'Grand Budapest Hotel', 'Birdman' tie at Oscars nominations

LOS ANGELES: In a competitive year for films, period crime caper 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and dark comedy 'Birdman' cemented their chances by scoring nine nods each at the 87th Academy Award nominations announced today.

British World War II drama 'The Imitation Game' closely followed with eight nominations while real-life inspired drama 'American Sniper' and coming-of-age story 'Boyhood' won six nominations each for the Oscars, to be held here on February 22.

The Academy, which generally favours more recent releases, did not forget much-earlier released 'Budapest'. The film was one of the nominees in the best picture category along with 'Birdman', 'The Imitation Game' 'American Sniper', 'Boyhood', 'Selma', 'The Theory of Everything' and 'Whiplash'.

'Budapest', a whimsical tale about a colourful hotel concierge, also scored Wes Anderson a best director and original screenplay nominations.

'Birdman', by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, too spread its wings by getting nominated in a number of key as well as technical categories.

Inarritu is nominated as the best director alongside Richard Linklater for his 12-years in making 'Boyhood', Bennett Miller of 'Foxcatcher', Anderson for 'Budapest' and Morten Tyldum of 'The Imitation Game'.

Michael Keaton, who plays the role of a washed up actor seeking to resurrect his career in 'Birdman', scored a best actor nomination while Emma Stone was nominated for best supporting honours for the same film.

He will fight it out with Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of World War II code-breaker Alan Turing in 'Imitation Game', Bradley Cooper from 'American Sniper', Steve Carell for 'Foxcatcher' and another British star, Golden Globe winner Eddie Redmayne for his role as scientist Stephen Hawking in 'The Theory of Everything'.

The best actress category is led by Golden Globe winner Julianne Moore for her performance in 'Still Alice', Marion Cotillard 'Two Days, One Night', Reese Witherspoon for 'Wild', Felicity Jones for 'The Theory of Everything' and the lone nomination to 'Gone Girl' for Rosamund Pike for her brilliant role as a murderous wife.

Besides Stone, the best supporting actress honours nominees include Patricia Arquette for 'Boyhood', a strong favourite following her Golden Globe win, Laura Dern 'Wild', Keira Knightley 'The Imitation Game' and Meryl Streep 'Into the Woods'.

'Boyhood' star Ethan Hawke scored a nomination in the best supporting actor category alongside Robert Duvall of 'The Judge', Edward Norton of 'Birdman', Mark Ruffalo 'Foxcatcher' and Golden Globe-winner J K Simmons for 'Whiplash'.

Inarritu will share the credit with Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr and Armando Bo for 'Birdman' in the original screenplay category where the film is competing against Linklater's experimental saga 'Boyhood', E Max Frye 'Foxcatcher', Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness of 'Grand Budapest Hotel' and 'Nightcrawler' writer Dan Gilroy.

Jason Hall of 'American Sniper', Graham Moore of 'The Imitation Game', Paul Thomas Anderson for 'Inherent Vice', Anthony McCarten for 'Theory of Everything' and Damien Chazelle for 'Whiplash' are the best original screenplay nominees.

Best foreign film category is led by Polish period movie 'Ida', which scored another nomination in cinematography, Russian corruption drama 'Leviathan', 'Tangerines' for Estonia, French-Mauritanian film 'Timbuktu' and Argentina's 'Wild Tales'.

'The Lego Movie' failed to make a cut in the best animated film category but made it up by scoring a nod in best original song for 'Everything is Awesom'.

Civil rights drama was snubbed by the Academy by failing to get a nomination for its director Ava DuVernay and best actor nod to British actor David Oyelowo for his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr.

'Selma' scored a best picture nod and the best original son for 'Glory'. Other best song nominees include 'Grateful' from 'Beyond the Lights', 'I'm Not Gonna Miss You' from 'Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me' and 'Lost Stars' from musical romance 'Begin Again'.

Christopher Nolan's space drama did better than expected but failed to make a cut in key categories of best picture and director. The film scored five nominations with 'Foxcatcher' and 'Whiplash'.

The Academy awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will be announced on 22 February in the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.