Comedies Reign: 'Birdman' and 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' Dominate Oscar Nominations

“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)“ and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” led the pack of Oscar contenders today with nine nominations each for the 87th Academy Awards, with “The Imitation Game” following close behind with eight nods.

The other five best picture nominees include “American Sniper,” “Boyhood,” “Selma,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Whiplash.”

The 12-years-in-the-making drama “Boyhood,” the big winner at Sunday’s Golden Globes Awards, picked up six nominations, including a directing nod for Richard Linklater. Best picture hopeful “Selma,” which some had predicted would earn a shot at the Oscar for director Ava DuVernay, received just one other nomination -- for its original song, “Glory.”

The Academy shook up its process for announcing the nominations this year. Traditionally, the live-television early morning announcement at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre has featured only some of the top categories. But this year, nominations were announced in all 24 categories at the early morning event.

Directors Alfonso Cuaron and J.J. Abrams announced the nominees for animated feature film, documentary feature, documentary short subject, film editing, original song, production design, animated short film, live action short film, sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects.

Then actor Chris Pine and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the nominees for best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, cinematography, costume design, directing, foreign language film, makeup and hairstyling, original score, adapted screenplay, original screenplay and best picture.

The Oscars will be presented Feb. 22 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, with Neil Patrick Harris hosting.

• City News Service
• Photo Credit: Patch Archives