And the Oscar contenders are

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. None of India’s probable contenders, including A.R. Rahman, could make it to the final shortlist.

Here’s a complete list of Oscar nominees ...

Best Picture
Birdman
Boyhood
Selma
The Theory of Everything
The Imitation Game
The Grand Budapest Hotel
American Sniper
Whiplash

Actress in a Leading Role
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild Marion
Cotillard, Two Days One Night

Actor in a Leading Role
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

Directing
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Foreign Language Film
Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines
Wild Tales
Timbuktu

Writing - Original Screenplay
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, Birdman
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, Foxcatcher
Music - Original Score
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson, The Theory of Everything
Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gary Yershon, Mr Turner

Music - Original Song
Glory by Common and John Legend, Selma
Lost Stars by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley and Nick Southwood, Begin Again
Everything Is Awesome by Shawn Patterson, The LEGO Movie
I’m Not Gonna Miss You, by Glen Campbell, Glenn Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Grateful, Beyond the Lights

Visual Effects
Interstellar
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: Winter Soldier
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Documentary Feature
Citizenfour
Last Days in Vietnam
Virunga
The Salt of the Earth
Finding Vivian Maier

Short Film - Animated
Feast
The Bigger Picture
A Single Life
The Dam Keeper
Me and My Moulton
Animated Feature Film
Big Hero 6
Hows to Train Your Dragon 2
The Boxtrolls
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Song of the Sea