for "The Theory of Everything", Julianne Moore for "Still Alice", Rosamund Pike for "Gone Girl" and Reese Witherspoon for "Wild".
The Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role nominees are Robert Duvall ("The Judge"), Ethan Hawke ("Boyhood"), Edward Norton ("Birdman"), Mark Ruffalo ("Foxcatcher") and J.K. Simmons ("Whiplash"), while actresses in the same category include Patricia Arquette for "Boyhood", Laura Dern for "Wild", Keira Knightley for "The Imitation Game", Emma Stone for "Birdman" and Meryl Streep for "Into the Woods".
In the Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (original score), the nominees are "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Alexandre Desplat), "The Imitation Game" (Alexandre Desplat), "Interstellar" (Hans Zimmer), "Mr. Turner" (Gary Yershon), "The Theory of Everything" (Johann Johannsson).
"Everything is awesome" from "The Lego Movie" (Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson), "Glory" from "Selma" (John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn), "Grateful" from "Beyond the Lights" (Diane Warren), "I'm not gonna miss you" from "Glen Campbell, I'll Be Me" (Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond) and "Lost stars" from "Begin Again" (Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois) are competing for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original song) category.
For Achievement in Visual Effects category, the contenders are "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes", "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Interstellar" and "X-Men: Days of Future Past".
Contest for the Best Adapted Screenplay is among "American Sniper", "The Imitation Game", "Inherent Vice", "The Theory of Everything" and "Whiplash", while "Birdman", "Boyhood", "Foxcatcher", "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "Nightcrawler" are there in the Best Original Screenplay Oscar.
Movies making it to the Best Animated Feature Film of the Year nominations include "Big Hero 6a, "The Boxtrolls", "How to Train Your Dragon 2", "Song of the Sea" and "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya", while the Best Animated Short Film nominations are "The Bigger Picture", "The Dam Keeper", "Feast", "Me and My Moulton" and "A Single Life".
Achievement in Cinematography category nominees are "Birdman" (Emmanuel Lubezki), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Robert Yeoman), "Ida" (Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski), "Mr. Turner" (Dick Pope) and "Unbroken" (Roger Deakins).
Costumes are a vital part, and those who stand a chance to win the golden statuette for Achievement in Costume Design are "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Milena Canonero), "Inherent Vice" (Mark Bridges), "Into the Woods" (Colleen Atwood), "Maleficent" (Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive) and "Mr. Turner" (Jacqueline Durran)
Nominations for Achievement in Production Design are "The Grand Budapest Hotel", "The Imitation Game", "Interstellar", "Into the Woods" and "Mr. Turner".
The jury's picks for the Best Documentary Feature include "CitizenFour", "Finding Vivian Maier", "Last Days in Vietnam", "The Salt of the Earth" and "Virunga", while competitors in the Best Documentary Short Subject are "Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1", "Joanna", "Our Curse", "The Reaper (La Parka)" and "White Earth".
The race for Achievement in Film Editing pits "American Sniper" (Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach), "Boyhood" (Sandra Adair), "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Barney Pilling), "The Imitation Game" (William Goldenberg) and "Whiplash" (Tom Cross) against each other.
Five films - "Ida" (Poland), "Leviathan" (Russia), "Tangerines" (Estonia), "Timbuktua (Mauritania) and "Wild Tales" (Argentina) - are up for the Foreign Language Film award.
Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar sees Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard ("Foxcatcher"), Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier ("The Grand Budapest Hotel") and ElizabethVYianni-Georgiou and David White ("Guardians of the Galaxy") against each other.
Best Live Action Short Film nominees are "Aya", "Boogaloo and Graham", "Butter Lamp", "Parvaneh" and "The Phone Call".
For Achievement in Sound Editing sees Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman ("American Sniper"), Martin Hernandez and Aaron Glascock ("Birdman), Brent Burge and Jason Canovas ("The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"), Richard King ("Interstellar") and Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro ("Unbroken"), while for sound mixing category, figure technicians in films like "American Sniper", "Birdman", "Interstellar", "Unbroken" and "Whiplash".
