BEVERLY HILLS, California: Show business satire Birdman and colourful caper The Grand Budapest Hotel led the nominees for Academy Awards on Thursday, with nine nods apiece including best picture, in the quest for Hollywood’s top film prize.
Other best picture nominees are American Sniper, Boyhood, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash.
Over 6,000 voters in the Academy will select the winners, with awards to be handed out in Hollywood on February 22.
Neil Patrick Harris, who has won kudos for hosting the Tonys and the Emmys, will make his debut as master of ceremonies on the telecast.
In second place was World War II code-breaking thriller "The Imitation Game," with eight nominations, followed by "American Sniper" and "Boyhood" with six each.
Here are the other nominees:
Best director:
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game”
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 actor:
Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”
Supporting actress:
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Laura Dern, “Wild”
Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods.”
Supporting actor:
Robert Duvall, “The Judge”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash.”
Documentary feature
“CitizenFour,”
“Finding Vivian Maier,”
‘’Last Days in Vietnam,”
‘’The Salt of the Earth”
“Virunga.”
Best foreign language film:
"Ida" (Poland)
"Leviathan" (Russia)
"Tangerines" (Estonia)
"Timbuktu" (Mauritania)
"Wild Tales " (Argentina)
Original song:
"Everything is Awesome," ''The Lego Movie""
"Glory," ''Selma""
"Grateful," ''Beyond the Lights"
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You," ''Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me""
"Lost Stars," ''Begin Again"
Best animated feature:
"Big Hero 6,"
''The Boxtrolls,"
''How To Train Your Dragon 2,"
''The Tale of Princess Kaguya,"
"Song of the Sea"
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"